I'm re-doing the rear brakes and I noticed that one of the short rubber brake lines that connects the rear caliper to the fixed position metal brake line is cracked.

There's no evidence of a leak but the car has over 100k miles and I thought I would replace it for safety sake.

I have the new rubber line but I'm finding it very difficult to get the old one off where it connects to the fixed metal line. There is kind of c-shaped spring washer between the brass male line fitting and the metal female rubber line fitting. When I try to loosen the two fittings, it just strips the brass nut.

Is there a better way to do this? I don't want to strip the brass nut so bad I have to replace the entire metal brake line!

Thanks,

RGW

I would replace cracked line. I have experienced a brake failure when a flex hose burst (not on a Volvo). Luckily I reached a curb and there was no accident.

Some people have used heat to expand the brass nut, then a very well fitting brake wrench as suggested. If you have applied solvent wait till it dries before applying heat with a Bernz torch or similar.

re: "...When I try to loosen the two fittings, it just strips the brass nut...."

Speaking as someone who has worked on cars far older than yours (i.e., 240s), I've found that brake line fittings are notoriously prone to damage if it's done the wrong way.

That said (and believing that 240 lessons are applicable to your XC):
1) first rule is to generously pre-treat with PB-Blaster (a certain rust loosener) -- do not substitute with WD-40, silicone, or other pseudo-rust treatment.
2) use only quality tools, specifically flare-nut type wrenches (these provided more corners of grip than ordinary wrenches, and then only quality brands -- for this type of work, I only use Snap-On. Other brands such as Craftsman are notoriously imprecise, and (even in flare-nut style) slip somewhat!

An investment in just a couple of expensive, Snap-On flare-nut wrenches of the necessary size could have prevented heaps of aggravation and the need to replace more lines than you expected.

Check the 200-series archives for more. We have a lot more experience, simply because there are more of us caring for far, far older cars.

Hope this helped.

Thanks for the advice. I decided to pick up a set of Snap-on flare nuts wrenches since I'll probably go through the same experience when I do the front brakes next year.

On the subject of tools, I have mostly hand me down Craftsmen tools which have worked pretty well so far. I wonder if there are any other types of tools that Snap-on does much better than Craftsmen? If so, I'll start to gather them up as I plan to keep my Volvo going for another 100K or at least another 8 years.

Thanks,

RGW

Except for the flair nut wrench, all of my cheapy Craftsman wrenches work just fine. If you wish to upgrade, get a set of Craftsman 6 point box wrenches instead of the 10-12 point. The 6 point seem to be better made.
If you have hand me downs and they look to be worn, you can get new for free. Just beware, the new tools are not as good as the old tools. Including screwdrivers, which are now forged instead of molded.

Snap-on is extremely good and also guarenteed for life. Visit a truck and ask if they have any bargains???

Klaus
--
I still miss my 164

re: "... wonder if there are any other types of tools that Snap-on does much better than Craftsmen?..."

Frankly, I've found that only the brake lines' fittings seem to require the extra precision of the Snap-On flare-nut wrenches -- I myself have a variety of tools from other companies (Craftsman included) and I've never had a problem with them except with the brake lines. I think it's a combination of possibly softer alloy metals used in the brake line fittings (perhaps anticorrosion priorities) that make them more apt to "round off" if the wrench doesn't have a good-enough grasp.

But there is a noticeable difference between Snap-On and other brands: you'll find that you will push or press the wrench onto the nut, proving a snug fit, whereas the other brands slip on too easily.
And I've also been told by others on the 200 forum that, beside the precision of the dimensions of the Snap-On wrenches, there is also the matter of the "jaws" flexing -- the Snap-On wrenches supposedly don't distort like other brands, so they're not going to slip because of this, too, whereas other wrenches may be weak enough to widen as you force them. Of course, that much strain shouldn't be needed on the brake lines' fittings, especially if you pre-treat with PB-Blaster.

Case in point (my worst), I was working on the lines of a (then) 26-year old car (original lines!) -- they were really stuck, but I didn't want to force them and maybe twist the metal lines or otherwise distort them. So after first spraying just once with brake cleaner just to clean the area so the PB-Blaster will penetrate better, and then pre-treating (spraying hourly) over a whole day with the PB-Blaster, the next morning I just put the two Snap-On wrenches on the opposing nuts forming an acute angle, squeezed them in one hand, and they loosened. No need for a torch or anything else! That made me a believer!

Good luck -- I hope your lines are as easy as that!

Hi,
had the same problem with right front brake last autumn. Ended with renewal of the metal pipe as well. today I have a propper tool for the nut which is very soft and hard to open as you say.
In general it is good practice to renew the 10y old rubber tubes on all wheels
for good balance and dynamics when braking.
Good luck!

br Tapsa