Brake Job (front)

[tropical36]

Just thought I'd report on a recent problem that I fixed in the hopes that it might help out someone else.
Last trip out for the weekend and to the tune of about 280 miles, the left front brakes were sticking, making some bad noises and creating a lot of heat. They also weren't acting so good for the last half of our northeast US tour this past summer.
So, I went to work in the driveway and upon pulling the affected wheel, I decided that the problem might be the hose, but got talked out of that and proceeded to replace both calipers and shoes. Decided to forgo turning the rotors, as the right side was perfect and the left, not bad at all considering the punishment it took. When I disconnected the left hose, just a little fluid trickled out, but when I disconnected the right side, it did me the favor of draining the whole one side of the master cylinder. So much for confirming what the original problem was and promptly ordered two new front hoses. Just did a test run and can't remember when the brakes last had that kind of stopping power and felt that good. I let CW do this job in 2011 and we decided to replace the hoses then, but they said that they couldn't get them. Well, I got'em in about three days, so if you need a source, let me know and would recommend changing them out if they're old and original and especially if your chassis is the same as mine, which is about all I can speak for at this point.

[tropical36]

Update:
OP here and out for the weekend, 150 miles from home. Brakes are working great, but noticed when I pulled in to the campground, that I have a small brake fluid leak on the left side where the line attaches to the new hose. Don't want to mess with it here and especially when I know its plenty tight enough, so will plan an attack for when I get home tomorrow.
Any ideas before I begin?

[tropical36]

olfarmer wrote:
I had the same problem with my old P30, only on the front. I don't know why the fronts are worse than the back but I suspect that it is because they flex more from steering and are subjected to some engine heat.

I think you're right and like I said, I've never heard of a rear one causing problems. They're a lot shorter too and especially on the 97 chassis and up, which are quite long, even if you consider that a good bit of it, is metal tubing.
The rears, though, are a lot cheaper and available most everywhere.

[olfarmer]

I had the same problem with my old P30, only on the front. I don't know why the fronts are worse than the back but I suspect that it is because they flex more from steering and are subjected to some engine heat.

[tropical36]

chevyman2 wrote:
That very same advice works for any vehicle that rolls and has brakes.

Glad you got her figured out. I bet your calipers wont lock up now.

Test drive went beyond my expectations today and you're right, no locking up. Not even any squealing when coming to a stop. I went the extra mile with the calipers and coated the slider surfaces with 300 + degree grease.

[tropical36]

rgatijnet1 wrote:

chevyman2 wrote:
That very same advice works for any vehicle that rolls and has brakes.

Glad you got her figured out. I bet your calipers wont lock up now.

Keep in mind that you have at least one rubber hose on your rear axle that comes from the main line to the coupler that splits to the two rear wheel steel brake lines. It is just as old as the others and it gets flexed every time the rear axles bounces.

Yep, and need to go back and check by invoice of 3 years ago to see if the rear hoses were replaced then and most sure there's two or more back there. I did want to get the front installed, bled and working before doing anything else. Still don't know why you hear so much about the front hoses breaking down internally, but hear very little to none about the rear hoses.

[rgatijnet1]

chevyman2 wrote:
That very same advice works for any vehicle that rolls and has brakes.

Glad you got her figured out. I bet your calipers wont lock up now.

Keep in mind that you have at least one rubber hose on your rear axle that comes from the main line to the coupler that splits to the two rear wheel steel brake lines. It is just as old as the others and it gets flexed every time the rear axles bounces.

[chevyman2]

That very same advice works for any vehicle that rolls and has brakes.

Glad you got her figured out. I bet your calipers wont lock up now.