I just finished my D-spec install and was hoping to install my SS brake lines at the same time but I have misplaced my haynes manual... Can anyone help me out with the steps involved?? Any special tools needed? I know I need to bleed brakes and all that, just wondering if there are any special tools I may not have laying around. Thanks
(I will assume you are talking about the brake hoses at each wheel and replacing them with stainless braided ones instead of the hard lines -- which is much more involved)
To make life easier you should get a set of line wrenches (These are open-ended wrenches with six-sides inside the open end). They will help keep you from rounding off the connections. They theoretically aren't required, but they are a very good idea and cheap insurance.
Otherwise no special tools are really needed.
On the front:
Jack up and jackstand your car (put the jackstand under the control arm so your suspension will compress slightly -- it takes the tension out of the brake hose and makes life generally easier).
Remove the wheel
Remove the bolt that goes through the banjo of the hose on the caliper. Do not lose that bolt.
Be sure to get both of the copper "washers" (they are actually seals) off, your new hoses should have new washers. If not, these can be reused in a pinch.
Follow the hose back to where it connects to the hardline. Using your line wrenches, unscrew the hose from the hardline (use 2 wrenches, one on the hardline, one on the hose. The flanges will be different sizes.) This may take some muscle depending on the age of the vehicle.
Installation of the new part is reverse of removal. Do the same for the other side up front.
The rears are a little different, but not much in concept. Just find the ends of the rubber hoses, unscrew, then install the stainless ones the same way.
Bleed the brakes after your done and enjoy your new pedal feel.
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Sleeper style, they don't see it coming that way.
I thought you replaced the rubber piece. Not the hard lines.
Zach Reliford wrote:I thought you replaced the rubber piece. Not the hard lines.
Uh, isn't that what he just said.
03 Sunfire - Sold.
Zach Reliford wrote:I thought you replaced the rubber piece. Not the hard lines.
You are correct, and that is the process that I described.
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Sleeper style, they don't see it coming that way.
Thanks for the help... After breaking a set of line wrenches I finally got the fronts broke loose and installed. I did not attempt the rears... maybe another day. Thanks for the help
Ok - correct me if im wrong here - but I'm missing something. If you discconect the line to put another on - wouldnt the brake fluid piss out? So that would lead me to think that you would drain it first - but I heard thats not good for the master cylinder. So are you supposed to just do it really fast?
it wont "piss" out, you will have a steady drip and more then enough time to swap the lines one at a time. You don't have to do it "really fast" but its not exactly time consuming rocket science to loosen and tighten a connection on each end of a foot long hose.
alright - awesome just wanted to make sure. I have the rear neon discs I'm going to be installing soon and just wanted to make sure.
If you do a bit more involved swap (like I did swapping out the master cylinder / master abs motor pack from a Grand Prix) make sure to bleed the MASTER CYLINDER first, prior to bleeding the brakes... Always bleed from the corner farthest from the master cylinder first. Correct order for bleeding: (1st) Rear Passenger, (2nd) Rear Drivers, (3rd) Front Passenger, and finally (4th) Front Drivers.
There's a trick to stopping fluid from coming out of the lines when they're disconnected. Know how you put your thumb over the end of a straw and it holds the liquid inside? Same premise. Before removing the calipers, crack the bleeder screws and put something on the brake pedal like a prybar. You don't have to put it to the floor, 1/4-1/2 travel will suffice. Once the fluid comes out of the bleeders, you shouldn't lose any more.
Don't just use vice grips to kink the lines closed, you run the risk of collapsing the interior structure of the hose, which will cause future problems.
14.330 @ 96.37mph
