Stupid strut brake line bracket!!

[JasonK94Z]

An engineer needs to be shot right now over at Toyota. Having to open up the brake system to change struts is frickin' retarded! I do not want to have to beels brakes since I am a one man fix-it team right now. I do not have a grinder with a cut off wheel either. I do however have a Dremel with a small cut off wheel. I do have a recip saw that i could just cut the tabs off with flush to the strut body. Then zip tie the damn brake line bracket to the new bracket. Sure it's ghetto, but it would work just fine right?

[SuperRA]

That's what I used, a dremel with a cut off wheel. Only took a few mins. Just cut a slot into the hole big enough for the hose to fit through. When you are done you can still use it with the clip.

[JasonK94Z]

Originally Posted by SuperRA

That's what I used, a dremel with a cut off wheel. Only took a few mins. Just cut a slot into the hole big enough for the hose to fit through. When you are done you can still use it with the clip.

Great idea!

[Donald]

Originally Posted by SuperRA

That's what I used, a dremel with a cut off wheel. Only took a few mins. Just cut a slot into the hole big enough for the hose to fit through. When you are done you can still use it with the clip.

+1
Yep. That's what I have always done.

[Ghostyman]

It's the same thing on the MR2s and as noted, slotting it yourself is the best way. Doesn't save you any work the first time, but sure comes in handy the next time.

[Donald]

Originally Posted by Ghostyman

It's the same thing on the MR2s and as noted, slotting it yourself is the best way. Doesn't save you any work the first time, but sure comes in handy the next time.

It does save you from having to bleed the the brakes first time too.
Just be careful not to cut the line.

[freakinbox]

I cut a small slot in it and bend it open and close.. The original ones have a slot already I think. The ones on my car did, and the ones I got off another car didn't so I modified those ones.

[toyotaspeed90]

or don't be lazy and be safe... pull it off the caliper and bleed the brakes.... you can find one man bleeders as cheap as $10... I always bleed mine on my own.... and when done, I know I have good struts to increase my handling and good braking power......

guess the question becomes... why would you change your struts but not your brake fluid.

[SuperRA]

Originally Posted by toyotaspeed90

guess the question becomes... why would you change your struts but not your brake fluid.

Plenty of reasons. Perhaps it was done the week before. Maybe it's going to be done the week after. Maybe its a quick spring or strut swap for auto-X. Not everyone's got time to do everything at once or got multiple cars to use.

A cut in a bracket that provides no structural integrity to the strut in the first place won't weaken it plus you can still bleed the brakes if you want to. You won't have to break open any lines if you don't want to. I don't see this being any less safe than not slotting.

[RobMilkshakes]

I seem to remember removing a squared off C type clip on the bracket and being able to remove the brake line very careflly without opening it up. putting that clip back though was a different story

[freakinbox]

I agree, you don't need to change your brake fluid constantly. Maybe you are doing what I did and using used struts a few weeks after you did your brakes and bled them That or the fitting could be rusty... which is a whole other set of issues and money. Just because you want to bleed your brakes doesn't mean you need to do anything more than either disconnect from the caliper or open the bleeder valve

[JasonK94Z]

The point is, you shouldn't have to open the brake system just to change stryts/shocks. It's frickin retarded as hell! I have worked on multiple cars and have never run into something like this until now.

[alligatorgar]

http://www.russellperformance.com/mc/speed/import.shtml

I love these speed bleeds. They make bleeding brakes fun. Its so easy now I dont mind doing it. It only takes 10 mins for fronts 10 mins for rears. With no hassles. The old days of having 2 people to bleed brakes are gone.

[toyotaspeed90]

I use an air compressor and an auto bleeder..... if you have the compressor, you can find the bleeder for around $30.....

you should change brake fluid often.... the fluid can and will pick up contanimants.... those can and will reduce your braking power, make the pedal soft (which can also reduce the amount of braking to the rear... proportioning valve will only allow a specific % to the rear.... the rear has longer lines and more room for moisture etc that compress easily), and can gunk up your lines, calipers, wheel cylinders, and master cylinder.....

if the wheel is off you can bleed a line in about 2 or 3 minutes on your own. fluid for the whole car is about $5-10 depending on what you use.

the brake line clips also aren't meant to hold the line to the strut, just to keep it from moving up and down. Clips used on other cars where there is a factory slow are typically thicker -- Toyota knew this when designing their cars. they used thin, non load bearing clips because the bracket on the strut was meant to hold it in place. My AE92 had them cut by a shop years ago... I have since lost clips, and zip ties degrade with time.

[freakinbox]

The clip holds it in the hole, take the clip off and it will slide out.... It's to prevent it from sliding out and having the rubber contacting the bracket. Cutting a line into it and bending it to slide the line out and then bending it back will not hamper the ability of the bracket to hold the line there. The key is to make sure you get it close to flat before you put the clip on. I have never lost a brake clip and my car came with cuts in them.. Had the car a little over 4 years and I beat on it, plus it deals with some extreemly harsh winter conditions where ice likes to build up in weird spots.

If your clips are falling out chances are the piece they go into on the flex line has rusted to much making the slot to small and the clip in turn becomes to big and can fall out, replace your flex lines.

You really don't NEED to bleed the brakes all that often. It comes down to how hard you use the brakes and how much you are heating the fluid in the calipers/drum pistons up. The heat causes the fluid to brake down, if you have crap in your lines there is an issue elsewhere, such as not making sure the lid is clean before you put it back on the reservoir. I have never had dirty brake fluid come out of my lines when everything was good. Most vehicles get their brakes bled when they brakes changed, which is what? 3 - 5 years depending on how hard you are on the brakes and how much you drive. I bleed my brakes about once a year just because I am so hard on them and the fluid brakes down quicker than it should.