DIY DIY: How to replace your brake lines

DIY: How to replace your brake lines

I decided to change my old 12 year old front and 17 year old rear OEM rubber brake lines for safety reasons. I purchased stainless steel brake lines for my car to see if I noticed much of a difference. The stainless steel brake lines are suppose to improve pedal feel and reduce the amount of time between applied pedal pressure and actual deceleration by preventing expansion, which stock rubber flex lines allow. Note that I have a rear disc brake conversion off a 93 Celica so the rear lines will be different if you have drum brakes.

Here are the stainless steel lines:


Here are the OEM rubber lines:


Steps:

1) I started at the rear and worked my way to the front. First, jack up the car and then take off wheel.



2) Take off this clip holding the hose to the bracket by pulling with a plier.



3) Then, take off this clip so you can take off the rubber brake line from the hard brake line. Take a 10 MM flare nut wrench to unscrew the hard line and use a 17 MM wrench to hold the flex line from turning to disconnect the line. Get a oil pan ready as the brake fluid will spill.



4) Take a 12 MM wrench to take off this banjo bolt to the caliper.



5) Install the new brake line in reverse steps and use 2 new copper washers for the banjo bolt to the caliper.



6) Be sure to look that both washers come off the OEM lines as sometimes they stick to the calipers as in here.



7) Use zip ties to hold the lines in place as the original clips would not fit the stainless steel lines.



8) Now you have finished a rear brake line. Once you mastered this learning curve, it should get easier. Repeat for the other side of the rear.



9) Now for the front. Unscrew this clip that ones the line in place on the strut.





10) Take off both clips and disconnect the hard line to the flex line line just like the procedure for the rear.



11) Take off the banjo bolt to the caplier.



12) Connect the new brake line and use zipties. Now repeat the steps for the other front side.





13) REQUIRED STEP, DO NOT SKIP! Time to bleed the brakes as there is air in the lines now! I have the Power Bleeder from Motive Products so I can bleed the brakes by myself. One 32 oz. bottle of brake fluid was enough to finish the job.



14) The hardest part of the Power Bleeder was creating a good seal with the brake fluid reservoir. Other than that the procedure was a piece of cake!



15) Use a 8 MM wrench, clear plastic tubing, and a oil pan to open each caliper to get the air out. Start bleeding from the passenger side rear then go to the driver side rear to the passenger side and lastly bleed the driver's side brakes to properly bleed your brakes.




WARNING: BE CAREFUL WHEN DRIVING YOUR CAR FOR THE FIRST TIME AFTER THIS!!!! IF YOU DIDN'T DO ALL THESE STEPS CORRECTLY, YOUR BRAKES MAY NOT WORK THEREFORE YOUR CAR MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO STOP!!! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU BLEED THE BRAKES WHEN INSTALLING BRAKE LINES!

nice diy...so how does the break feel now?

Brakes feel noticeably better but not night and day difference.

nice sandals man.

eBay. Came in a box with label: Brakes Pro. Must be their private brand.

koo

if anyone wants a set I'm selling it brand new for 50 bucks shipped.

yes, fits 93-02

Nice DIY. Make sure you clean up any spilled brake fluid that got on your car. That stuff will eat through anything and could do some damage.

im getting you new sandals for christmas next year plu

i notice in all ur diy's ur feet must be in the pics. my favorite was in the power mirrors, u were holding it with ur feet. lawl

he wasnt wearing his sandals in that one =[ haha

never noticed haha. I got them sandals in Hawaii now I'll rock them until they fall apart!

I used to have them early 2000's played out Adias sandals you see in some older pictures...lol. I just noticed that my watch is also all over the pictures

mmm, rear brake conversion. lol
sorry, noticed celica mods.

So how does that Power Bleeder work? Will it work on a clutch reservoir?

If you look closely at the clutch reservior, it is in a corner of the firewall. I haven't tried, but I would think that the power bleeder is too big to fit in there. When I get to changing my clutch fluid, I'm planning to do it manually at the slave cylinder so I won't be using the power bleeder for this job at all.

With the power bleeder, you create a good seal with the brake system and then build pressure to 15 PSI by pumping the device which should force the old brake fluid out off the bleeder valves. Basically after creating 15 PSI, I go out to each of my wheels and drain out the old fluid. I make sure that there is no more air bubbles and close the bleeder valve. That's it.

I like how once I build pressure to 15 PSI, I have enough pressure in there to bleed 2 wheels before having to pump again to 15.