I installed all my lines without messing with the mounts. All the lines were pre bent and very very close to originals. I made room by removing all the clips that hold the power and break lines on the frame, I also cut all the lines and removed completely. Worked well but took a lot of patience.

 

Hat's off to you Daniel Z I just couldn't get my pre-bent lines through, so your success is good for others to know!

I also cut-out my old lines, they were "shot" anyway (which is an understatement)

Recently here in the UK a friend had a rear-line rupture whilst travelling down a road, they narrowly avoided a parked truck and were so lucky to survive unscathed.

So glad I changed my lines, rotors, pads etc, truck now stops on a dime, best its ever been!

 

Wow that's crazy, I bet I was close myself to that point. Our old lines were so rusted they snapped without much pressure. Our H2 stops very nice just now the breaks started to squeek. Not happy, only 1k miles on. This brand I used may be cheap crap. May have to replace the pads again, something much better. All new rotors, pads, lines, calipers etc.

 

Thanks for everyone's input. I just got the brake lines in today from SStubes. I opted for the steel lines vs the stainless steel. The truck was originally from the north and now down here in Texas so i'm now less worried about rust. I also thought the steel lines would form a bit better to the factory holds compared to the spring of a stainless steel. I plan on doing just as Daniel did and remove all the clips and wiring harness first. I also think it might be easier to fish the new lines from under the truck near the ABS module to the outside of the truck and back. Daniel, is that how you did it? Also, those clips pop out with a single plastic rivet release; correct?

 

clsimmon hope you'll post your experiences

 

To follow up on my rear brake line replacement; I was in fact able to to this without separating the body from the chassis. I opt'd for the steel lines vs the stainless steel as I knew I would need to straighten the large left bend to the connection point aft the rear left wheel in order for this to work. I straightened the lines to where they were mostly linear and proceeded to feed them from under the inside of chassis as the bends that reach over ABS module are far too great to feed them outside the chassis to the ABS module. Everything worked out great and it was simple to re-form that left bend aft the rear left wheel.

Even though stainless is a far superior product, I would not recommend it unless you do a body-off restoration which I plan on doing with another truck. The steel lines were manageable and I was able to shift the lines and move them around to where each pre-bend that came from SStubes aligned perfectly to factory. In fact, you cannot tell between my job and the factory install. Every clip seated the tube nicely. Stainless wouldn't have been near as forgiving.

The key is to completely remove all brake line retainer clips before removal of the old lines. It will of course give you the needed room between the body and chassis to feed the new line as well. Strangely to get the retainer nail popped up to release the clip was probably the hardest part of the job. There simply is not enough room in some places to get to that nail to release the clip. I built my own tool (attached) which was made with a cheap/small 9/32 open ended wrench. I had grind the open ended tips sharp and bent the head up which made the perfect pry tool for getting in tight spaces and lifting the retainer nail up.




All 4 of my connection points where extremely rusted along with my bleeder valves. 3 days of hitting them with wd-40 enabled me to break them loose without any problem.

Lastly, I wanted to mention I've read a lot of people using the ABS module for bleeding their system. This is not the proper way. You first must bleed manually, and then ABS bleed.

It's not a small project. Depending on you pace, the job can take a DIY'r about 4 to 6 hours.