Questions and Answers
Shadow Brake Lines And Cable
Q. My question is... this car is at a dealership for $500.00, but needs new brake lines and an e-brake cable. I want to try and do this work myself because for $500.00 this is presumably a steal for a college student.
Can you direct me to a good book or web site that can show me how I'd go about putting the needed parts into it and why the brakes would be in such disrepair if the rest of the car is good?
1992 Dodge Shadow
Engine size -not sure
Manual transmission
Mileage just under 74,000Amanda
A. No book really gives instructions on how to replace the steel brake lines. This is something that mechanics do by looking at the car and the brake lines and seeing what needs to be done.
This would be a job for a more advanced DIY because it does involve the brake hydraulic system and certain techniques for bending steel brake line and tools for dealing with rusted fittings. I would not recommend this job for a beginner.
How to replace the parking brake cable depends on if it has two wheel or four wheel disc brakes.
How does a car get like this? Well a lot depends where it lives. Up here in Minnesota a lot of road salt and chemicals are used on the roads in winter and do a good job of eating the bottom of a car out. I just did a 1987 Toyota Camry that is so rusted out, I told the owner it wasn't safe to drive any more. I replaced all the brake and fuel lines, but it was a very difficult job since everything I touched broke because it was so rusted.
Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA
