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Swapping to my 4.10 axle and can’t get brake line off. Any tricks? Regular or reverse thread? Been soaking in penetrating fluid for two days and just hit it with a torch. Starting to chew the nut up pretty good and won’t budge
Should turn CCW to loosen (regular thread). Increase leverage & torque by using 12” pair of vise-grip (locking pliers). I use a nice 12” long piece of hollow pipe ~4” diameter placed around the vise-grip (vise-grip is ‘inside’ the metal pipe). That will increase your leverage & torque substantially.
Agree with VC and tap/impact it a little while trying to free it, smooth and steady usually rounds the nut. Make the ViseGrips TIGHT so they don't slip and round the nut more.
The usual problem is that the I.D. of the flare nut rusts to the outside of the tube. Breaking it loose usually involves twisting and destroying the hardline. I assume that's the flex line where it attaches to the frame crossmember, correct? I've found that the trick in situations like this is to unbolt the other end of the hose, remove the clip that holds it to the frame, and push the hose and hard line into the frame hole to disengage the hose end from the frame crossmember. Now hold the flare nut with a vice grips and spin the hose to get it off. Once the hose is off of the flare nut, you can usually work the flare nut loose from the hard line. Of course, if you are replacing the axle housing, just leave that frame fitting alone and disconnect the brake lines at the tee fitting at the other end of the hose.
Your other alternative is to use a pipe wrench of the appropriate size along w/ a sturdy hollow pipe which will envelope the handle of the pipe wrench (e.g. pipe wrench handle inside the hollow pipe) - slide the metal pipe over the pipe wrench handle. The longer the hollow pipe the greater the leverage & torque. A pipe wrench will work nicely to grab as much of the metal nut & lock onto it since it is a cantilever. Ensure the pipe wrench is oriented in the correct manner.
Your other alternative is to use a pipe wrench of the appropriate size along w/ a sturdy hollow pipe which will envelope the handle of the pipe wrench (e.g. pipe wrench handle inside the hollow pipe) - slide the metal pipe over the pipe wrench handle. The longer the hollow pipe the greater the leverage & torque. A pipe wrench will work nicely to grab as much of the metal nut & lock onto it since it is a cantilever. Ensure the pipe wrench is oriented in the correct manner.
All that leverage will do is twist and destroy the hard line, which is the long one that runs up the frame rail. Trust me when I say that a bigger hammer is NOT the way to do this unless you plan to lift the body off the frame and replace all the hard lines.
Frankly, I'm still struggling with why you have to disconnect the brake line to swap the rear axle. I've done it without even opening the brake system. Pull the axle shafts, unbolt the backing plates from the housing, disengage the hard lines from the axle tubes, and unbolt the hose from the top of the center section. Hang the backing plates from the fender lips with coat hangers. Now just drop the housing out, put the new one in, and reassemble. You don't even need to bleed the brakes.
All that leverage will do is twist and destroy the hard line, which is the long one that runs up the frame rail. Trust me when I say that a bigger hammer is NOT the way to do this unless you plan to lift the body off the frame and replace all the hard lines.
It "might" twist the hard line - nothing is carved in stone - trust me. Since neither yourself or me are working on the nut, it's difficult to ascertain how much force is required. I've removed nuts on brake lines in exactly the fashion I described. The OP is looking for options - I provided an option. There are numerous ways to skin a cat. Maybe the OP will report back as to which method worked.
Frankly, I'm still struggling with why you have to disconnect the brake line to swap the rear axle. I've done it without even opening the brake system. Pull the axle shafts, unbolt the backing plates from the housing, disengage the hard lines from the axle tubes, and unbolt the hose from the top of the center section. Hang the backing plates from the fender lips with coat hangers. Now just drop the housing out, put the new one in, and reassemble. You don't even need to bleed the brakes.
Thanks fellas. Wish I would have waited for the other answers before rolling back in but option 1 worked. Once I knew for sure it was regular thread I just raw dogged it with 16” channel locks. 12” vice grips wouldn’t hold and kept chewing it up worse.
I have another rear axle (4.10s) that was professionally rebuilt to include all new brakes and brake lines so I wanted to get my old lines off with the 3.23 axle. Nice to know I don’t have to mess with that fitting again once I install new axle as I’m now aware I will have to replace that long brake hardline if I ever wreck it.
Although you are unlikely to battle this particular opponent again, I always anti sieze all flare connections before assembly, be it fuel, lube or hydraulics. When ready to start assembling, coat the threads, pull the nut back, coat the line and back of flare to reduce friction and virtually eliminate rusting of the nut to the tube. Me being me I always put a very light film on the tube’s flare contact surface to minimize friction or potential galling when seating.
Overkill? Maybe, but once I touch a fastener or tubing on anything I assemble or repair, I never have to fight with it again, even after decades of winters, never mind our generally dry old cars. Easy threading during assembly and really easy disassembly comparatively.
Thats good advice. I’m pretty fortunate with the climate in Colorado but that couldn’t hurt. That would have been tricky in this case as brake fluid kept flowing out of fitting when unattached. I had a vacuum cap on it until I reinstalled on new axle.
One last thing now that I swapped axles. Studs are much longer on this axle than the previous axle. Lug nuts are about 1/2” too shallow to torque down. What’s the play here? 1/2” spacers? Does someone make an extra deep lug nut? Just use regular open lugs and let the studs stick out?
The usual problem is that the I.D. of the flare nut rusts to the outside of the tube. Breaking it loose usually involves twisting and destroying the hardline. I assume that's the flex line where it attaches to the frame crossmember, correct? I've found that the trick in situations like this is to unbolt the other end of the hose, remove the clip that holds it to the frame, and push the hose and hard line into the frame hole to disengage the hose end from the frame crossmember. Now hold the flare nut with a vice grips and spin the hose to get it off. Once the hose is off of the flare nut, you can usually work the flare nut loose from the hard line. Of course, if you are replacing the axle housing, just leave that frame fitting alone and disconnect the brake lines at the tee fitting at the other end of the hose.
This is the correct answer. I have done this many times over the years. Hopefully you use this procedure before you damage the ferrule.
Also if you have a problem with a wheel cylinder, i usually soak it, tap the ferrule relatively lightly with a punch parallel to the brake line pointed to the wheel cylinder. This should at least free up the ferrule from the wheel cylinder. However, if the ferrule is stuck the brake line, I disassemble the brakes on that side. Unbolt the wheel cylinder, pull it away from the backing plate and spin the wheel cylinder to remove it from the hard line. Then use Joe's procedure to free up the ferrule.
Is there any reason that you need those long studs? I think drag racing requires them to extend completey through the nut, but if you aren’t required to use them, just replace the studs with regular length studs. Prolly a lot cheaper that way.
