New Brake Lines
Back during the Christmas holiday (2009) I moved the truck into the garage to begin the task of evaluating the truck and perhaps replacing the brake lines. The main line (front to rear) had a break just at the rear hose.
I started the whole process by doing some internet searches for repair information. What I discovered was a whole bunch of how-to videos on the subject. I found a bunch of useful video content from Nathan McCullough from Expertvillage who detailed how to replace the brakes on a 95 Ford Explorer (Google this for more information. There are lots of Youtube posts.). I assumed that these procedures would be very similar. I referred to these videos often.
The Explorer and Ranger are probably similar. I discovered that the 95 Ranger has rear anti-lock brake system (RABS), and the RABS unit is hidden under the truck within the frame. Not something that you can see from above on casual inspection (you need to get on your back and slide way under to find it). My unit was mounted to the frame somewhat below where the master cylinder mounts to the firewall.
The RABS (Rear Anti-lock Brake System unit). The arrow points to the rubber boot that covers what might be the bleed screw that the manual talks about. I used a large wrench to turn the exterior nut but after 2 to 3 turns never got any brake fluid to drip out. I tightened this back up and moved on. (More on this later in the post).
As a rule of thumb… you should accurately trace down each brake line and map them on paper. Also, carefully inspect each line. I discovered that the line from the master cylinder to the RABS was probably fine and didn’t need replacing. But I made the mistake of cutting the line at the master cylinder before I discovered the RABS unit. Some of the rear lines and hoses were not as bad as I thought they should have been. I replaced the rear brake lines just to be sure.
Another important point… I purchased a $60 Oxygen-Map gas torch from Home Depot to help extract bolts and bleeder screws on the back drum brakes as detailed in some of the Youtube videos. What I discovered after 2 days of playing with one back bleed screw was that I could have saved 2 days of work and the $60. Simply replacing the wheel cylinder ($13 each) was much easier then attempting to remove the rusted bleeders. The wheel cylinder bolts were not that difficult to remove. I was thinking that I probably needed to replace the wheel cylinders anyways. I had historical issues with the rear brakes locking up during some winters and this was the one component that Sears hadn’t replaced during my last brake job.
My thought now is to treat the front brakes similar to the wheel cylinders. If the bleeder is stuck I will probably just replace the front calipers. This probably needs to be done anyways.
Another good tip was to keep all of the old steel line fittings. Some of the Youtube videos talked about drilling out the old fittings and reusing with the new lines. I found this to be a big time saver as I didn’t have to make another trip back to Autozone. Also, it is a good idea to make sure that the new line fittings actually fit before flaring the line. I had to recut and reflare on a few occasions because I assumed that the new fitting that the Autozone rep gave me was the correct size. In some cases they were not.
A brief note about Autozone… TheAutozone reps were a BIG help during this whole repair process. This is one of my new “favorite” all-time stores.
My tips about measuring and bending brake lines... I had this idea about how to more accurately estimate the length of a brake line. Use a length of rubber window screen seal. You can run this along the old brake line inch-by-inch to get a fairly accurate length estimate. Also, I found it better not to straighten out the old brake line. I found that using the old brake line as a guide helped show me where to bend the replacement line. This worked well and was very useful for me. It was a lot easier to bend the line before installing in the truck (beats trying to do it during the install).
Bending brake lines seems to be fairly tricky. The bender is an odd tool to use and you need to take your time and try to visualize the finished product. I think this is what that high school Mechanical Aptitude Test was all about (part of the standard placement tests I had to take as a kid). In most cases an exact bend is probably not necessary (or recommended) as you can finish the bend more with your hands and thumbs. You just can’t unbend a crimped line so you need to do this slowly or be prepared to start over.
Also, the Youtube videos and the instructions included with the flaring tool seem to give me questionable results. The method of extending the brake line through the clamping tool is a little subjective. I have been allowing about 1/16” extension beyond the height of the flare bit. Anything shorter seems to give a very weak looking flare… something that just doesn’t seem like it offer a good seal. This has been difficult to judge from videos but I’m comparing my flares to pre-flared lines, and the 1/16” gives a closer result. I’m a tad nervous that all of my early attempts might not be flared enough to seal. I’ll wait and see.
Typical brake and flaring tools. Notice the rubber screen seal. This is great to help estimate the length of old brake lines.
Close-up of my finished flare.
Monday, February 01, 2010
Replaced the other wheel cylinder on Saturday. Replaced the rear passenger brake line yesterday. I’m getting more nervous as these new brake fittings do not thread in easily. I needed to play with each one until I thought they were in straight and then I tighten them down. The new brass fittings sometimes go in too snug. I’m hoping that I’m not getting cross threading… it’s just so hard to tell.
I’m moving on to the front brakes now. I hope I can start to bleed within the next 2 weeks. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that the system doesn’t leak too badly.
Two images of the rear drum brakes. The real point here is to illustrate how nice it is to take pictures with the digital camera. Saves a lot of time making detailed drawings. Just be sure to get pictures from several angles.
Monday, February 08, 2010
Started on the front brakes yesterday. The front brakes are more rusted then I thought. The front brake line appear to be O.K. but the hoses are bad. I’m still glad that I’m able to get most of the important fittings loosened. The steel lines to the front hoses is a pain to get to. The location is terrible and I could only get about 1/8th turn with the wrench. The front banjo bolt was fairly easy to loosen.
I’m sure that installing the new hose will be a chore with the tight access issue… but I’ll take my time.
I’m now soaking the front bleeder – this will be the defining issue for the caliper. I’ll try again tonight but I might just skip this and get a pair of rebuilt calipers instead.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Last night I worked on the passenger side front brakes… mostly focusing on the bleed screw. After about 15 minutes of soaking with penetrating oil and tapping with a socket and a length of oak I got the screw free. Then I decided to move over to the other wheel and start the soaking process. It looks like this bleed screw is missing an edge. Not sure what kind of problems this will present – I suspect this will be a major headache as I won’t be able to get a socket over the bolt.
I’m formulating some ideas but I don’t like many of them. Once I start using the vice grips the bolt will quickly break down and I won’t have anything to grip. This might make the whole process more difficult. I will probably use a little heat on this bolt. I really don’t want to risk spending more money on the truck then I have to.
Thoughts: I’m beginning to see too many nickel and dime costs associated with all of the truck repairs. The increasing costs aren’t so much the repair parts but the tools. I spent about $250 so far… and most of that has been for tools. The actual parts are probably around $90. I want to keep the repairs as low as possible for the rest of the brake job. I’m hoping that the master cylinder and the RABS unit are still good. But mostly I want to see if the lines will hold fluid and pressure and if there are any leaks that I can’t repair.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Work was closed yesterday for a snow day so I decided to work more on the truck. Continued work on the driver side brake bleed screw with no success. After an hour I decided to get new calipers. My original idea was to replace the rotors, caliper slide and caliper but after trying to get the caliper slide bolts off I decided to just go with the current rotors and worry about this later.
I simply replaced the caliper and left the old slide in place. $38 for each caliper and this included new pad guides, new carrier bolts and rubber boots.I think they call this a "loaded" caliper?
While removing the brake lines on the driver side I twisted and broke the steel line. This was the only line that I had this happen with so I can't complain too much. I had the wife go back and rent the flaring tool again and then cut a new line and put in place. From there on the job went smoothly and I was able to install the new line from the master cylinder to the front hose, new hoses on both sides and new calipers on both sides.
Also found that the passenger side front bearing was really sloppy. I removed the cap and tightened the bolt to torque specifications and put everything back together (I followed the procedure as detailed in the Haynes manual).
So the brakes are essentially done. The next step is to bleed the system and pray that there aren’t any leaks. I’ll deal with this when it happens.
The other repairs and maintenance work that need to be done are lube and oil change. I should probably do the anti-freeze also. At some point it might be a good idea to do the shocks also.
Monday, February 15, 2010
On Saturday evening I wanted to do a quick check over the work I had completed thus far. I wanted to remove the back bleed screws and lube with brake fluid, and do a quick lube on the major locations (front steering and drive shaft). This turned out to be really frustrating.
I couldn’t find an open end wrench that would fit the rear bleed screws. I went through everything in my box twice. Discovered that the bleed screw is 10mm and I had everything but a 10mm wrench. As I recall I used a socket when I first played with these. Now that the brake lines are back in I don’t have clearance to access this with the socket any longer. Finally found an old 10mm wrench in the bottom of my sons tool box and this worked fine.
About the lube… I couldn’t find any of my 3 grease guns ready for use. I had to put a new tube in one and then switch out the hose as the other hose (was bent and broken). This took about an hour and was a messy job. Then some of the front grease zerts were stuck and wouldn’t accept grease. I’ll have to work on these more later. (I really want to get these working as I’m sure this will end up being a weak spot in the truck).
This week I’ll need the wife to help me start the brake fluid fill and bleed process.
The things that I would like to do before putting the truck back on the road;
- do the clutch
- flush radiator
- change differential oil.
- check and add transmission oil.
- touch up the rust spots
- do maintenance on the canoe rack (pull it off the truck, install new hardware, strip and varnish).
I’m getting more concerned that the truck might just be one repair issue after another.
Then while inspecting the back brakes I accidentally stuck my head in the cat litter box… yuk! Who put this under the truck? I had to stop for the night to take a shower.
Monday, February 22, 2010
I bled the brakes during the week with the wife’s help. I thought this would take a few hours but we got this done in about 20 minutes.
I started at the master cylinder and bled both front and back lines (as directed in the manual). This never gave me a good pressured squirt but simply oozed out of the fitting. I tightened up the fittings as directed.
The manual talks about bleeding the RABS unit with the bleed screw. I really couldn’t find a traditional bleed screw on the unit. I did find a large flat nut with a rubber cap in the center. Removing the cap exposed a nipple that I assumed was the bleeder. I used a wrench on the large nut (appx. 7/8”). I backed it out about 3 turns but never got any fluid out of the unit. Was getting concerned that too much backing out was going to cause other problems so I decided to stop and test the back brakes for fluid.
I had noticeable leaking from the master cylinder lines and from the RABS. I simply tightened until the dripping stopped (about 1/8 turn). It was rather tight but never got to the point that I felt I was forcing or stripping the threads. So far the fittings are still holding tight with no more leaks and continued to hold after the test drive.
The back brakes bled just fine (farthest – passenger first). Then turned the front wheel (to gain better access to the calipers) and bled the front – passenger first, then driver side to finish the bleed.
Did a test drive on Saturday. The brakes are fairly good now – but just a tad spongy (it’s an old truck). I will probably do one more bleed before spring. Next repair is the clutch. This will be a much bigger job. I’m starting to collect parts now. I plan to do the complete clutch, the rear main seal and the slave cylinder.
Today I found out that I won the bid on Ebay for a cheap transmission jack. Is about $100 new and I’m getting this for about $60 total (after shipping). I’ll take every little savings I can get at this point.
Overall I’m guessing that the repairs on the truck are going to total about $750 (counting the clutch, shocks and tools). Eliminating the tools I’m looking at $560 in replacement parts. While that’s still risky I could probably still sell the truck for $1,500 so there is still some value in this whole exercise. If I can get 2 more years out of the truck that would be great. It will probably cost me about $800 for insurance and license (for the 2 years). This is all a lot cheaper than buying a used replacement truck (one that might still have problems similar to what I am repairing now).
December 13, 2010.
Once I started to drive the truck again the brake peddle got stiffer and has been working great. I've been driving the truck on and off since the repair and I think the brakes are as good as they have ever been. No leaks and it stops smooth and solid. So far I have about 600 miles on this repair.
