I'm getting ready to install my SS brake lines, and I'm in the process of getting quotes. I'm hearing from shops that the rear brake lines are a PIA and take a long time. Is this true? Is a DIY relatively easy?

I'm being quoted $220-275 to have them installed. Sound reasonable?

 

the rears are a joke, its the fronts that can be a pain since they snake from one side of the shock to the other. idk what to tell ya on the price, did em myself, i forgot to take pics. id guess that's a high price tho.

 

Both are a piece of cake if you take your time especially the rears. The longest part is bleeding the brakes afterwards and I have a pneumatic brake bleeder to make that a one man job. If you're going to make the change use good quality DOT 4 brake fluid like Motul RBF 600 if you track the car at all. If not then just a good high quality DOT 4 fluid will work for the street. Bleed your system at least once a year as well. Does wonders for the seals and master cylinder. Good luck.

Al

P.S. Here's a handy little tip to keep from losing so much fluid while you're changing the lines. Take the the bleeder nipple cap from the caliper and use it to plug up the hard line end at the chassis when you disconnect it from the old rubber line. This gives you plenty of time to install the brake lines from the caliper back to the chassis hard line (yes in reverse direction) until you are finally ready for that last connection. Take off the nipple cover, and install the line and tighten. Put the line fastening clip on and you're ready for the brake bleed. You should lose very little fluid with this technique.

 

I installed the Z1 stainless lines a couple weeks back. Install was straightforward, especially in the rears. Easy to do, easier than some of my other cars in the past actually.

But you know, I just don't like working with fluids much Esp. brake fluid. In fact, the only difficulty I had was that my Motive brake bleeder had a leak in the line to the reservoir. I had to clean up my engine bay a bit. That sucked.

 

^Yeah I'm very tempted to try it myself, but I'd have to buy some tools and don't want to deal with brake fluid either. Think I'll just try to talk with the shop and let them know I've asked around and it's a pretty easy job and should take quite as long as they estimate.

 

Ask if they'll do the whole job including the brake bleed with the Motul RBF 600 for around $220. Make sure you have them save all the old parts and show you at least 2 pint bottles of the brake fluid used. Don't throw away the old lines but keep them as a spare set in case something breaks in the future and you have a spare. Never had that happen with my SS lines on any car I've ever done but **** happens.

Al