Having troubles with extended YJ brake lines routing

So I'm having some difficulties here with the extended lines I'm using. I had both driver and passenger lines orientated the same way to copy the stock set up. Essentially the beginning portion of the hard line by the caliper is kinked upwards slightly, with the flex line facing towards the back of the jeep ( 2 o clock position). But for some reason only the driver side line started rubbing. The driver line initially was away from the tire, but if pulled outwards will rub on the tire and stay there indefinitely. The passenger line can be pulled outward to a position where it could rub the passenger tire, but it immediately bounces back to center without any assistance. This will make more sense when you look at the pictures I took.

Passenger




I don't know why the driver line is flexing differently. The only thing I can think of is something must have gone wrong with placing the upper bracket, although it looks centered on both sides. The passenger side didn't have any issues installing the bracket with the hard line. But the driver side was a bit tough to get placed in there, I had to fight it a bit. I assumed this would be a non issue because between the bolt, the hard line, and the hook going into the hole it should center itself. Maybe there is some room for placing it every so slightly off center?

The passenger line I left alone for now because I think it's okay/more or less road worthy. it doesn't rub lock to lock. I can't test it for full stuff because the suspension, springs, etc is all in there. Measuring for full droop is pointless because the more it droops the more the slack will be taken away anyways, circumventing the problem. Axle is on stands, no stands on frame, suspension at ride height.

The driver side I tried flipping around, that was not the answer. None of the positions worked. I flipped it back to the proper orientation (kink facing upwards at hard line) and tried 2 positions. Facing upwards, and facing downwards. ( The original position was facing outwards towards back of Jeep).


The upward facing position seems to work well at center and full lock pass. At full lock driver however it makes contact with the inner c of axle. It doesn't rub too hard but it does make contact for sure.




Facing downwards is not ideal because of the risk of the line being snagged in an offroad situation. But I like this positioning better, it eliminates some slack that was causing the issue. At center and full lock passenger all good. At full lock driver it rubs on control arm. It doesn't rub as bad as the upwards position did on the inner c. It sort of just slides up against the control arm.

Full lock driver:


Any thoughts as to what I should do? I have the Rancho RS55239 shocks so the stock brake lines will not be ideal to say the least. I'm thinking of running it with the driver line facing downwards and doing some test driving. Clamping it down to the shock is another idea but I'm not sure the best way to handle that. I know that was a lot of text for what many would consider a minor issue. but I spent a lot of time trying to clean up the axle and make sure the paint looks good. Removing and installing the brake lines, bleeding the brakes again and again, and getting paint stripping corrosive fluid leaking all over the place is not my idea of a good time. I already messed it up the first time, I want to do it right the second time.

Oh and if anyone is wondering I am going to replace the damaged driver line, but just want to do some test fitting with it first.

LONGJP2 said:

I had a similar issue where one of my lines didn't form the same 'S' curve as the other.
IIRC, you can loosen the flex hose to hard line connection at the bracket, then rotate (or twist) the hose so it bends and reacts like the other side.
You may have to rebleed the line after tightening.

Click to expand...

Okay, when I go to replace the line I will see what impact the bracket positioning has on the amount of flex with the line in that original 2 o' clock positioning. The downward facing position I think will work but it leaves the line hanging too low for my liking. Some forum members have said they used a return spring with hose clamps but there aren't any good places to set one up short of drilling and taping a hole in the frame. I will for sure bleed the brakes again for good measure.

So I went ahead and replaced the line and when reinstalling tried different positions with the upper bracket. I was surprised at how much the flex line slack changed with small tiny adjustments to the bracket positioning. When I originally set up the bracket I was trying to fight the hard line to point down. This time I let the hard line choose what position caused the least tension on it. I completely loosened the hard line nut, moved the bracket as far to the upper left corner of the frame hole as I could, then re tightened the nut and bolt. When re tightening I could feel the difference in how smoothly the hard line threaded in.

The driver line is positioned nicely at center and full lock passenger. At full lock driver it just barely makes contact with the tire. However all it takes is half a pound of pressure and it moves out of the way and stays there.

I think that's the best I can do for now. These full lock scenarios will happen at low speed in parking lots, so I should be okay. I'm actually impressed at how well the (damaged) line stood up to going 70 mph down the road in constant contact with tire.

Edit: For anyone who may come across this thread, I gave up and just put a heavy duty ziptie around the shock. It seemed that it was still possible for the brakeline to get wound upwards on full bump, make contact with tire and stay there.

Also I learned a neat trick to stop fluid from leaking while working on it. Shove a piece of wood between the brake pedal and floorboard, keeping the pedal slightly depressed.