2004 2500HD - Bleeding brakes
 

Gentlemen -

I'm going to be replacing the brakelines on my Silverado HD.

Will I need to cycle the ABS in order to get it to bleed? If so, how do I do that?

Thanks,

K

Re: 2004 2500HD - Bleeding brakes
 

I've done dozens of these, most of the time you don't have to bleed the ABS unit, but I've had 1 or 2 that fought me and I needed to.

Bleed brakes the best you can. I prefer a pressure bleeder. If the pedal still isn't great, you can bleed the ABS unit(you will need a bidirectional scan tool) and then you can bleed the brakes at the wheels again.

Re: 2004 2500HD - Bleeding brakes
 

Thank you -

K

Re: 2004 2500HD - Bleeding brakes
 

Keith, are the lines that rusty???

Re: 2004 2500HD - Bleeding brakes
 

Yes - it blew one of the lines already (I haven't got it in the garage yet to see which one. We got about 8" of snow last night so I have been mostly clearing the driveway).

I will probably just replace the portions that look suspect. I'm not going to jack the cab up or anything to replace the entire length at this time.

K

Re: 2004 2500HD - Bleeding brakes
 

I'm sure you know this, but you can buy a complete prebent kit from GM for $90-100. It has enough lines to do the entire truck, except for the lines attached to the rear axle. The new ones are coated so they will never rust again(I'm not sure why GM did this, since they claim they didn't do anything wrong when they manufactured the original sets)

There's no need to jack up the cab or remove the fuel tank. The only thing that gets removed are the front wheel liners.

Re: 2004 2500HD - Bleeding brakes
 

I bought a nifty flaring tool here, a couple of years ago, It has this little hydraulic hand pump and makes the flare. It's not a cheap deal, but worth every penny....Those old timey flaring tools are for the birds..

Re: 2004 2500HD - Bleeding brakes
 

Made by mastercool?

I have one, it flares anything imaginable. It does also does bubble flares, GM fuel lines, push connect lines, and transmission quick connect fittings. I use mine a lot.

Re: 2004 2500HD - Bleeding brakes
 

Yes,
I bought mine from NAPA, it had their part number on it, the mastercool number is on the plastic case.

A truly incredible tool! I've made a bunch of lines with the old time tooling, which can obviously be done, but you had to plan carefully in case the flare wouldn't seal...this new leaves no doubt that the first time you flare that piece of tubing, it's one and done!!!

Re: 2004 2500HD - Bleeding brakes
 

Hmm - sounds like this project might be an excuse for a new tool...

K

Re: 2004 2500HD - Bleeding brakes
 

It's a great tool, but the replacement lines are so cheap from gm. The tool costs triple what the lines do.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007T...9hL&ref=plSrch

Re: 2004 2500HD - Bleeding brakes
 

Just to close the loop here: I'm all set.

I ended up buying the GM replacement "kit" (GM part #22932565 for a 2500HD crew cab 6.5ft box). Turns out the kit was pretty well available everywhere (Summit, Jegs, even WalMart). I got it through a dealership here locally since it was within walking distance.

Bleeding was no problem. I was able to gravity bleed to get started and then did a vacuum bleed. I've been driving it for a couple weeks now and will probably go back and do one more pressure bleed when it is convenient.

The pre bent lines were nice, for the front. For the rear there were some tight spots behind the fuel tank, crossing over the rail and under the rear wire harness bundle. I think it would have been easier for that to be a straight line and bend to suit under the truck.

Hardest part about the whole thing was getting the stuck brake bleeder screws out. :rolleyes:

K