You are supposed to take up to 2 hours to replace the brake lines, but I was able to replace the four lines on my ’87 van in about 1hr 40 minutes. There is very little room, and you have to know what you’re doing. I’m not trying to brag; just point out that following the shop manual does NOT yield a favorable result (if you can call 2 hours “favorable”). On the bright side, having a very narrow wrench is a great advantage.

Silky Terrier Dog Breed Playing Aro... Silky Terrier Dog Breed Playing Around

The key to this job was removing the ABS componentry from under the driver’s footwell and behind the brake lines. If you have a severely rusty vehicle just replace all the lines as they’re probably rusted together anyway. I saved about $35 doing it myself by using the specialty brake line connectors that allow you to easily reform lines on your own time, but it is still a messy job. Despite my best efforts, I got fluid everywhere.

I’ll break this down into four sections: Preparation, Brake Lines, ABS Componentry Removal/Installation/Reassembly, and Test Drive. Let’s get to it.

First, you must jack up the front left side of the vehicle and support it on the jack stand. Make sure that your parking brake is set before proceeding with repairs! You will then need to move any hoses or lines away from where you’re working- just try not to kink them because fluid leaks are no fun.

Remove the tire from that front side of the vehicle. You can safely do this by hand – just make sure to hold onto both sides of the lug-nut/wheel when you pull it off.

There are two small screws on top and a little mark on a plastic tab inside a small round hole in order to remove each caliper bracket. I don’t know what size screwdriver you need, but some good needle nose pliers should help a great deal with the inside tab.

Once those are out of the way, you can remove the caliper from its resting place and allow it to rest on the rotor itself. It is not necessary to remove any brake components for this job because the lines are above the entire assembly.

Now you can see the top of your brake line. It should be sealed with rubber clamps and plastic end-caps, but it’s a good idea to remove them for cleaning anyways.