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Longer Lines are Good
Superlift Extended Brake Hoses
story and photos by Trent Riddle
Here you see a stock front brake hose from a ’81 CJ, the short one, compared to two types of Superlift brake hoses. The D.O.T. approved rubber hose is slightly longer than stock, and works well with short lifts, like our 2-1/2 kit. Braided stainless steel hoses are offered in longer lengths for taller lift applications. We’ve used both types and have always been satisfied.
If your Jeep or other 4x4 is a little long in the tooth, (read old), or you’ve lifted your rig regardless of age, chances are you need new brake hoses. Those much overlooked rubber hoses that connect your hard brake tubing to the brake systems at the wheels take a lot of abuse over time, and they do wear out. Also, they are sized at the factory to be the proper length for your stock suspension and are usually too short for a lifted vehicle. While some lift kits come with longer brake hoses, others only offer them as an upgrade. In many cases, lift kits come with brackets that just lower the mounting position of the stock hard line, thus allowing the stock brake hose to be reused. This works fine in most cases, but if your stock brake hoses are in need of replacement, why not upgrade to longer ones and put the hard line back where the factory intended?
We sourced our lines from Superlift and picked up a set at our local 4 Wheel Parts location. Superlift offers both braided stainless steel extended brake hoses and a limited line of D.O.T. approved, extended rubber brake hoses. In this author’s opinion, if the longer rubber hoses are available for your application, vehicle and lift height, use them. They fit like stock, at least they did on our ’81 CJ. The braided stainless steel hoses look nicer, but the fittings are more universal. This doesn’t mean they don’t work, we just like the stealth look and fit of the rubber lines more.
Installation is simple; you just remove your old brake hoses, install the new ones and then bleed the brakes. If you have rear drums, you’ll most likely need three new hoses, two fronts and one rear. Four-wheel disc setups use one brake hose per-caliper. One item of note, be sure to have a few rubber vacuum caps on hand to put over the ends of the hard lines when you disconnect the rubber lines. Capping the hard line will keep brake fluid from draining out of the master cylinder while you reinstall the new brake hoses.
Source: Superlift Suspension • 300 Huey Lenard Loop • West Monroe, LA 17292 • www.superlift.com
Buy Superlift Extended Brake Hoses from www.4wheelparts.com.
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1. Our stock brake lines where over 20 years old and showing the signs of age. They were due for replacement, even without the added suspension lift. |
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2. On our Jeep the factory brake hoses were held to the frame brackets with spring clips. These clips were removed first, so that the hose could be disconnected and the hard line could be capped in one quick motion. |
3. The hard line is disconnected from the brake hose and the hose is then set aside. A brake line wrench is highly recommended, as they are specially designed to help prevent rounding of the line nut faces. Be sure to put a cap on the hard line to keep brake fluid from draining out of the master cylinder and all over you, the Jeep and the work area. Also, place a rag under the work area to catch any small drips and place the open end of the brake hose into a container to catch any fluid that drains off. Note, the end of the brake hose fitting has a hex on it to accept a wrench. DO NOT turn this wrench, the end of the hard line is designed to swivel, but the brake hose end is fixed. |
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4. The front brake caliper fitting, or banjo is sealed by two copper washers, one under the head of the banjo bolt and one between the fitting and caliper body. Always be sure these sealing washers are used. Our Superlift brake hoses came with new copper sealing washers. A nice feature of the D.O. T. approved extended rubber lines is the wire abrasion guard that covers the hose from end to end. |
5. Once the new extended brake hoses have been installed, you’ll need to bleed the air from the brake system. Here we’re using a small self-bleeder we picked up at our local auto parts store. If you have a friend who can lend a hand, you can use the old peddle-pumping method to bleed the brakes. Just follow the procedure in your service manual. |
