So what is the recommended fluid change interval to help alleviate this wear? My fluid was changed in 2014, as I had all my rubber lines changed out. Might be something for me to look into. Based on what you guys are saying in terms of difficulty, I will have a shop do it. How many hours do you suppose we are talking about, in R&R time?

 

Believe it or not the LR recommended interval between brake fluid changes is 2 years. I certainly did not adhere to that recommendation as I have replaced my rubber brake lines and fluid only once.

 

I did this on my GMC pickup a year ago. Its a nightmare job with 1-2k in labor costs on that vehicle. I did it myself and it was not fun... I'd suggest doing an inspection and only replacing pieces that need obvious repair.

 

Did you do it with the body on using the Land Rover full line from the rear axle to the ABS disti block? Or did you splice in somewhere?

If you did the full line with the body on, how bad was it really? I see many people talking about it being a body off job, but for the life of me I just can't see why feeding the new line up would be that bad?

 

I'm in the middle of redoing some of the hard lines and it is a really hateful job.
The factory lines are a hard steel and a bear to flare, and if they break off by the cat it's even worse. I'm about ready to run some new lines from ABS pump to the rear and bypass the entire mess. Has anyone done it that way and if so, where did you route the lines?
Or I mught go GM fuel pump mode and cut a hole in the floor above the cat where the decent brake line seems to end and the crusty begins.

 

And I ended up doing both side of the lines, they were rotten to just about under the heat shield.
That German fellow on youtube removed his exhaust system to run new lines, I don't have that kind of patience for that so I loosened the pipe and pushed it off to the side as best I could. It is really hateful. I have a oil pit in my garage so I could do it standing up and iit was still a crap job, as I mentioned before the original hard lines are a hard steel and don't flare easily, there is hardly any room to work and pull the lines, and good luck getting them back into the clips. By the way, those clips is where they all start rotting, they rub against the lines and if any grit is in there it works like sandpaper. Give them a pull and they break there, but you won't find any good steel until you get under that shield.
I used the line I had on hand from other brake jobs, this being northern Michigam where they salt the roads into asphalt jerky. Some was the coppery coated line and the other piece that fir was the black stuff. The cuprinol line is easier to bend, also easier to kink but since it works easier you can do it again to work past the kinked line. The blackline most people have used work hardens easily so plan your bends carefully. And mostly I ran the new lines where they won't get tangled in the bushed off road or rubbed by stuff but it isn't pretty. And as I'm doing that, I'm looking at all the rust underneath and thinking about what I should do to get a few more years out of the beast.

 

I just had a leak in my rear brake lines at the usual plastic clip just beyond the wheel well. Ordered the land rover brake kit (part numbers LR056967 & LR056968) and will tackle in the next week or so. I have no experience bending brake lines, so a pre-bent kit made the most sense for me. I do plan on remove the exhaust from the resonator box (just after the driver side door) in order to get good access. I suspect I'll spend most of my time wrestling the exhaust and fishing the new brake line.

 

I tried to undo my bolts for the exhaust and even with liberal applications of PB Blast and break free they did not budge, and rather than take a chance of breaking them off I worked around the pipes.
You'll definitely want to look at the "LR Time" video on youtube where the plucky Germans tackle this very job. If you are planning to do this in the driveway under a Rover supported by jackstands you will absolutely hate yourself and the swear jar will be overflowing. I believe the shop manual calls for taking the body off.

 

I've watched the LR Time video a few times. And yes this will be in my garage on jack stands. I'll report back when done.

 

I salute you!
Its nt like it's a job that can be put off. Once they start leaking there the repair has to be done. And you'll probably never have to do it on the same Rover again.