Jamie word to the wise. Replace the line. I has a friend who used a compression as a temporary fix, But before he could replace it. Someone pulled out in front of him and it failed. He wound up junking the car as it was unrepairable. The brakes probably work fine now but if you have to slam the pedal in a panic stop it will prbably fail!!
I've got 13,500 miles on the union repair now. Was told by several on this site that it was the way to go. Problem with replaceing it is you can't get a single long enough line to go from front to back of the car around here. These cars came with unions in the brake system from the factory. If Ford will use them then I have no problem doing so. How did your friends union fail? Strip out? He over tighten it?
I don't know what a compression union is, but the ones I have on my are like the factory one on the passenger front brake line. Brake lines screw into either end of it, 'bout 3/4ths inch long.
internal flare unions are fine. compress fittings with ferrules arent meant to handle brake line pressures.
Ferrules... Ok now I know what we're talking about. No way in hell I would use something like that in a brake system.
How about braided steel lines? I have seen them on classic cars and they look WONDERFUL! Any idea on price? Of course, I would probably only use them from the split at the axle to the brake cylinder, and replace the rubber parts in the front only.
Ecactly....I do carry a few of the compression unions with me when I go off-roading,but you can bank on it that it gets change as soon as I get back to the shop.The threaded unions are OK , compression unions are a no-no .
braided lines are good, but a little pricey. are available in premade lengths. they can sometimes make the brakes a little spongy. it is often suggested to do as much as possible in steel lines & use the braided where movement is needed or for appearances. i used braided to install my line-lock to make life easier. also, it used to be that braided is technically not DOT approved, but that might have changed. mail order houses like behrent's in ny have the pre-made teflon braided brake lines in many lengths. try to use only steel fittings.
One can also buy brand new pre-bent brake lines made specifically for a Maverick from Right Stuff Detailing. I have used them many times. www.rightstuffdetailing.com
prebent beats the aicheedubbleell out of bending them by hand. I did mine by hand with a bender, and got it close, but definitely NOT show room quality. How spongy would the last 12" of braided on each line make the brakes feel? Would it be worse than the existing non-braided rubber line I have at both front axles and the one at the rear (stock)?
small sections arent even noticeable and are probably better than the stock hoses. some people do the whole car in braid & often the quality of the braking suffers.
Braided line is almost like steel hard line. We have used them for complete systems for years(expensive but easy on tube chassis cars). Recommend steel hard line and just convert rubber ones to braided. Would guess about $120 in parts to replace rubbers with braided. Way better feel in the pedal than old rubber, great upgrade for almost any brake system.
