thats the one !!! the exact same spot as mine

 

Thanks. I'll get the 3C3Z-2B523-AB on order.

 

GAAA! Rotten brake lines scare the crud out of me. Had them fail in a car I had decades ago and wrecked it badly. Very good to hear that you avoided that and are safe.

Sooo glad I changed out the entire system on the Ex and my Taurus for Copper/nickle lines. Easy to bend and never ever corrode. Took some investment in time, material and tools, but peace of mind is priceless. Once a car reaches 7 or 8 years old, I like to replace all the lines. They use salt in New jersey. I hate it.

 

The salt usage in Buffalo is quite liberal as well. I've keep the Ex going for a long time, and my plan is to stretch it's life about 5 more years, but I'm starting to throttle back the expenditures to just the items required for safety and reliability. No more money on cool stuff.

 

so what did you do in areas like this? coil it up old school and call it good?

 

I always said as much as safety is a concern to auto makes they should have stainless brake lines mandatory on all vehicles from the factory.

 

No need to coil it wit the Cupronicle. It has all the flex and spring you will need. I just copied the original lines. Just remove the casings from the old lines and put them on the new ones as you bend them up.

I don't think I will ever use anything else again. It seems too soft to be able to do the job, but it is so easy to bend and NEVER corrodes. Putting a flare on it is easy as sin too. But then again, every flare is easy after I picked up this flare tool from Eastwood when they had it on a killer sale:

Professional Brake Tubing Flaring Tool - Brake Flaring Tool - Brake Tube Flaring

 

Housedad

That tool is awesome! How much of a discount did they have on it?

I was looking around for a hydraulic flaring tool but it seems they don't go on sale much.

I couldn't justify spending the $300 for the little job I had to do so I picked up a Ridgid flaring tool that I'm so far satisfied with.

 

I just checked my old email invoices. It was $179 with free shipping in may 2013

 

MASTER CYLINDER TO HCU




MASTER TO HCU #2




MASTER LINES INSTALLED




DRIVERS SIDE FROM HCU TO WHEEL PART#




ACTUAL DRIVER SIDE LINE




1 OF 3 PASSENGER LINE FROM HCU TO BRAIDED LINE




2 OF 3 PART OF MY SOLUTION TO THE PASSENGER LINE NOT BEING AVAILABLE FROM FORD. (FROM HCU TO PASSENGER WHEEL)




3 OF 3 FROM SMALL BRAIDED LINE TO PASSENGER WHEEL. THESE 3 COMBINED MAKE THE PASSENGER LINE.






I DONT REMEMBER WHAT ONE THIS IS




5 PC BRAIDED HOSE SET




ONE HALF ROLL USED

 

I used one roll of 3/16 nicopp with about 4 feet left. also i added a union in the rear line making the line from the HCU to the rear axle 3 pieces, it was easier to install this way. i dont think i took any photos of that one. at this point every inch of line or hose has been replaced. only thing left now is to get the rear rotors turned and pads all the way around. but it is back up and running again.

 

i also learned that my locale pirtek could crimp nicopp to the stainless braided line if i wanted to make it like the factory did. i didnt do that here because i already had the pieces shaped and didnt want them messed up in transport

 

Wow, just had this happen to mine two days ago. Fortunately I was not in traffic, just rolled up to a country stop sign and whooosh right to the floor. I was about 80 miles from home with a 2002 Chevy police car on the trailer..glad my trailer brakes are good. Pulled into the parking lot of a closed store and found the line rotted exactly the same as above. Too far to try moving with the loaded trailer with all the hills here on the mountain going home. I wound up cutting the line a few inches from the ABS unit, then took it off, folded the end over and sealed it with my trusty 22 oz. hammer. Put it back on the ABS unit and made it home with front brakes and the trailer brakes. I had a heck of a time finding the right part number, then found this post and confirmed it.
Now I need to see if I can get the union / junction free on the other end of the line. If not, anybody know the part number for that line?

 

I know this is an old comment but I'm reading it for the first time. Lol. Actually several manufacturers are using a very similar copper/nickel line to what he is using. Even stainless can rust eventually and stainless is extremely hard to form simple flares without cracking (and almost impossible to form complicated double flares). Which brings up another problem with stainless- it's somewhat fragile. I ran stainless lines on my 78 and if I ever do that job again on any other vehicle, I'm using the cunifer lines.
http://www.fedhillusa.com

(and by the way most people are surprised to learn that a lot of brake lines rust out not from salt but from water building up inside the lines. It's cheap preventative maintenance to flush the fluid and bleed the brakes every 2 years or so. Also keeps brake fluid boiling points low which improves braking performance).

 

It depends on the grade of stainless. I don't consider anything above 400 to be stainless as it does stain and the higher you go it can rust yes. But most any grade below 400 will not rust.

Also yes it can be harder to work with but not impossible. Stainless brakes lines are an aftermarket option. If it were factory they should never have to be touched or replaced so not much worry about flaring them.

Around here in the salt I was replacing steel lines every two years on our trucks, the fluid hadn't had time to collect water it IS the salt that rots them out faster than anything else. Since I have switched all of our trucks to Nicopp we haven't had a line problem yet.

I am shocked to see stainless fuel lines used in many vehicles today but still steel brake lines. They are more worried about a fuel leak than stopping?