My question is about the brake lines from the master cylinder on my 2004 (mfg June, 04) Ranger Edge 2x4 3.0L 5spd.
I am adding an M&G braking system to our motor home and the Ranger for towing. I bought a 3/16 polymer brake line at NAPA for the motor home part of the installation because I was told any bending could be done by hand and the line would not kink. As part of the installation on the Ranger I will have to place a 4" long cylinder between the master cylinder and the vacuum assist, putting the attached oem brake lines out of position. Those brake lines look very similar to the polymer brake line from NAPA. Before I attempt to modify and possibly damage those lines I need to ask all of you if you know anything about the original Ford lines. Are they polymer as they appear or powder coated steel or something else?
I have Googled, I have called the Ford dealer and I have called FoMoCo and none could give me any info. If anyone has an inside number to Ford engineering please share it. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Well unless something has changed, Ford uses powder coated steel lines, if you are in doubt just put a magnet to the line, or scratch some of the powder coating off to see whats underneath. You can usually tell the type of line it is by looking close to the fitting, the coating usually stops about 1/16" before the fitting so it doesn't bind when tightening. But the fasted and easiest way to check it is with a magnet. Good luck and I hope this helps.

 

Good tip, Hammerhead, they're steel by the magnet test but so is the polymer coated line from NAPA. I didn't undo the oem line on the truck but the coating on the NAPA line is total coverage. I think I'll just replace the oem lines with polymer coated lines and save the oem preformed lines so I can restore to original before selling the ranger.
Any tips on bleeding the system after changing out the two lines connected to the master cylinder?

 

Bleeding them should be just like a normal truck getting someone to pump the brakes for you and hold them while you crack the bleeder, (although some systems with anit-lock require a different method, but this was only with an 89 town car I owned and haven't run into anything else like it since) I will say that if you have a hard time getting someone to help you bleed the brakes and you don't want to spend a lot of cash on a professional air powered brake bleeding system, then you can buy a product called speed bleeders. They are manufactured by a few different manufactures (some call then different names) but any how they replace your stock bleeder screws, and have a check valve built into them, so all you do is open the bleeder a small amount and then pump the brake, the check valve closes when you take your foot off of the brake preventing air from entering the system, so you eliminate the need for a second person. I just put a hose over the tip of the bleeder and put the other end in a small container to keep the fluid from going all over the place. The bleeders are made by Russel (go to the summit catalog and look them up for a picture) and Help products also makes them. I bought a set for my 92 Explorer and boy they made brake bleeding a breeze. I bought them at pepboys, but I know Advance auto will order them also if they don't have them in stock. One tip if you do go this route then also get a set of bleeder cover caps (rubber caps that go over the bleeder screws, they are the same as the little caps you can buy to cover you greese fittings) this keeps the check ***** in the bleeders from getting clogged or rusty with grime as you drive. Hope this info helps