SHARP_DAL
03-09-2021, 02:46 AM
Just want to rant... forgive me!
I'm not the world's greatest mechanic, but know my way around a car.
I spent my Saturday going through a Gen 1 Viper -mainly brakes, rotors and some new tie rod ends.
While I was there, I thought it'd be a good idea to replace the 26 year old rubber brake lines. They were actually in good shape, but thought I'd do it for good measure.
Wow, what a PITA!
3 hours per side trying to squeeze a flare nut wrench in a crevasse the size of a tennis ball.
The flare nut IS NO WAY 10MM. Ended up slipping off and giving the nut a slight round (its a high quality flare nut wrench which never gave me problems).. no Biggy bust out the flare nut locking pliers OTB 6720, no way they were coming off otherwise..
Why couldn't the brilliant Dodge engineers pull out the hard line like 3 inches further out wheel well? Its hidden behind the wheel well! Behind a wall of razor sharp fiberglass. I got about 1.003 degree rotation and no where near the required leverage to bust the flare nut open.
Anyways, had to finally remove the hidden line fasteners attached to the frame and pull the hard lines out a few inches to get enough room to remove the flare nuts.
The longer I work on these cars the more I think they were designed by sadist engineers ...
So morale of the story is, don't bother trying to remove the flare nuts without pulling out the hardlines to get more clearance.
Driver Side front brake line, remove the 13mm rubber brake line fastener and the 9mm hard line fastener (to the left of the flare nut connection hidden behind the wheel well). Pull the hard line out 3-4" out into the wheel well away from the frame, then remove the flare.
Passenger side brake line, there is 0 room to turn a wrench as the oil filter is in the way. Remove the 13 mm brake line fastener. Remove the 9mm hard line fastener which attaches both the A/C line and hard brake line to the front center cross member- just follow the line. Pull the hard line out 3-4" out into the wheel well away from the frame, then remove the flare.
I didn't do the rears yet out of frustration.
Maybe there is a better way... but this work best for me, thought I'd save other the trouble.
/rant
I'm not the world's greatest mechanic, but know my way around a car.
I spent my Saturday going through a Gen 1 Viper -mainly brakes, rotors and some new tie rod ends.
While I was there, I thought it'd be a good idea to replace the 26 year old rubber brake lines. They were actually in good shape, but thought I'd do it for good measure.
Wow, what a PITA!
3 hours per side trying to squeeze a flare nut wrench in a crevasse the size of a tennis ball.
The flare nut IS NO WAY 10MM. Ended up slipping off and giving the nut a slight round (its a high quality flare nut wrench which never gave me problems).. no Biggy bust out the flare nut locking pliers OTB 6720, no way they were coming off otherwise..
Why couldn't the brilliant Dodge engineers pull out the hard line like 3 inches further out wheel well? Its hidden behind the wheel well! Behind a wall of razor sharp fiberglass. I got about 1.003 degree rotation and no where near the required leverage to bust the flare nut open.
Anyways, had to finally remove the hidden line fasteners attached to the frame and pull the hard lines out a few inches to get enough room to remove the flare nuts.
The longer I work on these cars the more I think they were designed by sadist engineers ...
So morale of the story is, don't bother trying to remove the flare nuts without pulling out the hardlines to get more clearance.
Driver Side front brake line, remove the 13mm rubber brake line fastener and the 9mm hard line fastener (to the left of the flare nut connection hidden behind the wheel well). Pull the hard line out 3-4" out into the wheel well away from the frame, then remove the flare.
Passenger side brake line, there is 0 room to turn a wrench as the oil filter is in the way. Remove the 13 mm brake line fastener. Remove the 9mm hard line fastener which attaches both the A/C line and hard brake line to the front center cross member- just follow the line. Pull the hard line out 3-4" out into the wheel well away from the frame, then remove the flare.
I didn't do the rears yet out of frustration.
Maybe there is a better way... but this work best for me, thought I'd save other the trouble.
/rant