Removing brake line to back caliper?

[Bill Douglas]

I tried then had to give up on removing the brake line that goes from the back brake hose to the caliper.

I tried and tried with the 11mm open ended wrench and with the flare nut wrench, neither would move it and I was concerned I'd round it off and never get it off. I considered using heat but didn't want to damage rubbers etc. They don't give you much room to work with in there.

Any tips, tricks and traps are much appreciated.

[juanbenae]

take the caliper off even if you have to cut the brake line. get a board or something to depress the brake pedal some so it will keep from draining anymore brake fluid than necessary. with it on the bench you will have better access and leverage. if you are rebuilding the caliper heat it some, or grab it with visegrips once it's in front of you while standing.

doing one at a time will keep ya from putting the bleed screw down making it impossible to bleed by mixing up the left to right and again, draining less fluid.. when you get it reattached bleed each side initially to fill the caliper. you will need to bleed a ton to get the air out of the calipers. tapping them with a rubber mallet between bleeds will help get the air to the top to flush out.

if you are not using a motive or the like to bleed do not bury the pedal all the way when bleeding, the MC is not used to that much of a throw.

[Bill Douglas]

Thanks but I was hoping to keep the brake line intact. I've got some replqacement calipers I was wanting to swap in without replacing the brake lines too.

[Arctic Rat]

Hi Bill,

When was the last time the brake hoses were replaced? IMO you're trying to save low dollar pieces. (lines are like $20 bucks preformed, less if you form it) and hoses are about the same. The time you waste fusing with the line is worth more than the line. The juice just ain't worth the squeeze. Hoses should be replaced more often than the lines. Don't skimp on brakes.

Joe D

[isby]

What I did on my ‘84 was disconnect the other end of the line from the flex hose using flare nut wrenches. Once you take off the retaining clip, there should be just enough room to get one wrench on the end of the flex hose connector and one on the hard line. Once that’s disconnected, you can spin the entire hard line off the caliper without worrying that you’re going to twist it. I figured this out after I twisted one of my hard lines trying to loosen it at the caliper end.

[LJ851]

Bill, these flare nut vise grips are pretty amazing at removing a stubborn brake fitting.

[BK911]

Love that vice grip thingy!
To remove old stubborn lines, I have used a 6" pipe wrench before.
But most of the time, I will cut both hard and rubber lines at the connection point and use 6 point sockets, then replace the lines with new.

[2.7RS]

Originally Posted by BK911

Love that vice grip thingy!
To remove old stubborn lines, I have used a 6" pipe wrench before.
But most of the time, I will cut both hard and rubber lines at the connection point and use 6 point sockets, then replace the lines with new.

I'm with you.
Brake hose becomes sacrificial
When I tackle this kind of work I always order new hose.

[Bill Douglas]

Thanks for the great advice and help Guys!

LJ, I'm loving those vice grips.

I live out in the colonies so it's annoying when I need to get extra parts such as lines and hoses, as they take forever to get out here on the banana boat.

[emac911]

I havent seen one of those vice grips! Thanks for sharing, just ordered one from amazon. Too cool to pass up.

[MarkWard]

Could you remove the caliper by disconnecting the line at the trailing arm? Then with the caliper in hand, you'd have better access to the tube nut. A PO on my car had left the line connected and swung the caliper out of the way. Both lines were slightly kinked. I was able to make up new lines. I also replaced all 4 flex hoses at the same time. Its a tight access between the caliper and the tube nut if they don't break loose easily.

[Ian Comerford]

Hi Bill I had a similar issue last year when replacing the master cylinder. One pipe union started to round off and looked like it was going to be trashed. I borrowed a friend’s 11mm Snap on flank drive spanner and it just did it, no problem. I’ve since bought one. The flank drives have a high spot on opposing sides of an open Jay which only bears on the flat. It is pretty much impossible to round a union off with one. I would also consider applying a shock to the union using a hammer and punch or similar to attempt to loose it. Good luck