Front brake hose removal help

[Earl Filter]

I'm doing some front brake work, and the brake hoses have collapsed internally. I bought new ones, but the old ones don't want to come off on the frame end. I got the caliper end off no problem. There's the smaller fitting that screws into the hose fitting on the inside of the frame. It's a 3/8" fitting. I've used PB Blaster to try to loosen it up, but neither the small fitting on the inside nor the 5/8" fitting on the outside of the frame want to come off. I'm afraid I'm going to round off the fittings if I'm not careful. They're not even corroded, but I can't get them to budge. Any ideas?

[76HighSierra]

Originally Posted by Earl Filter

I'm doing some front brake work, and the brake hoses have collapsed internally. I bought new ones, but the old ones don't want to come off on the frame end. I got the caliper end off no problem. There's the smaller fitting that screws into the hose fitting on the inside of the frame. It's a 3/8" fitting. I've used PB Blaster to try to loosen it up, but neither the small fitting on the inside nor the 5/8" fitting on the outside of the frame want to come off. I'm afraid I'm going to round off the fittings if I'm not careful. They're not even corroded, but I can't get them to budge. Any ideas?

The hose will not turn in the frame, because the frame is "notched" to accept an identical male end on the hose. The solid brake line fittings are somewhat hard to get at on these trucks. Sometimes what I've had to do, is take the clip off of the inside end of the flex line (behind the small solid line fitting) and pull the solid AND flex line outward so I could access the small fitting easily. It's been a LONG while since I've had to replace a front flex line on these trucks, so I hope I'm remembering correctly.

[Earl Filter]

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh! Maybe that'll work! I sure ain't done no good my way.

[boxrodz]

When I did mine, I also used PB Blaster. After letting it set, I used a flare nut wrench to loosen the brake line fitting from the brake hose fitting. Once it 'broke' loose, it came off fairly easy. (I used a flare nut wrench to avoid rounding the fitting.) BTW, the frame is 'keyed' to the brake hose fitting. So, it will not turn when removing the brake line fitting. I would use a 5/8" wrench to hold it in place while trying to break loose the brake line fitting with a flare nut wrench. You could also remove the nut on the inside of the frame holding the brake hose to the frame to get better access to the fitting and then try to break loose the brake line fitting. Good luck.

[Earl Filter]

How do you have enough room to get a flare nut wrench on it? Being inside the frame rail, I can barely get my 4" 3/8 wrench on it, and my flare nut wrench is about 8" long. I'm pretty sure I'll need to loosen the hose and either pull it through the frame to the outside, or at least get some room inside the framerail. It's just a nut on the inside of the framerail, right?

[boxrodz]

Originally Posted by Earl Filter

How do you have enough room to get a flare nut wrench on it? Being inside the frame rail, I can barely get my 4" 3/8 wrench on it, and my flare nut wrench is about 8" long. I'm pretty sure I'll need to loosen the hose and either pull it through the frame to the outside, or at least get some room inside the framerail. It's just a nut on the inside of the framerail, right?

I was 'just' able to get the flare nut wrench in there and get some leverage. It was a tight fit especially on the passenger side. My flare nut wrench set is about 6" long with a slight angle on the heads. I agree with you and what Marc suggested. Just remove the inner nut and pull the it through the framerail. That's how assembled the brake line fitting to the brake hose.

Yes, "it's just a nut on the inside of the framerail". But, it's a tight fit too. I was able to take an adjustable wrench and use just the tip of the wrench to loosen the nut. It was slow going, but fortunately it wasn't on too tight.

My biggest problem was the bleeder screws. Broken screws, broken extractors and, in the end, new calipers and cylinders...

[Earl Filter]

This truck has been sitting up for at least 5 years, so I bought new calipers and a new master cylinder without even checking them. It's funny that a new seal for the inside of the master cylinder cap is $5.99, but a new master cylinder with a new cap and seal is $12.99. It's about the same story for caliper slide pins vs. new calipers that have new slide pins on them.