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What brake fluid are you using for hydraulic brakes?

162tcat

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Washington
162tcat - I am planning to do everything you mentioned. My 5 rubber lines should arrive this week and will get replaced. The brakes worked well enough when I last drove it although not until the last 2-3" of pedal so I plan on doing the minor adjustment to the shoes.

Now, in terms of sequence what should I do? Replace the rubber lines and then flush everything out? Remove old lines, purge all fluid, then install new lines and flush & bleed? Install new lines and then flush & bleed? I'm not sure what will work best.
Remove old lines and drain any fluid that you can out of the system, most will come out when you pull the lines. Then fill the master cylinder and start bleeding. Mine wasnt too bad but I ended up doing it twice over the course of about a month since I replaced the lines after my first flush. Second time it looked real good when finished. Use the money you save switching to DOT 3 to replace any wheel cylinders that look wet inside of the drum.

If you search on here, there are lots of great methods for a power bleeder that makes life a lot easier so you're not constantly filling the MC

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red

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I added water to the last sample I posted and most of the fluid has moved to the top. It seems that the fluid from the wheel cylinder is mostly dot 5 with a little dot 3 in there.

View attachment 717673
Going off the pic that looks like alot of rust as well, most likely in the wheel cylinders. Personally I'd order 1-2 new wheel cylinders and a couple rebuild kits (those are just seals). Plan to just reseal the cylinders and inspect them but it's a good probably that at least 1 has rust issues in it.
 

US6x4

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Well, I'm halfway through changing out the rubber lines on my 813 and I'm surprised at how big a job it actually is. Everyone sounds so cavalier about it saying "oh, just swapped out the rubber lines and flush with new fluid..."
I don't have any rust on the fittings but even my flare nut line wrenches are rounding off the flare nuts. I have to replace the hard line that runs from the front frame-to-axle rubber line to the T-fitting now and I'm hoping the specialty Vise-Grip I ordered will prevent any further flare nut destruction.
I have noticed after receiving an M35 brake hose that at least 2 vendors are incorrectly selling them as a 5-ton compatible hose. This hose is male/female and the 5-ton hose is female/female. Just another glitch in brake line fun. round 2 starts later this morning...
 

porkysplace

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mid- michigan
Well, I'm halfway through changing out the rubber lines on my 813 and I'm surprised at how big a job it actually is. Everyone sounds so cavalier about it saying "oh, just swapped out the rubber lines and flush with new fluid..."
I don't have any rust on the fittings but even my flare nut line wrenches are rounding off the flare nuts. I have to replace the hard line that runs from the front frame-to-axle rubber line to the T-fitting now and I'm hoping the specialty Vise-Grip I ordered will prevent any further flare nut destruction.
I have noticed after receiving an M35 brake hose that at least 2 vendors are incorrectly selling them as a 5-ton compatible hose. This hose is male/female and the 5-ton hose is female/female. Just another glitch in brake line fun. round 2 starts later this morning...
Cut the rubber line at the fitting then you can put a 6pt socket on it , it will take half the fight out of it.
 

US6x4

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I was hoping to simply cut off the flare & then re-flare the tube after putting a new flare nut on it but there wasn't enough str8 before the bend for the tool to work. I ended up bending a new line and the poly coated tube from napa comes in a dark olive color so no paint needed!
20180224_085357.jpg
20180224_085528-1.jpg
 

Robo McDuff

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I was hoping to simply cut off the flare & then re-flare the tube after putting a new flare nut on it but there wasn't enough str8 before the bend for the tool to work. I ended up bending a new line and the poly coated tube from napa comes in a dark olive color so no paint needed!
View attachment 719734
View attachment 719733

Just a quick hijacking question. Do the 5-ton and deuces have the same diameter fixed lines?

When redoing the air pack on our 5-ton, I had to cut the tube coming from the slave cylinder. Turns out that this is a 10 mm tube diameter, and all I can get here are up to 8 mm (for normal cars and vans) or 12 mm (for bigger) but NOBODY has 10 mm brake lines here.
10 = 0.39 inch
08 = 0.315 inch
12 = 0.47 inch

12 does not fit the sockets. The smaller 8 mm probably could be made to fit with the flaring, but maybe is too small in diameter for the 5-ton truck.
 

162tcat

Active member
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Location
Washington
Just a quick hijacking question. Do the 5-ton and deuces have the same diameter fixed lines?

When redoing the air pack on our 5-ton, I had to cut the tube coming from the slave cylinder. Turns out that this is a 10 mm tube diameter, and all I can get here are up to 8 mm (for normal cars and vans) or 12 mm (for bigger) but NOBODY has 10 mm brake lines here.
10 = 0.39 inch
08 = 0.315 inch
12 = 0.47 inch

12 does not fit the sockets. The smaller 8 mm probably could be made to fit with the flaring, but maybe is too small in diameter for the 5-ton truck.
I would order the correct size online and have it shipped. A single circuit brake system isn't something you want to cobble together.

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Robo McDuff

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I agree, just don't know where to get it yet in Europe; waiting from some answers from the Netherlands. USA shipping is crazy expensive.
 
Last edited:

162tcat

Active member
710
46
28
Location
Washington
162tcat - I am planning to do everything you mentioned. My 5 rubber lines should arrive this week and will get replaced. The brakes worked well enough when I last drove it although not until the last 2-3" of pedal so I plan on doing the minor adjustment to the shoes.

Now, in terms of sequence what should I do? Replace the rubber lines and then flush everything out? Remove old lines, purge all fluid, then install new lines and flush & bleed? Install new lines and then flush & bleed? I'm not sure what will work best.
Get all of the old stuff out as best you can. If going to DOT 3, I'd flush once or twice with the old lines, replace them then flush/bleed one last time. The reason I went to DOT 3 is I didn't want cost to limit the cleanliness of my break system. Just keep flushing until all wheel cylinders are putting out nice clean fluid.

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US6x4

Well-known member
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Wenatchee, WA
I got the leaky front wheel cylinder replaced today and that is a decent size job! I was inspired by another member, MyothersanM1 perhaps, who made a hub removal fixture out of a spare wheel cut in half so I designed up a similar fixture at work and lasered it out. It attaches to the floor jack and made quick work out of the hub/drum removal.
20180311_165107.jpg
20180316_175742.jpg
20180316_175809.jpg

Tomorrow I finally get to bleed the brakes and maybe take the truck for a ride!
 

US6x4

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I wouldn't be opposed to making more of these things for other folks that would like one. Sure makes the job go pretty easy. I may post a separate thread to gauge how much interest there might be...
 

patracy

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I've dealt with a Dot 5 getting Dot 3 truck before. I'll stick with Dot 5 from now on. Also make certain to not use 5.1!
 
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