Replace brake flex lines?

It's a little early for them to be failed; but for anything over 10 years old I would definitely replace them. I'm thinking go ahead and do it; it's a little more work now, but if it turns out they are bad you'll have to basically do the same work over again.

You have flare wrenches, right...?

nate

Collapsing is less of a problem than bursting. Brake hoses should be replaced whenever calipers or wheel cylinders are replaced. Cheap insurance.

If you had a proper diagnosis done and are shure it's the calipers, why replace the hoses ? That's like saying " Have heard master cylinders can go bad and brake lines can rust out, should I replace them also?" In other words, if it's not bad don't repalce it.

I disagree, I wouldn't go to the trouble of replacing the calipers without at least checking the hoses, first visually (are they starting to crack or check?) and second functionally (blow through the hose in both directions to see if there's any restriction) and by the time you remove it to blow through it you might as well replace it. Plus a hose that old unless you reinstall it in exactly the same way, it probably will crack. Hoses are cheaper than my time to go back and rebleed if one turns out to be bad.

nate

I'd go further than that. They're SO inexpensive and SO important that while you have the calipers off *anyway*, why not put on new ones? Sure, brake hoses CAN last 200,000 miles, and I'd gladly leave them there that long if they continued to pass visual inspection and the calipers continue to function, but the first time I have to remove a caliper for any other reason, I put on a new flex hose just for good measure.

The brake hose should have been checked during the process of checking for a sticking caliper. The first step should be to check for a blockage in the brake hose causing the caliper to stay applied.

Plus a hose

I do agree with you on this point, however, I live in the rust belt. Many times I've had a "simple" brake hose replacement turn into a "major" brake system repair due to severe rust. As with any job you should always take a look at any related components and replace what is needed accordingly.

Thanks for all the replies. Appreciate your thoughts. Will replace the brake flex lines.

I hear ya. I have a nice little Imperial hand bender and a good double flaring tool on permanent standby :)

nate

Definitely. They are cheap and add little work to the job.

----------------- Alex

On a '94 the fittings are probably so corroded as to make it a whole lot of work. Not that it's not worth it.