Brake hard line lengths and other useful info for when replacing all your brake lines.

[L33t A2]

Recently I replaced all the hard lines on my car as one of them had rusted out and blew open, fortunately in my driveway as I was trying to find a leak and did a panic stop stab of the pedal. I found myself wanting to replace ALL the lines, as I had lost confidence in the rest of the lines. Time to fire up the ETKA. Not wanting to deal with the dealer or many other hard to find places with well overpriced brake lines. I found that http://www.ecstuning.com has a selection of lengths of preflared brake lines with the nuts on them. Not only that but they are pretty cheap too. The only problem is that they do not carry a line long enough to run from the master cylinder on back to the rear proportioning valve. I had to come up with an adapter to mate the brake union nuts together. Fortunately the brake line diagrams of the ETKA had this small unrecognizeable scribble. If you have ever seen the underdetailed drawings in the ETKA you know exactly what I mean. It was listed as "connecting piece" and the remarks said "M10x1" which I remembered was the thread pitch of the brake union flare nuts. Unfortunately this small necessary piece seems to be a dealer only part as I don't currently know any places that sell these. A few mechanic friends of mine acted as if they had seen them all the time on various import and domestic cars coming into their shops, but tracking down one of these little buggers seemed a feat to great to accomplish. I searched a few places I know of that have an online part number lookup. The only places I found it at were http://www.worldimpex.com and http://www.1stvwparts.com without contacting the nearest dealer.

Brake lines from http://www.ecstuning.com
Brake nut connector for connecting a 40 inch and 60 inch line to make the distance from the master to the prop valve (part # 411 611 789) http://www.worldimpex.com or http://www.1stvwparts.com

UPDATE : The brake line connector part seems to be available from NAPA http://www.napaonline.com/Mast...Metal

I also received an IM from BAP Import Parts located in Phoenix AZ letting me know they carry the connector piece.

On to what you all clicked here for...
Its best to draw out a crappy diagram for this
All lengths are straight from ETKA in metric, it is up to you to convert mm to inches by using google or something. Example: 2440mm to in

All measurments are for front wheel drive mk2 based in a left hand drive/right hand traffic setup.
I'd like to add that the later, shorter measurements can probably be used just fine in the earlier cars, where it seems they just rounded up to make measuring easy.

<1986 with rear proportioning valve

Front Left 550mm
Front Right 1300mm

Mid Left 2350mm
Mid Right 2450mm

Rear Left 400mm
Rear Right 1300mm

Axle Left 600mm
Axle Right 600mm

<1986 without rear proportioning valve

Front Left 550mm
Front Right 1300mm

Mid Left 2500mm
Mid Right 3480mm

Axle Left 600mm
Axle Right 600mm

1987 with rear proportioning valve

Front Left 550mm
Front Right 1300mm

Mid Left 2350mm
Mid Right 2450mm

Rear Left 400mm
Rear Right 1300mm

Axle Left 600mm
Axle Right 600mm

<1987 without rear proportioning valve

Front Left 550mm
Front Right 1300mm

Mid Left 2480mm
Mid Right 3480mm

Axle Left 600mm
Axle Right 600mm

1988 with rear proportioning valve

Front Left 550mm
Front Right 1300mm

Mid Left 2350mm
Mid Right 2440mm

Rear Left 400mm
Rear Right 1300mm

Axle Left 600mm
Axle Right 600mm

1988 without rear proportioning valve

Front Left 550mm
Front Right 1300mm

Mid Left 2480mm
Mid Right 3470mm

Axle Left 600mm
Axle Right 600mm

1989 with rear proportioning valve and rear disc

Front Left 535mm
Front Right 1290mm

Mid Left 2350mm
Mid Right 2440mm

Rear Left 390mm
Rear Right 1230mm

Axle Left 465mm
Axle Right 465mm

1989 with rear proportioning valve and 180mm drums

Front Left 535mm
Front Right 1290mm

Mid Left 2350mm
Mid Right 2440mm

Rear Left 390mm
Rear Right 1230mm

Axle Left 565mm
Axle Right 565mm

1989 with rear proportioning valve and 200mm drums

Front Left 535mm
Front Right 1290mm

Mid Left 2350mm
Mid Right 2440mm

Rear Left 390mm
Rear Right 1230mm

Axle Left 575mm
Axle Right 575mm

1989 without rear proportioning valve and 180mm drums

Front Left 535mm
Front Right 1290mm

Mid Left 2480mm
Mid Right 3470mm

Axle Left 565mm
Axle Right 565mm

1989 without rear proportioning valve and 200mm drums

Front Left 535mm
Front Right 1290mm

Mid Left 2480mm
Mid Right 3470mm

Axle Left 575mm
Axle Right 575mm

1990-1992 (up to VIN ending with 1GL990000) with rear proportioning valve and rear disc

Front Left 625mm
Front Right 1290mm

Mid Left 2350mm
Mid Right 2440mm

Rear Left 390mm
Rear Right 1230mm

Axle Left 465mm
Axle Right 465mm

1990-1992 (up to VIN ending with 1GL990000) with rear proportioning valve and drums

Front Left 625mm
Front Right 1290mm

Mid Left 2350mm
Mid Right 2440mm

Rear Left 390mm
Rear Right 1230mm

Axle Left 565mm
Axle Right 565mm

1990-1992 (VIN ending with 1GM000001 and up) with rear proportioning valve and rear disc

Front Left 625mm
Front Right 1290mm

Mid Left 2350mm
Mid Right 2440mm

Rear Left 390mm
Rear Right 1230mm

Axle Left 635mm
Axle Right 758mm

1990-1992 (VIN ending with 1GM000001 and up) with rear proportioning valve and drums

Front Left 625mm
Front Right 1290mm

Mid Left 2350mm
Mid Right 2440mm

Rear Left 390mm
Rear Right 1230mm

Axle Left 745mm
Axle Right 875mm

1990-1992 (up to VIN ending with 1GL990000) without rear proportioning valve and drums

Front Left 625mm
Front Right 1290mm

Mid Left 2480mm
Mid Right 3555mm

Axle Left 565mm
Axle Right 565mm

1990-1992 (VIN ending with 1GM000001 and up) without rear proportioning valve and drums

Front Left 625mm
Front Right 1290mm

Mid Left 2480mm
Mid Right 3555mm

Axle Left 745mm
Axle Right 875mm

Modified by L33t A2 at 11:24 AM 5-31-2006

[L33t A2]

[Jezztor]

FANTASTIC THREAD, James! Put this in holistah's DIY also... This info is brilliant.

[digifant_gli]

When I had the steel lines replaced on my Jetta, the dealer made the steel lines out of 2 coils of Genuine VW brake line, and bent them into shape, matching the original lines perfectly. Comparing the lines on my GLI to those on the Flair which are original, it's hard to tell the difference.

[Brit101]

Quote, originally posted by Jezztor »

FANTASTIC THREAD, James! Put this in holistah's DIY also... This info is brilliant.

x2

[LazyAzn]

Great Job this helped me out alot

[tikipiki]

Hey, Great info, I am about to replace my hard lines too.
I think I found a cheaper coupler, well theres two that I think will fit correctly. They're from napa or napaonline.com. I searched for brake line on the search and under non vehicle specific section is where I found this.

It is part number: (I had the wrong part #, the old one was for the non-bubble flare, here is the correct part #) BK 641-5020

At http://www.napaonline.com or your local napa shop. That part number is for one part and I don't gurantee it will fit but from the specs on the site I think it will. There was another one on there also with the same basic size specs but I think the outside casing was different and there was a small price difference. These are also about $3-$4 instead of $15-$20 so they may be or poorer quality or just priced better. I am going to go the ecstuning route on the lines because I don't feel like flaring all the lines myself and try this napa coupler. They also have like 7 pages of hard line to choose from too so take a look there too if anyone needs anything. Thanks for the great information L33t A2, you made my day a whole lot better when I saw this post


Modified by tikipiki at 6:58 PM 8-4-2006

[L33t A2]

great to hear

[L33t A2]

that connector fitting seems like it should work, if you choose to use it, please report back with your findings, that would be great if theres a cheaper solution

[Broke]

Quote, originally posted by digifant_gli »

When I had the steel lines replaced on my Jetta, the dealer made the steel lines out of 2 coils of Genuine VW brake line, and bent them into shape, matching the original lines perfectly.

That is what I did when it was time for new lines... http://www.thediygroup.com/flare2.htm

Broke

[MBRACKLIFFE]

Why are the rear brake lines on the different VIN numbers different lengths on these....???

1990-1992 (up to VIN ending with 1GL990000) with rear proportioning valve and drums

Front Left 625mm
Front Right 1290mm

Mid Left 2350mm
Mid Right 2440mm

Rear Left 390mm
Rear Right 1230mm

Axle Left 565mm
Axle Right 565mm

1990-1992 (VIN ending with 1GM000001 and up) with rear proportioning valve and drums

Front Left 625mm
Front Right 1290mm

Mid Left 2350mm
Mid Right 2440mm

Rear Left 390mm
Rear Right 1230mm

Axle Left 745mm
Axle Right 875mm

Just curious because I am going to be doing mine soon and as far as I knew all of the rear beams were the same.

my VIN ends in G7NM003935 so I would use the 745 and 875 lengths..??


Modified by MBRACKLIFFE at 6:38 PM 6-6-2006

[MK2SnowPilot]

Bringing this back from the dead for a similar question:

Which damn ones should I use?

My VIN ends with: G6MW084898

[TehLonz]

Sticky needs to happen.

[MK2SnowPilot]

Totalling up the lengths I can buy enough pre-cut lines to re-do everything for about $60...

Anyone know which range my VIN falls in?

[Pat3022]

If i'm buying the straight sections from nappa what size fittings and diamater line?

[Pat3022]

the guy that replaced mine the last time used one that is too small. It's leaking where the hard line screws into the master cylinder and where that same line connects to the flex line. now i have to replace but don't know the right size

[Burnitwithfire]

Quote, originally posted by vr6swap »

3/16" stainless hardline is available from Classic Tube ( http://www.classictube.com) and Inline Tube (www.inlinetube.com). A sales rep from Classic Tube tells me that they can cut / flare hard line to customer's measurements, for the price of parts plus a nominal shop charge for the cutting / flaring. The estimate I got from them was aproximately 160.00 shipped for 8 hardlines, totalling 383", cut and flared, including fittings. Note that this is NOT pre-bent line, you have to handle that yourself. Modified by vr6swap at 1:18 PM 11-23-2006

160 is a pretty damn good price for SS lines, cut and flared with fittings! Great thread BTW, very useful!

[Pat3022]

Use this site to convert mm to inches or feet http://mg-jewelry.com/mmtoinches.html

this thread should be stickied somewhere

there are different types of flares, also. VW's use bubble flares.

In the pic above the "bubble flare" is on the right. Not to be confused with the "double flare" which is on the left.


Modified by Pat3022 at 6:34 PM 2-10-2007

[German_Aesthetic]

I bought some lines from ECS and they weren't painted. I went to Autozone and the lines were painted that green OEM color. go to autozone and get your lines there. I bought the 2 couplers at Napa. I bet the zone has them too. Autozone is great. Around here in central CT, I like them better than pep boys, napa, advance auto parts. As for german parts, germanautoparts.com. immediate turnaround, 1 day shipping. I like.

[s-rocc]

great thread, something i will be doing soon.

[L33t A2]

im glad people are finding help through this

[The Hustler]

i was going to do all stainless... but this just seems SO much easier..

in for the info.

[Crubb3d Rymz]

bump for EXTREMELY useful info, thank you OP

[DubbinChris]

I wonder if this is the right union as well. It's cheaper than Napa too.

http://northernautoparts.com/P...15953

They do sell hard lines as well but it looks like you cant' just buy one or two of each length that you need.

http://northernautoparts.com/P...=2630


Modified by DubbinChris at 1:59 AM 9-13-2009

[sin bar]

a useful thread.

[twinrado]

Again, does anyone have the inside and outer diameter's of the tubing because I plan on placing an order for some tubing.

[twinrado]

bump

[soapbubblebox]

What's the trick for getting the threads to catch? I'm trying to connect the original line back to both the hydraulic hub and the master cylinder..

[red86GLI]

Midas banged my front hardlines out in an hour for $44. sweet.

[Ajaxpowder]

Huge ups!

[Electronaut]

Awesome thread.

FWIW, I just replaced my drivers front hard line (early MK2), and used THIS 20" DIY line from Autozone. The original length as stated in the first post is 550mm or ~21.6", but I cheated the bend from the MC to the frame rail just a little to make up the difference. You could easily use the 30" length too and just use the excess to tuck the line out of the way.

Part Number: PAEX-320 (20")
Alternate Part Number: AZE320

Part Number: PAEX-330 (30")
Alternate Part Number: AZE330

The website says that their stores normally stock these, but what I found is the inventory is always off. I even called and provided the parts numbers, and was assured they had them in stock, but when I got there none of the lines were in the right spots at three different stores. Get them to actually read the tags on the lines, and not just the hanger slot they're in.

Hope that helps someone.

[L33t A2]

Awesome thread.

I'm glad people are still finding this thread to be helpful

[Big Dac With Fries]

If you're in Canada, and are looking for the nicer epoxy coated (green) line, check out Part Source. I bought a roll of it when I was doing the brake lines on my MK2.

It's not cut to length, but that's why they make a flaring tool and cutter.

[ratdub]

i'm going to bump this up b/c it is very useful info

[Estacaco]

Very useful. Helped in redoing my rear brake lines last November. If you're having trouble sourcing flare nuts to make your own line you can usually salvage them from your old lines.