Dan3292

My 1996 4WD F150 sits outside in a very humid location. The long and short of it is that I have lost my brakes now four times and had to be towed in for repair. It is also pretty hilly here in PA and losing your brakes is no fun!

My brother claims that his GMC has OEM stainless steel brake lines going from front to back and that he replaced the flex lines with stainless steel as well. When I was last at the dealers I asked them to let me see underneath when they had it up on the lift. What I saw was that the repairs from my four brake incidents were just done in segments. The mechanic easily pointed out several more areas where rusting out was imminent. One was the front-to-back transit snaked through the frame.

I asked the service rep if Ford could do a TOTAL brake line replacement in stainless steel and he said they would gladly do it if I came up with the materials for them. What would my parts list look like to totally replace all brake lines from the master cylinder all the way to the brakes? The service rep said that he had seen kits for vintage cars like Mustangs but not for F150's. He was also not sure they would be able to bend stainless steel to conform to the passageways without it having been pre-bent for them. Or should I take it somewhere else than Ford to have it done?

What say ye, all? I still love my truck but have become mistrustful of it..

Bouty

LMC Truck has stainless line kits. LMCTRUCK.COM

flareside_thunder

What he said......also on the flexible lines......stainless braided lines will not only provide better stopping ability but will not rust (obviously).

Dan3292

Thanks for getting me started. I am looking at their Ford Truck catalog, page 134 at Pre-Bent Stainless Steel Brake Line Kits and it shows the picture but only available for years 80-86, Item 45-4692.

flareside_thunder

I see them available for 80-93...not sure why they cut the year off there other than maybe because of ABS...but not sure what year they started ABS....

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fd/full.aspx?Page=134

Dan3292

I went ahead with the stainless steel brake line replacement which was completed yesterday. Just for future reference of any other poor fools trying to get a handle on this, the only place I could find to make up the lines for my 1996 F150 was www.classictube.com at a charge of $299 plus $39 shipping. It took them about three weeks to make up the parts and ship them.

I took the box of parts over to my local Ford dealer for installation. Ford charged me about $700 (mostly labor + taxes + brake line flush kit), putting the completed transformation at around $1000. I asked the service rep how the job went and he said the mechanic claimed the lines "fit like a glove". Congrats to Classic Tube.

After some deliberation, I did not order any stainless flex lines (about $100 extra, not available at Classic Tube) to complement the hard lines, as my goal was rust proofing and the OEM rubber flex lines seemed adequate.

Mailliws

Dan, can you post photos of the work and the brake lines? I am looking to do the same job myself. ClassicTube doesn't have any images for the product. I like to see how they look before I buy.

Thanks.

Just call me Sean

iTrader: (1)

What's to see? It's a steel tube with bends.

Warlockk

Good write up. Just a small note. Brake fluid absorbs moisture. If its changed regularly it will keep rust from forming on the inside. Outside is a different matter, but most if the time brake lines rust from the inside. Even with stainless lines its important to change the fluid. Other components can still rust and water can boil or freeze in the lines causing brake failure.

Dan3292

Since I had the work done, I have not had any further issues with my brakes. I guess I never got a good enough look at any of my rusted sections to determine whether they rusted out from the inside or the outside. The mechanic at the dealership who has now done a number of my repairs is a sympathizer with a '94 F150. Next time I go in, I will ask him about the water build-up within the braking system.

It would be difficult to photograph the job without me putting the truck up on a lift, which I do not have.