Thread: 5th brake hose "hard line" solution ~$6

Below are the pictures i took of the left front brake line from the ABS module to the caliper brake hose.

So far i have 12" 3/16" bubble flare M10x1.0 thread AKA European AKA Metric line with a male to male union obtained locally at low cost. The next step is to rent a tube bender and find the time to get this on my car. THe part number for the union is 45312. i will post pictures of all of the tools required for this option.

The other hard line option requires a tube cutter and bender to attach the line via two union compression couplers and that can work too but it may not be as safe as the first option.

The third option is to go with the ZZP SS braided hose.

Its weird there is already a section with stainless steel braid (near ABS module) and then there is a section of plain rubber hose.

I did find a Regal with the same ABS module but no rubber line at all but someone chopped off the other end [] so i could not use it.

Here are the pics below...two complete lines (ABS module to LF brake hose) from the boneyard


ABS module side


Caliper side


Step 1 raise the left front turn the wheel to the left. Nice C5 brakes, GMPP sway bar, and GMPP suspension.[8D] Notice the Goodrich line. That line has to be indexed so mark the line and bracket.



Pictures of the line - 5th brake hose




Step 2 organize the tools The bender on right was not used it was too wide. Not pictured are the vise grips i used.


Side by side comparison of 12" line + union and stock brake hose


Step 3 lets get bending. I bent the ends first and i took more comparison shots. Every car is going to be different IMO so i did not bother taking measurements of the bends




With every bend i compared it to the line on the car. Which matters more than the spare stock line i had on hand.

Those white markings or spots i made those while i had the line up against the line on the car for reference on where the bend should start. On the end the spots indicate where the bends begin. The marks in the center was a reference for the center of the final bend.

The final bend was made near the center and here is what i got.



BTW if you mess up i learned you can straighten out the line and start over.
Before


After


Final step install union first


Then brake line


Done - Before and After

If you pull this off I hope you will post in detail how you did it all. The rubber line to the caliper cant really be avoided as you need something with flex to allow for the wheel travel, but the rest of it, I dont see why you couldnt use hard lines.

Thanks with the 12" line and union its looking promising. I will post with step by step pictures. The added bonus of having Goodrich lines already on too. Looking to do this on Friday night.

Hopefully my brakes will be rubber hose free!

Done...no more rubber hose. Updated the op.

Dude that is fantastic work. Thank you for posting this up and for seeing an area of improvement and pursuing a solution. I hope this makes it into the How To section as it certainly needs to be there.

Off topic I know but did you have to shave down the ribs on the Vette Caliper to make it fit under stock wheels?

Originally Posted by GTP2K1

Off topic I know but did you have to shave down the ribs on the Vette Caliper to make it fit under stock wheels?

YGPM

I saved the instruction in a word file but i hope it does make into the how to section. I had this idea back January of this year. I am very pleased with the way it came out. Thanks.

Great info!!

Originally Posted by Blown97

Great info!!

If the information is helpful, dont forget to give thanks or use the reputation to give recognition for great work and contributions.

So how did this impact your braking? Does it feel any better? Is there rubber left anywhere else in the system?

There was not that much of an impact or improvement to the braking performance that i could notice. I was running C5s at the time. It feels better knowing there is no chance of failing an unserviceable rubber brake hose.

To this day no leaks anywhere and its great having one less thing to worry about.

Hope this helps when i do my front brake lines

Originally Posted by apierce1289

Hope this helps when i do my front brake lines

Still running strong and leak free...

Did this today as I was doing front brakes, and had to bleed them anyway due to replacing the rear proportioning valves, so why not. I decided to just cut the brake line just after the ss flex and run my own line from an inverted union straight from there to the main brake hose.