I had a leaky brake hose. I suspect they were the original equipment, so 16 years old. It was not as hard as I thougth it would be. I also flushed the brake lines. The brakes shuddered pretty bad before, and I had suspected the rotors, but they didn't look bad. I am glad I didn't do them yet, because after the hoses, it is much smoother.

A lot of dark brown fluid came out, and there were some particles in it. Whole job was only about 3 hours.

The only issue I had was installing the new hoses. They are sort of keyed. They have a hex shape, but one side is curved. This is to get the correct bend in the hose. I didn't notice it at first because the old one was so rusty.

Up next, control arm bushings and ball joints... yay.

 

Yeah! Your lady is really old (16 years) and it is difficult to remove old hoses. The lower connection is easy to unscrew (you need 10 mm socket), but the upper....!!!!

I tried to use WD-40, but it was unsuccesfull, I had to heat (rubber of course burned). I use well made german hoses, so I dont know what brand to reccomend. I belive Motorcraft is a good choise!

 

Did you use a flare nut wrench? One of the top lines had some rust, but it came right off. I can see how hard it could be if it was corroded more. I am glad I did not have to cut it or use a torch!

 

do the brake calipers, replace only, when doing the bushings....will be corroded and loaded with water corrosion... same dirty contaminated corrosive loaded fluid in calipers...replace with rebuilt calipers with steel pistons only....the phenolic pistons break down from the extra heat produced by the Aero's overloaded brakes

failure to change calipers will result in sticking pistons, pad drag on rotors and brake failure with ruined rotors

 

96_4wdr! May be you know the unswer to enother quation about brakes. I have new rear busings, drums, brakes are bleeded well, but sometimes right rear wheel locks on brake! What to do?

 

Hi Pablo,
does the rr brake lockup and stay on or does it unlock when foot comes off brake pedal? check for drum heating from dragging shoes after driving with no brake application....coast to stop and check drums l and r for temp difference

1. weak brake shoe return springs

2. lube shoe slide pads on backing plate with hi temp silicone brake lube and lube pivot points at the bottom.

3. are the wheel cylinders new or recently rebuilt...may be oversized cylinder piston or seals sticking....may be rust pockets that seal catches on

4. brake shoes on right side contaminated with substance that causes grabbing...from factory, parts retailer or installer....

few drops of brake fluid, diff. oil, motor oil, oil from hands, glue from brake shoe box, dropped on oily shop floor, etc.

5. r drum not surfaced smoothed to specs or out of round

6. parking brake cable mechanism on right side is binding up, either cable in shield outside drum or lever mechanism inside drum mounted on shoes

switch shoes right to left side and see if problem follows shoes