blown brake lines
 

jusy blew my metal brake lines.looks like two places,between the master cylinder and the propurtuning cylinder ,and the rear back by the gas tank.any tips on making this easier?(other than taking it to a dealer!)

You can rent a bender and flare tool to make the new lines and use compression fittings to tie into your existing lines. It isn't that difficult a job and relatively cheap too.

compression of flare? i'm a plumber so i got a flare tool,i think they would hold up better than compression.
i was looking at the existing line,don't know if there is any good metal to bite into! good old pa winters with the salt trucks,shure take their toll on vehicles!

I was thinking compression to tie in but if you want to buy more fittings and flare those ends too it'll work. Even buying the new brake lines isn't very expensive and easy to run but I doubt you get the old mounting clips loose so buy or make new ones.

thank you. youll know where i'll be tomorrow morning!

I would avoid using compression fittings on your brake lines. Just get a spool of line and redo the whole thing. Brakes are a safety item, and I wouldn't trust that fitting with your life or other's. It just isn't worth it. My vote is to run a whole new line, and do it right.

What I do is pull out the old line, and make a new line by either using zip ties to hold the old line to the new one you're forming, or just making some general bends and making it fit. If you're doing the line off the master cylinder, use a pipe and wrap your new line around it to get the pretty spirals. They're there to allow flexibility in your lines.

I just went through this last week on my own truck. Blew out the front passenger line, but because they were so bad to begin with, the more I tried to work on the line, the more broke. So I ended up replacing both front lines, hoses and the line going to the T-block off the master cylinder. Didn't help that my bleeder screws were both really stuck good. I had help getting them out though. The guys that helped me get them out are known for being good at rescuing bleeder screws.

Take your time and do it right.

i had a simaler problem i just went and baught the line and bent it myself i didnt need a tool to bend it anyway i got all new flare fittings and a flare tool and did it myself that was on my 94 it was simple and done in less then an hour

well,i ended up doing 5 so far,2 off the master cylinder to the proportuning valve,3 out of it.went the flare route,pa inspection laws frowns on compression couplings.still gotta the back to hook up,then bleed this mess! love how gm snaked those lines on top of the frame,but under the cab mounts.with a tye down no less.called a few engineers a few choise names!

I found it the easiest to undo the cab mounts and lift the cab about 3 inches. This gives you the needed clearance to get the old lines out and to put the new ones in. You can lift it until the shroud hits the fan. You also have to undo the emergency brake cable.

Those lovely engineers don't have to work on them, just design them lol. Glad to hear it's turning out ok.