So I'm in the process of re-plumbing my front drum brakes on my '65 4x2. And to be quite honest, I'm having a terrible time with the front steel lines. I've already managed to round off the nut on the end connecting to the hose (on both sides!!) and was looking to replace them both now. However, the splitting block appears to be mounted behind the steering gear. Is there an easy way to get at that sucker, or do I have to remove the gear? Thanks.

 

The splitter itself should be on the inside of the frame rail behind the steering gear. The line will pass behind it. Remove the bottom bolt for the steering box to frame attachment. Then just loosen the other two, and use a pry bar to pull the steering box away from the frame. You can then easily sneak the metal line from behind the box.
Be ready, however, as there will be a ton of crap that will fall out from behind the box right into your face if you're not careful!

 

You may want to invest in a set of line wrenches if you plan to work on old Fords. You will still screw up a few fittings but the line wrenches will help minimize the problem. PB Blaster or some other such product will help with the rusty fittings (Not WD-40).

 

William,
I managed to do that with a line wrench. David, will loosening the box allow me to get back there with a wrench to loosen the fittings?

 

Neal,
I'm still baffled by your block being behind the steering box. That's just whacky. The method I described is enough room to slide the lines themselves in/out, but I don't think it is enough space to stick a wrench in there and do anything.

 

Maybe it's not back there. To be honest, I can't really see where it is. I can kinda feel it up there, but I haven't had too much time to mess around with it yet this week.....But you're right about there being a lot of crud that can fall off that gearbox.

 

I removed all my lines with the luxury of having the front clip, cab and box all removed. Just the frame, tranny and engine were there. I STILL ruined all the fittings. In some parts of the country, the 40 year old stuff is just shot, lets face it.

The splitter on my 65 (I think is same as 66) was in a horrible place to access. You MIGHT be able salvage the splitter itself, but I would expect all else is trash.

Before you go too much further, if you are going to the trouble of makeing new lines, then by all means, you should at least upgrade to a dual chamber master cylinder. That means new plumbing anyhow, so to heck with the old layout. Tear it out and get yourself a drum/drum prop valve and drum/drum master from a 67 and away you go. Or read up on disk brake conversion.

If you really want to keep the original setup (IMHO, ONLY to be done in a complete restoration) then what I recall and my archive pics tell me is that the line down from the MC goes between the steering gear and the clutch bracket. It sort of disappears behind the stearing gear, and as I recall, the splitter is in FRONT of the steering gear. From that splitter, one line goes back (along side the fuel line) to the rear. Two lines go forward, then run out to the front drums. The front two emerge in front of the steering box.

Whatever you do, don't go stainless (as I did) unless you are really good with a double flaring tool. I learned way more than I wanted to learn about flaring stainless.

 

See, I've thought about upgrading to the dual MC, but I just installed a new single unit. In fact, I wasn't even going to replace the steel lines (yeah, ballsy move on my part, esp with the truck being 40 years old), but I managed to screw up the ends on the existing lines. So it means I'm going to have to replace 'em. Right now I'm trying to do the quickest, yet safest fix. Unless I disconnect the original splitter and install a new one, right? Or is it actually a porportioning valve? Because if it's not, couldn't I just go to the parts store, buy a new block and some new lines, snip off the old one, and forget about it? Run the new lines in a safe location and replace the line back to the rear, while I'm at it? Seems a helluva lot easier then messing with that fitting behind the gear, and that's even assuming I can get the orginal lines loose from that one.

 

The original splitter block is just that...a splitter to divert the fluid to the various locations. It has no proportioning ability. You can just replace it with a brass junction from the parts store if you want. The factory splitter just has a handy mounting tab on it.
It should be on the inside of the frame rail, behind the steering box location back the frame a bit. Have another look.