Hey guys,
Will stock relpacement lines work with a dual master cylinder that mounts under the floor?

 

Standard 3/16 brake line will work fine. Make sure you double flare the ends of the line for brakes. Doesn't matter if it's above or below the floor.

 

I should probably rephrase my question, Will the pre bent steel lines line up with the dual master or do I have to bend my own. I was having trouble finding a pic of the dual compared to the stock single. Hopefully that makes sense

 

That I can't answer. I just finished mounting a power booster and dual master under the floor of mine. I bought some short pre-flared lines and bent them as needed. I added residual valves and bent the stock lines around to meet the end of those.

Perhaps you can add new short lines from the dual master to the stock lines as needed?

 

Thanks Brian, I think I will go that route, seems easier for me to add short lines than to bend complete new lines.

 

If your running a dual master cylinder, the front bowl feeds the front brakes, the rear feeds the rear brakes. On a single master cylinder both front and rear feed off of one fluid bowl. Thus you have separate brakes. If the front leaks all the fluid with a dual master cylinder, you still have the back ones working. With the single, you have leak, you don't have front or rear brakes stopping you. When I changed my MC, I ran new separate lines. The front to the one side of the master cylinder and the rear lines or drum brakes to the back section. I hope that answers your question. Don't mess around with taking short cuts or easy ways out when it comes to brakes. Do it right the first time and you won't have any worries or sorry in the long run. Nothing worse then not having brakes.

 

Shane,

another thing you need to consider is the condition of the existing lines. Are they the original lines ? Like 50 years old and full of crud and corrosion, water and rust ??


I'd look hard at the old lines, fittings and wear points (like under the clamps if there are any) more hp = harder braking, not to mention the increase in pressure from the new dual cylinder vrs the old one...

you might be fine, but I'd give it a serious looksee

later
john

 

Unfortunately for now I`m staying with single MC but with all new steel lines and rubber hoses.
Some of the old steel lines are pretty rusty and I don`t trust them so while the cab is off it`s a good time to replace them all along with a MC rebuild.

 

That is a good point. Mine are new steel lines put on by the PO who never drove it afterward. If mine were stock (50 years old) I would have replaced them.

 

I agree with John, brake lines are relatively inexpensive considering the benefits...

 

Thanks Ed, I understand the benefits of the dual master versus the single and I want to make sure my ride is safe especially before the spouse or kids go for their first ride. I plan to order new steel lines and thought the pre bent stock replacements would be a cool way to go. Since my Master cylinder is shot I figured I would just upgrade to the dual master as well. One concern I had was that the stock length lines would not reach the outlets on the Dual MC. I'm basically replacing everything from the MC to the Wheels and just trying to make sure i'm heading in the right direction.

John, your right I'm not even about to trust any of the 50 year old brake parts, cheap insurance to just replace them

 

56Effie- You can buy the prebent kits, but they don't always fit they way you want them to or fit at all. I'm no expert at doing brake lines and actually never did them until I did it on my truck. It's very easy if you have a tubing bender. You can bend your own. I went to the local auto parts and for about $20, I did my front lines, and lines going to the back. You may have to buy a couple of line connectors and T's but it was very simple to do. Personally, I think it would be more difficult to make the prebent one fit. My two cents. Check out my gallery, I think I have pics of the brake conversion and the way I did my brake lines.

 

Ed, you may be right, it would really bite if the stock ones didn't fit right. I will have to get to my local parts store and see what they have. Years ago I had a passenger side rear line burst on a vw and was able to easily replace it, just bought a length of line at napa that already had the fittings. did you make the bend by hand that goes over your third member?

 

My local O'reilly auto parts had the straight lines (flared w/fittings) in stock from 8" all the way up to 5'. I am not sure of the increments they go in as far as all the lengths, but there is a large variety.

I bought a cheap hand bending tool from off the shelf and it was really easy. The tool has "anvils" like a large pipe bender only on a small scale. Again...I didn't replace all of the lines, but if you figure out what lengths you need it should not be bad at all.

I would recommend taking a straight piece of coat hanger wire under the truck. Cut it to the proper length. Bend it to the approximate shape you need. Bend the tubing to fit the wire while out from under the truck. Then once you get back under the truck with the tubing you can make minor adjustments.

Hope that helps.

 

Howdy;

If you have the cab off, it would be a perfect time to replace the brake lines. I don't know about your 'local' auto parts stores, but around here, the local stores do not have prebent brake lines. Get a cheap tubing bender and bend your own. I can gaurantee you that if you find prebent lines, they will be outragously priced.

You can make the brake lines look professionally made with a tubing bender.

Remember, all the HP in the world doesn't mean a thing if you can't stop. If it were me, I would spend the extra 10 bux and replace all the brake lines.

Hope that helps,

Dan Harriman 84 F150 lwb
Orange, Texas