what happens is the flare fitting on the hardline side will rust to the brake line itself.


goto turn it and it'll just snap the line off.


done it twice. NO fun.

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-1983 VW Rabbit LS Diesel (5speed, VNT/Giles build)

Done it once.......on the Dodge........until I learned.

If the nut won't turn without turning the hard line........STOP.

Use fluid........use heat.......do whatever you have to so that you free up the nut from the hard line.........otherwise, you'll just do it again.........and the work just climbed exponentially.

The best tool I've ever owned for loosening brake fittings is the Vise Grip 4LW locking wrench. It's far superior to a flare wrench on a hard line fitting, especially ones that may have lost some metal to corrosion. It can also save a rounded fitting. It clamps onto the hex flats without damaging them, and it will NOT slip.

I'm going to try to attach a picture... let's see if this works... here goes

Fantastic.........I'm buying one.........it'll save my life someday.....

Sorry for the confusing post last night...just a little frustrated. I should buy the vise grips and try again after another week of soaking. Thanks for the advice!

Otherwise, I did stop at the junkyard this morning and pulled both hard lines out of a 300CD. Not too bad of a job. Just needed to remove the battery tray and the throttle linkage. It's really easy to remove the flare fittings on a car you don't care about...popping them with your fist really does work. My car's flare fittings were rounded off a bit so I was doomed from the start

This fiasco started with an idea to replace my worn brakes with new S class brakes (300SD). My hoses aren't totally shot and I could easily take the hose off at the caliper and leave the hard line end connected, but this would probably leave a somewhat twisted/torqued hose if it doesn't seat exactly like the old caliper and I wanted to replace the hoses anyway. Would it be a bad idea to allow twisted hoses?

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Dave

2002 Audi S6 Avant
1983 300D
1984 300D (sold)
1990 560SEL (sold)

^Yes, IMO. replace the rubber hoses with new. they are cheap enough- I just did all mine for about $30

FWIW, I have re-ran the steel brake lines many times on many vehicles. no reason to romve the old ones, I just run the new one next to it. I use some rubber fuel hose and zip ties to secure it.

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1984 123.193 372,xxx miles, room for Seven.

1999 Dodge Durango Cummins 4BTAA 47RE 5k lb 4x4 getting 25+mpgs, room for Seven.

I'm not following why the hose would twist? It might bend in the opposite direction.........depending on how it seats in the caliper.........but, it'll be fine with that. It certainly won't be "twisted".

Certainly could be twisted. (Twisted brake hoses are highly not recommended.) One should install the caliper end of the hose first, then the hard line end. The hard line end can be oriented as necessary. The caliper end is not so flexible.

Well, I did have to replace the hard line on the right side. Not too bad, just pisses me off that those flare nuts dont have larger hex heads or this wouldn't have happened. This is a relative easy job though for those who have this happen to them. Just need patience wiggling the line around everything to not stress it too much and tape everything up to keep dirt out.

__________________
Dave

2002 Audi S6 Avant
1983 300D
1984 300D (sold)
1990 560SEL (sold)

Those hard brake lines are surprisingly cheap from the dealer and have nice green anticorrosion film...times cheaper than the OEM brake hoses...for w123 it`d be like 15$.