Replacing steel rear brake lines!

[yellowkid]

Hi guys -- back for part two of this project! A while back I came here for some advice on replacing the front line which had rusted out and let go (thanks again all). like the proverbial "other shoe" to drop, the rear finally went. good news is I already have the part as part of the GM kit I bought earlier (yes I know I shoulda done both but if you did this job you'll understand why i did not!). I'm now doing everything new from the ABS unit back, including axle lines, rubber lines, calipers.

So the question is, can I do it without dropping the tank? I've watched videos etc and it seems some folks say its possible. I have dropped the tank once before (to do the rusted out fuel pump lines) but would rather not esp since I have half a tank of gas.

Any/all advice welcome on how to approach this! I've got the car up, LH wheel off, fender liner out, and it seems other than snaking it forward it might be do-able with a little gentle twisting of the line?

thanks again.

 

[yellowkid]

Hi guys -- back for part two of this project! A while back I came here for some advice on replacing the front line which had rusted out and let go (thanks again all). like the proverbial "other shoe" to drop, the rear finally went. good news is I already have the part as part of the GM kit I bought earlier (yes I know I shoulda done both but if you did this job you'll understand why i did not!). I'm now doing everything new from the ABS unit back, including axle lines, rubber lines, calipers.

So the question is, can I do it without dropping the tank? I've watched videos etc and it seems some folks say its possible. I have dropped the tank once before (to do the rusted out fuel pump lines) but would rather not esp since I have half a tank of gas.

Any/all advice welcome on how to approach this! I've got the car up, LH wheel off, fender liner out, and it seems other than snaking it forward it might be do-able with a little gentle twisting of the line?

thanks again.

PS so sorry -- the basics: it's a 2004 Yukon XL 4WD with the 5.3 gas engine.

 

[HiHoeSilver]

Hi guys -- back for part two of this project! A while back I came here for some advice on replacing the front line which had rusted out and let go (thanks again all). like the proverbial "other shoe" to drop, the rear finally went. good news is I already have the part as part of the GM kit I bought earlier (yes I know I shoulda done both but if you did this job you'll understand why i did not!). I'm now doing everything new from the ABS unit back, including axle lines, rubber lines, calipers.

So the question is, can I do it without dropping the tank? I've watched videos etc and it seems some folks say its possible. I have dropped the tank once before (to do the rusted out fuel pump lines) but would rather not esp since I have half a tank of gas.

Any/all advice welcome on how to approach this! I've got the car up, LH wheel off, fender liner out, and it seems other than snaking it forward it might be do-able with a little gentle twisting of the line?

thanks again.

 

[yellowkid]

thank you yes saw this one was just hoping to hear form any others who may have tackled it!

 

[06JET]

I jacked my body up and threw in a 3" body lift under it while replacing the brake lines on mine. You won't regret it. It helps with access to everything. Try it without removing the tank and if it proves impossible then remove the tank. You just need to get started. You can do it.

 

[Mooseman93]

Hi guys -- back for part two of this project! A while back I came here for some advice on replacing the front line which had rusted out and let go (thanks again all). like the proverbial "other shoe" to drop, the rear finally went. good news is I already have the part as part of the GM kit I bought earlier (yes I know I shoulda done both but if you did this job you'll understand why i did not!). I'm now doing everything new from the ABS unit back, including axle lines, rubber lines, calipers.

So the question is, can I do it without dropping the tank? I've watched videos etc and it seems some folks say its possible. I have dropped the tank once before (to do the rusted out fuel pump lines) but would rather not esp since I have half a tank of gas.

Any/all advice welcome on how to approach this! I've got the car up, LH wheel off, fender liner out, and it seems other than snaking it forward it might be do-able with a little gentle twisting of the line?

thanks again.

I just did my 2001 Yukon XL 5.3 a couple of weeks ago (after splicing in "patches" to the two spots that had previously failed.) I bought a pre-cut/fitted NiCop complete set off RockAuto.com for about 90 dollars. To answer your specific question, I had no real issues snaking the new line back to the rear. I followed pretty closely to the path of the old line on top of and next to the frame rail and never even considered dropping the fuel tank. I did take out the lower part of the plastic fender well on the left rear but that is super easy.
I will comment that if you are doing only the rear line(s), you may have trouble getting a wrench on the fitting at the ABS pump, as it is the upper, outermost line and the other lines sort of block it unless you're doing them all at once and can work in clearance order.
Also, I briefly considered leaving the original LR line alone until it failed just because I was feeling lazy and kind of wanted to put it off until spring, but then I thought about it and didn't want to leave that one last time bomb out there. When I undid the fitting, the line basically crumbled in my hands with no effort. So now I'm happy I did all of them instead of waiting.