Cleaning up the brakes tubes from the front left wheel

Introduction

Now that I have the odd shaped brake tubes off (40/41 and 45 in the diagram here) I wanted to clean the thick layer of grease and dirt in order to see what condition the brake tubes were in but I needed to do it in as non-destructive way as possible. I plan on re-using these parts if they are in good enough condition asĀ  replacements are hard to find/expensive

IMG_0164

I used a combination of a tooth brush dipped in diesel, and some sand paper to clean them.

IMG_0165

The job was a dirty one so I put on some rubber gloves, just look at that caked on grease near the bolts. Here you can see the diesel ‘bath’ that I’m using, along with the poor old toothbrush.

IMG_0166

After a while the tube started to look better

IMG_0167

and then I cleaned the bolts that were originally attached, and put them back on so I wouldn’t lose them.

IMG_0168

After cleaning, I used an air compressor to blow out any dirt, dust in the tube.

Next I started work on the u-bend tube (number 45 in the diagram).

IMG_0169

As you can see, it’s a mess. But after some careful sanding, and cleaning with diesel, I got it to look like this. Not perfect, but it’s better than it was.

IMG_0170

Next I cleaned the bolts which attached to either end, they have two copper washers, one for inside, and one on the other side (only one copper washer visible below). This copper washer was stuck to the bolt with dirt/grease so that needed to be freed (numbers 46/47 in the diagram).

IMG_0171

And the after photo. Notice how much better the grooves are and the copper washer is moving again.

IMG_0173

I then used an air compressor to blow air through the bottom of that bolt and it exited via the one hole near the threads (along with dirt/brake fluid).

Here’s a re-assembly of the parts

IMG_0174

and don’t forget the missing bolt/washers in the s-shaped tube also.

IMG_0175

You can purchase replacement hollow-bolts from here (I am not affiliated with them in any way).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *