I am looking at installing steel braided brake lines on my 2010 base. I have not found much info on installation of the lines. I have installed powder coated calipers on two C6's but reused the stock lines. How hard is it to remove the brackets bolted to the car and the brackets the slide over the brake line? It looks tough. A couple of guys who have done it says it is possible to remove only the bracket that slides over the line and not remove the bracket that is bolted to the car.

Any special tricks getting them off? The rears look like they are the toughest because of how tight it is back there. This job has me a little concerned. Appreciate your time and any help you can provide. Thanks for the help.

Gary
San Diego, CA

 

No issues on the front. Found it easier to unbolt the bracket from the rear crossmember then loosen the line. I used a motive bleeder to bleed the brakes. Oh, make sure the master don't go dry cause then u will have the bleed the abs module which has to be done at the dealership, so do one at a time and start from far to near.

 

Did you unbolt the front bracket or just leave it and pull the bracket off that slides over the line? Was not aware of the potential issue with the ABS module. Thanks.

 

I'm lost on this? your going to have the brake line removed anyway right?

 

What I think they mean is remove the bracket from the frame then the retaining clip that holds the line to the bracket.

My biggest issue is the cross threading that can take place when installing the new lines. After doing this a few times I found it usefull to not remove the old line completely at the frame and reinstall it and loosen it a few times to ensure clean threads for the new installed line and reduces cross threading. Much has been written on this topic.

 

I used Spiegler lines.
Very difficult to thread.
Be careful.
Consider not doing it IMO.

 

Use your fingers to start the threads on the brake line. Not difficult take your time

 

I am asking how to actually remove the brake line. There are two brackets on the line and I am trying to determine if I have to remove them both. I am wondering if it is worth the work? Think I have a plan. Thanks to everyone.

 

There are lots of threads on this. Search is your friend.

+1000

Be aware that the pass rear is a MAJOR B1tch! Bowling Green must of had a gorilla tighten them down and they are a PITA to get threaded back on where the flexible lines connect to the hard lines. I must have spent two hours getting them on and I invented a lot of new curses. Be aware! This is very, very common.

 

I had my o6 DONE in 3 hours

 

Looking at the RR made me wonder if it was worth the work. Once you were done, was it worth it??

 

I don't know if the C6 is different from the ZO6 for rear line installs.

The rears were harder on the ZO6.

I had to remove the bracket on all four corners and the retaining clip. It made wrenching easier.

I have not had issues on other cars, none, so I began this deal without ever thinking it could be hard. Messy, yes, cramped? Sure. Not really hard tho.

It was not fun. Lots of hours and finally cross threaded one line.

My real issue was threading the Spiegler lines on the car hard lines. As mentioned above, you obviously thread them by hand. Problem was, the Spiegler lines don't feel like you can get even one real turn on them by hand, coated in brake fluid as you are inevitably.

So, you do it over and over asking yourself wtf until you are pissed or tired and then try very gently to turn a wrench a little trying to feel if they are on right.

The fronts were hard but not unreasonable. The rears a lot harder. I don't think the Spiegler lines really match the GM hard lines. From what I've heard, many aftermarket lines are hard.

The issue seems to be the GM hard line threads being non-standard.

If you cross thread a line the project degree if difficulty goes up a lot.

If it was me doing it all over, I'd source a C6 GM brake line fitting and see if it matches the braided lines you intend to use.

 

THANKS for the help. Sourcing a C6 line fitting is exactly what I will do.

 

You may want to get a small die and try to clean the factory threads.
The die my GM dealer said matched the factory lines was a M10 1.0 and it did seem to be the correct one.

I tried to run it over the threads to see if that would help clean them up to fit the braided lines better. Ultimately, I wasn't very successful because trying to work in the wheel well etc etc, it is hard.

That said, I and others do believe it is the GM fitting that seems a bit off, not every single aftermarket braided line manufacturer.

A die could come in handy. That or somehow really wire brush or even file a little on a few threads so you get a better start hand fitting the lines together.

The Spiegler lines are hard. Maybe some other manufacturer fits better.

Good luck.

 

I did this job on my '08 Z-51 prior to my first track event. I found I didn't really need to do it. My experience was the fronts were straight forward, no surprises. The passenger rear wasn't too bad but the drivers side rear was difficult. I think the threads must have been distorted a bit, otherwise why would the other three be relatively easy?

I must have threaded the new hose on a dozen times, of course with brake fluid slowly dripping (next time I will try some plastic wrap over the master cylinder to see if that will slow the drips), while trying to discern if I was cross threading the new hose. (Goodrich).

With a lot of patience, I determined I was as close to being correctly threading the new line as possible, grabbed a wrench and carefully (keeping an eye on the fitting for straightness or any wobble) continued to thighten the new hose to the hardline fitting. As it turns out, I was correct and didn't have any other problems. I worked slowly and carefully thinking it would take a lot longer to repair the hardline than it would being careful.

With my '12 GS and a bit more track experience, I can't tell the difference between rubber lines or the SS braided lines. As far as heat goes, I'm not getting the brakes hot enough to cause concern (yet). These are my street cars taken to the track, not track cars taken to the street.

One would think with the SS braided lines, the brakes would be more sensitive. The brakes on the GS are much more sensitive than the Z51 with any pad I've used - OEM, Ceramic or track pad.

 

Bob, BEZ06 did these on one of his cars. He has a Z06 and a ZR1 and runs at Daytona. He said the new SS lines made no difference at all and as I remember, he said that he would not do it again. Hopefully he will chime in here, but my impression was that it isn't worth the effort. I have heard of many instances of cross threading and stripping of threads.

 

On a newer car stainless lines really don't help all that much. Both the rubber lines and the braided stainless lines use the same type of teflon tube inside. The braided lines just add some impact protection they really don't do any better from the inside since the inside construction is the same.

I added them to my C6Z and each one of the stock ends was a major PIA. It took quite a few hours to do the job since it was so hard to get the braided lines started on the hard lines. It took so long I didn't notice I had ran the brake fluid down to the point that I got air in the ABS unit which required an ABS Automated Bleed at the dealership. If you are doing this and having trouble with connecting the lines take a break every now and then and check how much fluid is in the master. It also helps to get some caps to put on the lines while you are doing something else.

It is almost impossible to reuse the stock retaining clips (they are better than the aftermarket ones) since there is some sort of difference in outside dimensions of the hose end fittings. Once I got the hose end connected I had a lot of trouble getting the retaining clip installed around the hose end and the bracket.

Bill

 

Posts like this scared me off a couple of years ago so I have a set still in the box.

I've wondered about adding some spiral wrap for a little added abrasion protection.

 

I just decided not to do it. It appears to not be worth the effort. I returned the lines i had purchased.

 

I wouldn't do that. You really won't get any abrasion issues unless the brake line is in the wrong place and the wheel is rubbing against it. If that is the case that cover won't help a bit.

Bill