Removing & Replacing a Left Rear Brake Line

Video Transcript

"In this clip, we're going to talk about the proper service procedure to inspect, remove, and replace your steel brake lines and bleed the braking system on a Ford Explorer. In this step, we're going to talk about removal and replacement of our left rear brake line. This is the line here that runs from the brake hose to the left rear wheel. As you can see, its condition is severely degraded. It's actually leaking right here. You can see the moisture there, and the vast majority of the line is just rust. This is a safety hazard just waiting to come get 'cha. We're going to unscrew the line here and unscrew the line here. I'm not going to kid you; the fittings are in the same shape as this. You may have to use a torch. These are available at Home Depot and they're pretty cheap. You'll spend thirty bucks for one and they last forever. You will have to buy oxygen and map gas or propane as well. These cylinders are about seven dollars a piece. They last a pretty decent amount of time. What you do is, you heat the fittings up, so they become soft and you can extract them there, from the actuators that they're in; like the wheel cylinder. Let me just show you that right now. They make tools called line wrenches for fitting over the line, and gripping a hold of that fitting and unscrewing it. They're only good for when you're going to reuse the same line. If you're going to replace the broken line, it's a lot faster to cut it, pound a socket onto that fitting, and take it out with a six point socket. You'll have a much better time at that. I'm going to take my dice, and cut the line right there. Once you have the line out of the way, you can see it looks just like a nut or a bolt head. You can unscrew that with a socket set."