First off let me say I like over kill.

I have an 04 rcsb silverado. I'm about to do the 6.0 80e swap. I have noticed that my brake lines are rusted pretty bad.

Background: I purchased my truk used 28DEC08 in northern Ohio. I drove it there until I joined the Coast Guard in 2011 and was stationed in Chicago. I think it's fair to say my truck has seen its fair share of salt covered roads. I got stationed in Florida 20DEC13.

I need to replace all the brake lines and figured why not go with stainless steel? I'll be in Florida for the next 4 years or so and there's no telling where I will be after my time here is up. I already have a P/S pump off the 2500HD my 6.0 came out of and want to do hydroboost in the future.

My question is, has anyone done this before? I'm not talking about the braided flex lines. I want to replace all the hard lines with stainless hard lines.

How well does the stainless hard line bend? and how well does it flare?

I want to write a how to when I do this and hank you for any advice in advance!

 

My experience with Stainless tubing is that it's really brittle. Very hard to bend without cracking it.

 

It is hard to flare, but can be done with a good flare tool. The cheap ones will just slip.

Its a bad idea because you have to account for wheel articulation. If you hardline the whole thing it will break as soon as the suspension travels.

 

There is actually 2 different companies that make the Pre-Bent Stainless hard lines for our trucks.

Classic tube and Inline tube.

Classic Tube Complete Brake Line & Fuel Line Kits For GM & Ford Trucks

Inline tube - Online Catalog - Chevy Truck, GMC Truck

I have always wanted to try this, but I have heard from people in area's were they salt the road's that the stainless lines don't last any longer.

The nice thing is that there pre bent and already flared. The dealer doesn't even sale them. The last time I needed one they were going to sell me a roll and the fittings to make my own.

 

If salt/longevity is the issue, why not just rubbercoat/Rhinoliner the line sets then install them? Can't rust if it can't get dirty.

 

Fortunately for myself, I don't have that problem. I'm in a nice dry climate.

I believe the issue with the Stainless kits might be with the fittings since there steal. Other wise it maybe were there connected to the frame. I wish the guys would post more details on the issues they had after using those kits.

Unfortunately that was all I could find searching the net.

 

....
Nvm saw you were doing all lines

 

I just replaced all mine with a kit from Classic Tube like the above mentioned. It's pretty straightforward and I think the $280 cost was very reasonable. I had to replace both front calipers cause the bleeders rusted off so that's an added expense. Make sure to remove at least the left inner fender to make it much easier. Also ss is a little harder to get a good seal at the fittings so make sure after you tighten it the first time, loosen it up and tighten it again. That kind of seats the flare. Also, plug your master so you don't have to bench bleed it later.

 

A cheaper option is thru the dealer , they offer a replacement set of stock lines for like 150$ give or take .

 

I tried getting them from my local dealer and they said they weren't available? I'm curious to see the dealer ones if they come coated or not.