i was on my way home today and as i was slowing down to go through a corner my brake pedal hit the floor and i didnt slow down oh holy crap i pulled it down to 1st gear and turned over drive off and got to the shoulder and found that my passenger side brake line that goes to the caplier had backed out and sprayed brake fluid all over the back of my tire and inside my fender well so i think no big deal it came loose so i get a ride home come back with brake fluid and a 10mm wrench to tighten up and well my 10mm was to big so i used channel locks and i got maybe a turn and a hlaf out of the nut and it didnt turn anymore help guys when i put my lift on i never messed with the capliers so im confused on how it came loose and backed out of the caplier the driver side is till tight and my 10mm wrench fits it but not the passenger side it looks to be a 9mm or smaller it doesnt surpise me on the difference in sizes on the different sides of the truck one of the problems i ran into putting my lift on i do not have any broken brake lines im lucky for that just cant get the brake line to tighten up what do yall think?

 

Jeez, is there a shortage of punctuation marks these days? Maybe Obama can give us a punctuation stimulus package.

You shouldn't be using just any old 10mm wrench on these fittings. You should be using a flare nut wrench. Probably the reason that the wrench appears too big for the nuts is that the nuts have been ruined by someone who didn't have the proper sized flare nut wrench.

I am assuming that it is the flexible brake line that you are talking about. Get a replacement and an inexpensive flare nut wrench of the proper size (cheap one should only be a couple to four or five bucks). When you install the new line, make sure that you get the fitting threads lined up properly, It should thread easily and get tight for probably less than half a turn right at the end.

When you buy the part and wrench, see if they will throw in some periods, commas, and semicolons.

Hey, I'm just kidding a little, but it is hard to read a whole paragraph without punctuation. Probably an old man thing.

 

its not the flexable brake line. it is the hard line that goes to the caliper.

 

That's about the only thing I can think of, short of a dealership, or just bending some up yourself. But, I would just remove the old one first and take a look to make sure it's not the capliper itself. That's kinda strange for that to just spring a catastrophic failure leak like that out of nowhere...

 

Well, you can buy a replacement one of those also. Now, for your problem of it not threading in properly... It's either damaged threads on the line (hopefully), or damaged threads in the caliper (hopefully not). If the caliper threads are damaged, you may end up having to buy another caliper.

 

which is why I suggested just removing the line and having a look first

 

Yeah... we posted at the same time.

 

i have NEVER touched it so for it to just back out of the caliper is weird the threads look good

 

Still think you need to replace the tube. Check out http://www.toyodiy.com/parts/q.html with the VIN for your truck and drill down and you'll find the two part part number for the line for your truck. They're cheap: $6 to $8 or so, maybe less.

When you install it, start the threads on both ends before you tighten either fully. This will give a little flexibility for positioning as it's sometimes tricky to get the fitting lined up correctly with a hard line holding the fitting at a slight angle. The fitting should thread up snuggly with very little effort and then just a bit of torque when you get it tight. FSM has the torque spec, if you're interested, but to torque it you'd need a flare nut crowfoot attachment, a measuring tape, and a slide rule in order to get it right.

 

The torque spec is 11ftlb. What I think desconhecido means is that the your wrench should leave no more of a mark in your palm than you would get from grinding decimals all day with your sliderule.

(or, maybe not.)

 

but what im still tryin to figure out is why it backed out and why cant i get it to tighten it back up

 

Can't be certain of what's going on from this distance, but one thing I'm certain of is it didn't get the way it is without some post-factory help. The flare nut didn't leave the factory in such a condition that a proper sized wrench appears to be too big. It didn't just pop out of the threads in the caliper because of repeated application of brake hydraulic pressure over the last nineteen years.

In all probability, somewhere along the line someone removed that line and fouled it up putting it back together. The likely reason that it came loose is because it was cross threaded and tightened up for just a couple threads. It's really quite amazing to me that the brakes were operable at all before the big leak occurred.

If you want to get the existing brake line to work, first thing is go out and buy the proper sized flare nut wrench to remove the fitting on the other end of the tube -- the one that mates to the fitting that the flexible line mates to. Then, remove the tube entirely and look at the end that screws into the caliper. You want to make sure that the fitting slides freely on the end of the tube without binding -- easy rotation and a good fit with the fitting slid all the way to the end of the tube. then, with the other end of the tube still free, satisfy yourself that the fitting will thread all the way into the threads of the caliper. Be careful that you don't cross thread it and if the threads on the caliper are ok, you should be able to thread it up with almost no torque and it should then get real tight with almost no rotation. My guess is that the threads in the caliper are probably ok deeper than the first couple that might be hosed as a result of previous errant wrenching. Try not to induce any new bends in the tube while you're handling it -- or to change any of the bends.

If all goes well to this point, you should be assured that the tube can properly be installed.

Now, you've got the tube fitting threaded into the caliper threads. Back the fitting off a full turn or two which will allow you to move the tube around without bending it too much -- you'll be able to move the other end around and get it lined up perfectly with the fitting on the other end. Line the other end up and thread it into the fitting and tighten it up with the flare nut wrench. Again, it should thread quite easily up until the end where it will torque up with a very small rotation.

If you are able to get the fitting tightened up as described above, it won't come loose in service. These fittings, when properly installed, just do not loosen themselves and pop out.

 

so the previous owner more than likely tried to do a brake or something and screwed up the line?

 

Like I said, it's impossible to made definitive declarations from this distance. That being said, it sure sounds like someone was working on the brakes and messed it up. Could have been a repair shop, I suppose. Could have been working on the hubs and needed to remove the caliper, too.

Good thing that no one got hurt when the brakes cratered and it seems likely that the caliper will be ok (but, then again, only you can tell for sure). Good luck with it and be careful.

 

well i got my new lines ordered hopefully they should be here soon i ordered both left and right sides in the hard lines just in case

 

Do you have any enemies? Bad neighbourhood kids? Although that would be a pretty serious "prank" to play on somebody... I'm sure it's not unheard of.

 

i dunno if that is the case the cops better catch them before i do i got my deer cams pointing at my truck to see