So, a while back I ended up getting some new rubber hoses after I put on my 32"s simply because the hoses were around 75K old and I wanted new ones to take the added brake pressure from heavier tire rotation. Probably didn't need them, but they are easy to change, so why not....right? Well, the hoses were wrong from Rockauto, although all of the information was correct, because the aftermarket hoses I found all has bubble flare receiving connections. The factory has an inverted flare.....go figure.

After figuring that out the hard way and pissing fluid out of the hoses all the way home, I got a replacement driver's side hard line with a bubble flare and did a clean swap. Done.....well, the passenger side is a LOT longer and I didn't think to just get 2 long lines and use a flared union in the middle (nice and strong compared to compression fittings). So, I used a compression fitting near the right passenger caliper....I know I know....BAD. Well, it started to seep about 5-6K miles ago, but I was able to just add a tiny bit of fluid today to top off the reservoir. So, I went and got 1 60" and 1 46" hardline with bubble flared ends (the lines are nickle/copper....easy to flex and won't ever rust). Next weekend, I'll get under there and do the full passenger swap (the correct thing I should have done in the first place) along with adding longer rubber hoses.

That's the other thing I found.....my 235/85/16 Duratracs has a rubbing issue on OEM rims, which no one else seemed to have. I couldn't find what it was rubbing and eventually it went away....so I thought it was the splash guard and thought nothing of it. Well, come to find out it was rubbing the hoses themselves on a full lock turn! I'm down to the steel mesh on the driver's side line and just through the rubber on the passenger. The OEM hoses are about 6-7" long, so I went to Advance and asked if I could just go find a set of hoses that would work. I saw TRS' post about using F-350 hoses (40$ each) and another using some off of a Chevy 3500, but the ones they had at the store were NOT the ones on their site or TRS' site. The guy's at this Advance near me are complete retards, so I wouldn't expect anything different from them. I ended up finding 2 hoses that are about 16" long compared to the 6-7", so that should give me the extra line length to route the hose and zip tie it out of the way of the tires.

I was thinking about getting 1.25" spacers for the front, but really don't want to due to the added stress on the bearing assembly (heavier tires are already enough added stress). This will hopefully be a safe route and I'll be able to get this straightened out soon. My passenger T-bar needs cranking because like an idiot, the last time I did it I measured the heigh gain only after putting the truck back down, but not after I settled the suspension. So, initially it looked like the solid 2.5" gain, but it end up being only 2.5" on the driver's side and 1.25" on the passenger......FAIL. The alignment is set, so tires aren't wearing unevenly, but I'll crank the passenger side up in the near future and realign it to make things right.

Also, if you're not tired of reading this, I also found that my driver's front axle seal is leaking. Yay.....

 

Oh, a comment from the guy at Advance when I asked if they have a section for banjo bolts was....."Uh, nah, we just have regular bolts you can use or those unions." I asked him again in case he didn't understand the first time, but he said "Nah, we just have regular bolts you can use or the unions." He rolled his eyes and walked away..............Sometimes it's better to let sleeping dogs lie.

 

What does pickin a banjo have to do with lifting a ranger? Joking, glad to know I am not alone with my troubles. I am doing hoses on the front of my 94 2wd today. Old hose was cut by the spring. Don't know why yet but am guesssing the frame mounting came lose.