So was under the truck last fall replacing a leaking rear diff. I noticed the brake lines going to the rear were rusty. I thought to myself, I should change those before I have a problem.


So was going to Church this AM with wife and all 6 kids and got off the highway, and guess what? No brakes.


Checked fluid and was low. After an Uber ride home for the family and a tow ride home with the Ex I investigated the problem. The line going to the rear is leaking fluid. It rusted at every clip place on the frame.


So started looking for parts. Do they make pre bent lines? Is there a good diagram somewhere?


I want to replace everything from that mystical box up front (were tow lines from the reservoir become three lines - one which goes to the back)all the way to the rear wheels.


Any way, help bail me out again guys.

 

No idea if they still have factory OEM brake lines. Might try fordparts.com or Tousley. That mystical box- right behind the headlight, right? That's the ABS system.

If all else fails, you can buy straight pieces of line and bend them yourself with an inexpensive tubing bender.

 

I had a similar experience a few weeks ago. Brakes gave out when I was getting off the highway. Luckily I was able to pump them to regain pressure enough to stop and pull off into a mall parking lot.

As a matter of fact I'm taking a quick brake from dealing with this issue today.

From my experience Ford does NOT make a pre-bent line going all the way to the back as per the parts guy at the local dealership.

Since I didn't really want to mess with making my own flares I went to the local parts place and got 2 of the longest pre-flared pieces they had which was 5ft. They were $5 a piece and the coupling was $1.50.

I figure worst case scenario I'm out $12...I can handle that. I already had a tubing bender from a previous project years ago so I decided to give it a go.

Turns out that 2 - 5ft pieces aren't long enough...back to the drawing board.

I bought a 25 ft foot coil of regular steel line. $20

Then I bought a regular double flaring kit. One of the cheapie ones you find at any parts store.

First I spent quite a bit of time adjusting the tool and filing down the surfaces so it would have a chance of sitting flush.

Then I tried several times to get a proper flare and after all was said and done none of those flares looked like anything I would use on my car.

The next week or so I did some research and settled on buying a better tool.

I bought the Ridgid 345 DL (23337) and the difference is night and day.

DO NOT BUY ANY OF THOSE CHEAP GENERIC FLARING TOOLS

You will waste your time and money (like I did) and possibly have a safety issue on your hands.

So far bending the tube hasn't been that bad. Take your time and worst case scenario tubing is cheap so you can have a few tries before your wallet starts to feel it.

It looks to be about 12 ft of tubing although I haven't measured it, but 10 feet was short by a good bit and I got 2 tries out of the 25 foot roll.

Super fun fact:

I went to a name brand mechanic around here and was quoted $400 minimum to do the job.

 

For $400 if they are replacing everything, I would do it. I can't find a pre bent line from the front to back, but the make the ones to each hub at about $70 each. Plus clamps, food, etc I bet the parts may be $200+. But if that's just the main line it is expensive.

And magic box is the ABS part.

 

For obsolete impossible to find pre-bent lines I use this place. They have/will make anything for anything that you need. Also available in stainless. It's much easier to call them than it is to dig through the online catalog. Also the catalog doesn't list everything. On some applications you may need to send in the old lines and they will custom make a set to match(25% upcharge) You must get pre- approval before sending in old lines and the number they give you must be on the package that you are sending the lines to them in or it will be refused and returned.

Inline tube The brake plumbing experts

 

My brake line broke as my wife came home from Akron Oh aprox 35miles away. It was the long line going to the rear. so I bought nickel copper line's you can bend them by hand worked great good luck

 

As I am a newbie here, I am not sure what I can or cannot say with regards to vendors. PM me and I will tell you who I have used recently for brake lines for my 94 Caprice. Just checked their site and it says that they make them for our trucks (5 piece set for about $185 and it also shows a listing for an 8 piece set but no price). Since they did not have the prebent ones in stock for my car, I bought just straight flared lines and they are top notch. They even came with the spring/wire wrap that they stock ones had on the outside for protection from chaffing.