Do I need to extend brake lines with a 4 inch lift?

[gt1009]

Ok, I'm in the middle of putting a 4 inch lift on my truck and my brake lines are all stuck. I don't have a line wrench at home because I'm 17 and spent all my money on the lift. However, I do have access to every tool imaginable in shop class. So my question is, as long as my stock brake lines reach while putting on the new springs will I be ok to leave them on until friday? I think I should be alright. Even though we have major flooding going on now and the mud will be awesome I'll resist wheeling till I get these extended properly.

 

[powerhouseduece]

i did the same thing on my 78 civvy k5 but i used the stock brake lines on a 6" lift. it wasent untill a few months later that i put a set of ss on it.

 

[CCATLETT1984]

you will be fine, try not to bend the hard line any more than you have to.

 

[86M10086.2L]

I put a 4 inch lift on my M1008 a few weeks back. I left the stock lines on for about a week and a half. It was fine. I wheeled it once, no issues but I don't recomend it. If there's alittle bit of play at ride height, as mentioned before you should be ok. If you want to save a few dollars and your rubber lines are in good shape. You can remove the rubber lines from the hard lines, route the hard line under the frame rail and leave it alone and you should be good to go, or to do it the right way, you can relocate the braket further down on the frame and reuse it and get similar results. But if your really gonna wheel it, go for the extended lines it's worth it in the end.

 

[ragedracer]

I did this on my civilian K5. It was OK for about 2 months. Until one day I was headed down the road, coming up to a red light, and hit the brakes. NOTHING. Pedal went straight to the floor and I was going ~55 mph about to enter an 8 lane intersection at 7:30PM on a Friday night. Can you say "pucker factor"?!! I laid on the horn, started flashing my lights and made it through without killing myself or anyone else, BARELY. It took me about another 1/2 mile to come to a stop, my E-brake didn't work and all I could do was downshift the automatic till it got going slow enough to rub the tires on a curb to stop.

Moral of the story: PLEASE don't let it go. It will be fine for a little while, but if you're going to put any flex on the suspension out there, it will break at the worst possible time. When it comes to brakes, your life and others are at stake.

rr

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Yes.



There's some parts store rubber brake lines that can be used for cheap. Made for other vehicles but bolt to your truck and won't cost an arm and a leg.
http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111370

 

[Croatan_Kid]

I've had my stock ones on since January 26th, no problems. However, I'm adding another inch of lift to the front soon and swapping in a new motor so I figured with the added weight and another inch of lift, I would opt for some braided stainless lines to avoid the minute swelling of rubber brake lines.

Might as well do it, they look cool too! Not too expensive either, you can get the fronts and rear for around 100 bucks.

Oh, don't forget, these trucks have DOT 5 brake fluid.