brake hose leak

[76bonanza]

My rubber brake hose on passenger side is weeping fluid I noticed it was damp yesterday checked it today after about 20 pumps in park I get a small amount of fluid not a drip just a weep.

Question one this is my daily driver how long do you think before it causes real problems?

Question two should I replace it with rubber or go with stainless? Were is the best place to get stainless from? I saw some in LMC I have a 76 k10. I only replace the peice from the caliper to the frame right?

Question thre is it an easy install? I have never done brakes at all but have done other things.

Sorry for all the questions just dont want my brakes to fail.

[leastbay]

not so sure about the best place to get stainless but i would replace it right away that thing could bust open at anytime causing you to crash i had it happen to me on my 79 ford when i was 17 and i found out my parking brake didnt work i wrecked into a brand new camry

[Destructo]

I prefer rubber myself unless your really after street performance and need a little extra pressure. But otherwise for general purposes rubber is better because you can see the line and tell if you have a problem, where-as with stainless if the hose is coming apart you may not see it until its too late.

Oh and replacing the hoses is a peice of cake, I wouldn't wait. It also depends on where its leaking, is it leaking from the rubber part or around where it connects? If its around where it connects then it could be a bad washer or loose bolt.

[76bonanza]

Do I just unbolt the banjo then unbolt it from the frame thing then attach the new hose same way? any thing on the threads or anything? Then bleed them good?

Thanks

[1FaastC10]

unbolt the banjo fitting, and bolt it from the line. you need a copper washer on each side of the banjo fitting, that's it. bleed em out, and call it a night.

[MylilBowTie]

If you buy a reman cailper from KOI (Savage) they come with the copper fittings, cailper bolts and cailper for like 15.00 I just bought one for each side up front.

[purple gas]

Don't wait on leaky breaks. A leak could turn into a gush at the worst possible moment, & you don't want that. Me & the kids were crusin down the freeway in bumper to bumper traffic a few years back. Got off the rat race & stopped at a store. When I got back in the car & went to put it in drive, the peddle went right to the floor--Nothin. Just when to hose gave out I don't know, but if it had a few minutes earlier I hate to think of what could have happend. Fix it now!!!!

[76bonanza]

in process of doing now when i remove the line from the hose will it continue to leak do i have to cap it or will just some run out?

Thanks

[76bonanza]

Just got done and test drove it, pedal feels good and it stops good, hope it is not leaking. hard to check since the area around the banjo and the line fitting are soaked will brake fluid right now but not noticable leaks.

About how tight should the banjo and the line fitting be? Really tight or super duper tight? Or will snug with a wrench be good?

Thanks for all your help.

[leastbay]

i would say pretty tight about 40 ft/lbs or so

[Senor_paco]

ok, this is how you do it. With my '77, when one started to leak a tiny bit, i asked my dad (he bought the truck new), when the hoses were replaced, and he said "the wah?". so I decided instead of replacing them one bty one, to replace them all and forget about it. I got a set (3) at Jegs for about $70 or so, Russell braided SS lines (owned by Edelbrock). this may be psychological, but they seem to brake tighter since there's a lot less room for expansion, unlike the rubber ones. just buy a set, take the day, drain the system and replace them all at one time. You'll make more work for yourself otherwise... Good luck.

[Senor_paco]

after 20-some odd years, i'll most likely be dead before they need to be replaced again. remember, the rubber will age faster than the SS, and if they leak, the liner is leaking and will leak through the SS, unlike rubber, which has t orot or have enough pressure through it to create a leak, SS will let you know as soon as it starts t oleak, lasts longer (no rotting) and looks cooler too(if your into that). I just replace my parts with the best I can find. it might not be the fastest, but I know it stops quickly.

destructo has a good view, but I decided to g oanother way. Whatever you choose is fine, again, you probably won't have to replace them again for decades, i just opted for better braking. I own 2 77 silverados, and the SS line one definitely feels better when braking. IMHO. could be psychological.. Naaahhh...

[76bonanza]

One problem I neclected to remove the copper gasket from the inside of the banjo fitting the one that goes against the caliper so now there are two. I did test drive it about 10 miles and pumped the crap out of the brakes I have noticed no leaks so far.

Do you think it will still seal since they are copper? I really dont want to remove it and rebleed the brakes. Should I just wait and see if it leaks and if not dont worry about it?

Thanks