Raymond 1960

What would be better? Replacing the lines using coiled brake tubing,copper-nickel,or pre-formed stainless steel brake lines ?

Do both require a flaring tool and new fittings?

I'm a little confused.

Thank you.

Matt B

Steel is strong but will rust- all preventative coatings/treatments will fail eventually in hostile enivonments.This will decrease the integrity of your lines.
Copper resists corrosion extremely well but just doesn't have the strength of steel.
The 90/10 NICOPP lines they're making these days are sort of a best of both worlds. Almost as strong as steel while just as corrosion resistant as copper.

I haven't been able to find any vehicle-specific NiCu lines.. Flaring and fitting would be essential. Various flare tools are available. Tubing bending and forming pliers would be another must-have. Could be quite the job.
Any reason to steer away from OEM replacement? That'd buy you another maybe ~10 years.

Raymond 1960

Thanks for your reply.

I just received an email from a friend that explained that Dorman offers stainless steel replacement lines with all of the fittings necessary to complete the job.

My concern is how difficult is it to pull these lines into place when they are preformed?

Would it be easier to pull a piece of brake line from a coil and then flare the ends at their location of placement?

Matt B

I recently replaced some nasty pitted out aluminum transmission inter-cooler lines that required extensive careful manipulation... gain 6 inches, one turn left, gain a foot, two turns right, kick out to the right, slide over that, under this, turn again... just pay close attention to how you got the old one out and reverse that procedure. It's almost therapeutic.
Aftermarket lines begins to look like re-engineering GM's design- planning your bends / figuring out where to route / learning the art of double flaring. In my amateur opinion, I think it would be indisputably easier to carefully twist/turn/fidget/slide OEM lines into place.

How bad are the lines? A viable option might be to leave the lines and only change the hoses that connect lines to calipers.

Raymond 1960

It's a 2002 Chevy 2500 Suburban with only 55K miles.A brake line burst while attempting to stop for a yellow light.After inspecting all of the lines,it was easy to determine that they are all rusted and present a potential hazard.They need to be replaced.

02Sub

I also have a 2002 Suburban 2500 (with 4wd).

Last Year I had a brake line burst and when I looked at all the lines, they were badly rusted.

I bought the stainless steel prebent kit from classictube.com. If I remember correctly it was about $375.

I would have usually installed it myself, but it was in the middle of winter and too cold to work on it. My local garage did the install and they said it wasn't too bad, but there were a few tricky parts.

Steve

Raymond 1960

Thanks for your reply.My Suburban is also 4WD.

The Dorman stainless steel preformed kit is only $100.00

Now I just need to decide if I want the preformed kit or the coil kit.The advantage to the coil kit is that it allows you to reroute the lines so you don't have do any major part removal,such as the gas tank.

tech2

making your own lines will cost approx $30 for 25 feet of cupric/nickel line. This is the best choice of line as it easy to bend and flare. You will have to factor in the cost of a flaring tool and on car bender. You may also need a proportioning tool to bleed the rear brakes.

you can slide the line in between the tank and frame rail if you start from behind the rear axle and push it forward. cover the open end first to keep dirt out of it.

Matt B

I think I'll wind up doing a doorman kit myself. About 3 coats of some high-performance enamel- probably buy me 10 years of braking.

Raymond 1960

I'm leaning in that direction.Meanwhile I have to ride my Harley.Oh the inhumanity,LOL.