brake hose tool

[rhb1999]

Hello, Does anyone know of a tool that pinches a rear brake hose, I know I've seen it for sale online somewhere. What is it called? I understand by using it you don't have to bleed the rear when bleeding the front. I would like to overhaul the front brakes on my '89 Lincoln Town Car, but don't have time to do the rear, as this is my "driver". And would like to possibly do a rear disc brake converison later. Thanks.

Edited April 1, 2010 by rhb1999
no editing (see edit history)

[hellerc]

Hobo Freight has a set of three different sizes for less than 10.00 In a pinch, I've formed a small piece of 18 ga over the hose and clamped it with a pair of vice grips. Why not pinch off the fronts, do your work and then bleed only the front, leaving the rear untouched?

[Rusty_OToole]

Just do your front brakes. You don't have to pinch anything. They are completely separate systems, they even have separate compartments in the reservoir.

Rear brakes typically outlast fronts 3:1 or better. You might take the drums off to check for leaky wheel cylinders and worn shoes, but you probably don't need to touch them.

Check the inside of the thinnest shoe as well as the outside. They don't always wear evenly. When they are the thickness of a dime at the thinnest point it's time for new shoes.

You don't need rear discs either unless you drive in extremely severe conditions. The fronts do 70% of the stopping anyway.

[Dave@Moon]

These things are usually used to pinch off the hose to the component you're working on. For instance if you have one bad caliper, you can pinch off the hose to it while you replace it to prevent the reservoir from running out. Thereby you prevent having to bleed the whole system.

I have the Harbor Freight set, but I don't trust them on older cars. Brake hoses are fairly fragile things, and pinching one shut to save a few ounces of brake fluid (and/or a half-hour or so of work) is a risk I avoid. I've had too many hoses internally collapse (I'm replacing the hoses on my '96 Ranger this week for exactly this) to run this risk.

[joe_padavano]

Squeezing the brake hoses is a BAAAAD idea. This is a great way to cause unseen damage in the reinforcing layers inside the hose. DO NOT DO IT. (sorry for shouting).

Does your 89 have front/back split braking circuits or diagonal split circuits? If front/back, then as noted just do the fronts. The fluid in the back is completely separate and will not be affected. If you have a diagonally split system, however (and I was surprised that my 1990 Pontiac is diagonally split) then you must bleed front and back at the same time.

[Rusty_OToole]

There will be fluid in the system right up to where you disturb it. You only need to bleed the wheel you worked on. Unless you do something stupid like pump the pedal with the system open and run it dry.

[joe_padavano]

There will be fluid in the system right up to where you disturb it. You only need to bleed the wheel you worked on. Unless you do something stupid like pump the pedal with the system open and run it dry.

Sorry, but I don't agree with that. I've had brake fluid run out of an open line, even with the master cylinder capped.

[rhb1999]

My thanks to everybodys advise. I was going to replace the front hoses and calipers. I think the rear hose may be the original that came with the car when new. So I'm not going pinch this old hose, thanks again joe_padavano, Dave@Moon. I've heard that drum brakes are actually better than disc? The wheel cylinders where replaced in 2002 with Raybestos parts. The only reason I was considering the converision was ease of maintence. I'm not as young as I use to be. joe_padavano how do you tell whether you have a front/back split circuit or a diagonal split circuit?

[Rusty_OToole]

How long did you leave it open? A few minutes while you replace parts OK, if you leave it apart for several days you may have to bleed the whole system.

[Larry Schramm]

I just do the work and then bleed the system. If you bleed through a clear line, you will see dark fluid coming out and then turn clear. At that point you have the fluid with moisture out of the system and clean fluid behind the caliper/piston. Some manufacturers recommend flushing/bleeding the system every two years.