regis101 wrote:
True to all dat.
Having the RV has made me learn the importance of single flare for propane and water.
I would not want to use compression for brake lines. I would if I had to get out of da woodz.
I'm glad you agreed with me. My previous post was not aimed at you ... it was meant for others who are thinking of working on their brake system. (In case it wasn't obvious, I consider brake systems an
extremely important part of a motor vehicle and can't count the number of times I've cringed at other people's repair attempts.)
Growing up in northern Minnesota and living in Alaska since 1980 ... and owning lots of older vehicles ... I've gotten stranded literally in the woods many times.
Only once was a stranding due to brake failure. In that case, I capped off one of the rear brake hard lines and drove very, very, very carefully 30 miles to the edge of the nearest town. When I got there, I parked at the edge of town and walked to the parts store, where I got a replacement hard line.
I actually don't like to make my own brake lines unless I absolutely can't avoid it. This sometimes means seemingly endless months of searching for suitable replacement parts, until I'm totally convinces they don't exist.
Although I haven't confirmed it, it appears that parts manufacturers and distributors maintain their brake parts listings and inventories long after they've dropped other parts for older vehicles. For example, my coworker and I have managed to find brake parts for vehicles from the 1930's, including some parts for vehicles unique to Alaska and other remote areas. (I dreaded see two of customers coming in looking for Nodwell parts ... although it only took three days to find and receive brake parts for it.)
On MLP, I'm doing a complete restoration on the 1973 RM350's front axle and brakes, including all new bearings, seals, king pins, steering linkage, and brake components. Some of the parts were on the shelf, including both front flex lines and one of the calipers. (For the umpteenth time, I asked the boss why we stocked one caliper but not the other.) Most of the other parts arrive within a week and rebuilt dual frame-mounted brake boosters took six weeks. Interestingly, the brake rotors took two years to find and acquire (finally through Amazon.com), with repeated iterations of ordering and sending back rotors that were supposed to be correct but weren't.
