Longer Front Brake Hoses?

[thejunkman]

I am in the process of performing the 73-79 disc brake upgrade (on my 67 f100 RWD), and have studied the articles in the tech section religiously.

Unfortunately, though Keith clearly states to snag the brake hose to frame brackets from the donor truck, I was not able to steal from a donor truck because I bought my suspension already dropped out. I'm using the suspension from a 76 f150. I got some cheap 76' brake hoses on Rock Auto just to try, and using the stock 67 bracket locations its a little tighter than I want it to be lock to lock. There's very few trucks this old in any western PA junkyards.

My options seem to be sourcing brackets, fabbing my own, or extending my hardlines to the top of the frame rail and drilling new holes (least desirable to me).

Another option may be sourcing a longer brake hose for another application. Has anyone done this? Looks like 79 4wd supercab f250 brake hoses are about 3.5" longer with the same connection types, but the section of hardline has a few bends that might be problematic.

Anyone encountered this issue during the swap? What's your fixes?

[pcmdub]

Wow. I did the SAME thing and ran into the same questions...

1. I did find a pair of rusted brackets that I restored and painted. However, you still have to drill holes to mount these. The driver's side is tougher because of the steering is bolted there.

2. Longer hoses are a PAIN to find. They are out there for lifted trucks but really tough to matchup to these brakes because of the caliper ends have the banjo nut and hard line to soft line transition to hold the line up in the air.

3. Take the 67 "L" brackets and just hammer them flat, grind them to look better, and just move those bracket down and closer to the shock. It is TIGHT but it works.

I tried ALL 3 of these. While #3 worked great, I did not like the lock to lock tightness when hitting a big bump.

With that said, I have the correct brackets now, and DO NOT love that setup either. It works, it is safe, but it isn't up to par with newer brake line theory. The soft lines should be in more of a lightning bolt or "S" shape so that when turning the wheel, the line doesn't stretch flat and then rebend, just "twists". However, the spring is in the way of a "perfect" setup. So they are gonna stay until I decide on a new front end....

Hope that helps. The 73-76 bracket is easy to just fabricate on your own. Really it is just an L bracket w/two mounting 3/8" holes with the correct hole for the brake line fitting. Needs to extend from the frame about 1.25" so that it has enough slack.

Hope that helps.

[thejunkman]

Thanks! It definitely helps to know someone else has had this problem and experimented with the same options. Glad to know i'm not alone. From your experience it sounds like the magical length brake line is worth pursuing. I'll give it a go and report my findings. I think the ones I've found MIGHT work and it's only a $12 gamble per side.

If they don't work I'll definitely take your advice on the fab of my own brackets. Thanks again!