skrape
Member
Because I suffer from significant brain damage I swapped a D44 TTB into a Ranger with a 5" lift.
Wonder of wonders, the stock brake hoses were too short. Here's what I learned about extended brake hoses.
Turns out there are a few ways to approach this:
I investigated all of these, and will list the pros and cons that I found. In the end, I had a hydraulic shop make custom hoses, and was very happy with the results, but if I had it to do over, I might assemble them from AN fittings.
The details:
First off, stock Ranger hoses appear to be about 16" long. The hoses from the '96 Bronco that donated my D44 TTB were a little shorter, maybe 15", IIRC. (Don't take that as gospel - I'll try to measure them and post the real numbers later.)
These threads talk about finding longer OEM hoses, or assembling longer composite hoses:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157145
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146897
I rejected the composite hose approach because the resulting lines are, frankly, ugly; and the money savings is miniscule compared to the other approaches.
I looked at longer OEM hoses - F250 and Chevy C3500 hoses specifically - and rejected them because they were not significantly longer than the stock Ranger hoses, and I needed >a lot< longer. The cost would have been about $20 per hose - cheap enough.
Wonder of wonders, the stock brake hoses were too short. Here's what I learned about extended brake hoses.
Turns out there are a few ways to approach this:
- Find longer OEM rubber lines
- Combine OEM rubber lines to form a longer composite hose
- Buy commercial extended hoses
- Have a hydraulic shop make your hoses to spec
- Assemble the hoses from AN fittings
I investigated all of these, and will list the pros and cons that I found. In the end, I had a hydraulic shop make custom hoses, and was very happy with the results, but if I had it to do over, I might assemble them from AN fittings.
The details:
First off, stock Ranger hoses appear to be about 16" long. The hoses from the '96 Bronco that donated my D44 TTB were a little shorter, maybe 15", IIRC. (Don't take that as gospel - I'll try to measure them and post the real numbers later.)
These threads talk about finding longer OEM hoses, or assembling longer composite hoses:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157145
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146897
I rejected the composite hose approach because the resulting lines are, frankly, ugly; and the money savings is miniscule compared to the other approaches.
I looked at longer OEM hoses - F250 and Chevy C3500 hoses specifically - and rejected them because they were not significantly longer than the stock Ranger hoses, and I needed >a lot< longer. The cost would have been about $20 per hose - cheap enough.