Replacing hard to reach brake line?

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Your welcome.  Millwood supply carries lots of hard to find P30 parts (minus the infamous turn signal lever).

[M & J]

I appreciate your words Rick. Means a lot coming from someone with your vast background and experience.   

[Rickf1985]

My vast background and experience sort of stops at the waterline with these things. W% The mechanical stuff I am good at but when it comes to the coach part I lean on these other guys. Just like that brake cable.

[M & J]

Hey D. I tried to get to the rear bleeders and I barely had enough for my hand and wrench, let alone a vacuum bleeder hose. Maybe 2 inches between the backing plate and spring pack. Gotta think about that.
I also cant break free one of the two steel axle lines from the flex line T. One is on the verge of rounding off and I'm not making that line up to replace it. So I'm gravity bleeding back to the T, then to each wheel cylinder. Very s l o w process. Last day without rain until the weekend so one drip at a time until the drips are clear.

How did you get your bleeder line up there to the wheel cylinder Circle D?

[circleD]

I took the tires off so I could get easy access. Because trying to get the wrench, bleeder tube, my big hands and maintaining a good seal just wasn't happening. With the tire off I checked brakes, wheel cylinders, rotors, tire pressure, etc. It took more time to take off the tire but I wanted to make sure everything was done correctly.
I even used my brothers wrench to loosen the bleeders. Its an open end wrench 8mm I think, that he heated up and bent to almost a °90 just for that.

[M & J]

Man, handling tnose duals is not what I wanted to do. The right bleeder loosened real easy, I havent tried the left yet.
Gravity bleeding is so tedious. You made a decision on yours yet?

[circleD]

TV antenna up and jacks grounded to the ground. Waiting on storm  :)rotflmao
I have a tag axle also that I needed to mess around to loosen my bleeders so the tire removal was easier for me.

[Rambunctious]

Just replaced my front brake lines and had a brake job on the front; one line was blocked causing the brake to lock until it slowly would release; that caused severe heat which damaged the brakes. It also caused a strong pull to the left when applying the brakes and a drift to the right on the road. Caliper was okay thank goodness. Make sure and check the brake lines on these old rigs guy's. Safety first.

[M & J]

Yup. I have all new soft lines to replace the old ones.

[M & J]

Today was the first day for a week that wasnt raining or windy and above 60. I rebled all the lines. I still couldnt get the rear steel line to break loose from the flex line so just let it gravity bleed again to insure the fluid had been replaced. The old fluid was honey color and wasnt that bad.
Off the jack stands and several forward and backward stops within the 60' of the driveway before backing out in the road. Pedal was firm with no fade.
The thing is we live on top of a ridge. The driveway is near the crest, but not quite. So I backed the coach out up hill, in case of failure i could turn back in the driveway. I backed up the road to the crest and the flat stopping hard every so often. Pulling forward did the same and each time good hard stops with firm pedal. Next time forward I rolled down the hill with stops every 50' heading down. In the valley i sped up to about 45 and did several hard stops.
At the other end of the valley I turned around and came back up the ridge and headed toward the switchback, Its very steep and its the way we have to leave when we pull the trailer. Halfway down I pushed hard on the brakes and came to a full stop. At the bottom stop sign it stopped with no complaints
Hit about 50 through the valley and slowed smoothly to make the turn to head back up the ridge to the house. Stopped and back in to the parkjng spot and hooked the trailer back up.
Sorry to drag this out but where we live is nothing but 2 lane backroads with a number of hairpin turns and steep climbs and descents. Losing the brakes while backing in at the house after a trip scared the pure hell out of me and I had to get my confidence back before trusting the rig again.
I still want to change that rear flex line but not this year. I also started to gather the parts to build a pressure bleeder and will change the flex lines and do a full pressure bleed next spring. Maybe I'll look at changing the air bags, since I discovered the left front wont hold air now...........

[joanfenn]

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