Front Brake Hoses STUCK Tight On My 280SE: ANY HINTS, TIPS OR ADVICE?

[Astro-Benz777]

Hi Everyone!
Having started to notice a steady decline in the effectiveness of the brakes on my 1984 280SE (W126) I came to the forum to find some answers; amongst others, I found a post that mentioned how the Flexible Rubber Brake Hoses (from ends of the permanent stiff metal Brake Lines to the Calipers) disintegrate from the inside & potentially wear beyond the point of being safe without displaying any visible signs of the need for replacement etc etc
So, I carefully inspected all four hoses on my vehicle: The back two look and feel firm, solid & appear reasonably new..... the front two however have numerous Soft Spots (areas on the hose that feel as though they have very little below the rubber exterior) and the front drivers side even has a sizeable bulge where the interior of the hose seems to have deteriorated entirely leaving just the final exterior rubber to withstand the pressure in the braking system!!
I immediately had a friend take me to my local Euro Parts specialist (Unique) where I purchased a pair of new front brake hoses for just under $20ea (inc GST).... all good so far....almost too good...
Having done my homework before attempting to replace them, I added a new set of metric "Flare Spanners" to my ever growing shed load of tools but despite my best efforts: using a 17mm Spanner to hold the brake hose and trying to turn the nut on the Flared end of the Brake line with my new 11mm Flare Spanner, I was unable to budge either front hose and (despite using the correct tool) even managed to start to "round off" the 11mm flare nut on one side....next step was to spray with plenty of penetrating lubricant/nut/rust breaker spray, left to sit overnight and have it another go....without success

NET RESULT: Two new brake hoses ready to o on, slightly rounded flare nuts and a set of flare spanners added to my kit....my poor dear Benz however remains in a state where I'm not driving her much and the odd time I have, only very short trips in case that bulge should burst, compromising my ability to stop in a hairy situation.

SO I FIGURE IF ANYWHERE COULD HELP, THE COMBINED KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE OF THE FORUM MEMBERS MIGHT BE ABLE TO PROVIDE A HINT, TIP, TRICK, PIECE OF ADVICE OR STEP I AM MISSING OR THAT MIGHT MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO FINISH THIS VITAL JOB

Many thanks in advance for any assistance rendered.

[Henry Schuman]

Those can be Buggers even when no salt or corrosion exists.
Main thing is to make sure you are turning the nut the right direction .Sometimes looking at them upside down is confusing so make sure that you are looking at the thing right .
You need a lot of leverage that sometimes you just can not get with those short line wrenches and I have had to use a big pair of vice grips to bust them loose in the past. I use those as a LAST RESORT Though.

[John Green]

next step was to spray with plenty of penetrating lubricant/nut/rust breaker spray, left to sit overnight and have it another go....without success

I feel your pain. If time is on your side, just keep spraying the joint for a week or so. Then if all else fails vise grips are your friend. You need to be very carfull with where the teeth ont he vise grips are interacting with the 6 points on the flare nut. It is possible to do it without that much damage.

[Bartman4800]

And a bit of heat shock helps too.

Heat up the nut with your blowtorch (keep a bucket of water around) and when quite hot spray it with the freeze stuff (or the garden hose)

Bart

[carl888]

This is a common issue I've found. What I do is cut the lines which allows a ring spanner to be used on all the line hexs. If it's really tough, heat applied to the line as Bart suggests helps.

Do be careful using any petroleum based penetrant on the lines. Ingress into the brake hydraulic system of this fluid is hostile to the seals. If your hoses are swolen I'd be having a good look at the caliper seals and master cylinder as well, it's a safety issue, and these grand old dames are just aged now!

[CraigB]

Agree with all above. Not sure what penetrants you are using but I have had good success with Inox and while i did have success with 'Freeze release' once, I've not had great success since. I always reckon it is good to have a range of these things on the shelf and try them all. Worst case scenario, the solid line can be cut close to the nipple and a new one put on and flared, but good to have a good go first. There are cheap flare nut spanners that don't seem to fit well. I have had better success sometimes with a good quality open ender - I think 11mm and 7/16 are very close but you could try both. I don't know what it is called but I have a small spring loaded 'wrench' with fine teeth that tightens the harder you press on it - like a v on one side and a cam on the other- if you watch where the teeth contact you can sometimes get things without damage - a bit like JG comment about vise grip but these things are good as the bite more as you apply pressure. You have self serve wreckers over there - can you grab another whole metal line? - presuming you can get the flex hoses off!

[sinbad2]

As others have suggested, a blowtorch, we used to call them hot spanners in the navy.

[Astro-Benz777]

Sorry for the very late reply and update folks and immense thanks for the great range of very useful and practical advice.
Well.... I've done a great deal to my wonderful Benz since I started this thread including replacing the rear struts for the SLS (one of the struts had failed badly, leaking hydraulic fluid down to the point it had soaked the semi-trailing arm, halfway up thee spring and had begun dripping!) all of the information for which I found either here on or through the forum so huge thanks goes to everyone who contributes and make this site the fantastic resource it is for Aussie Benz owners.

Back to the point however; I did finally manage to get them undone without having to resort to cutting either the hose or the actual brake line and without stripping the nut so badly that it became useless (though one wa close!).
I think it was CraigB's post that explained the worst case scenario of the line being cut and re-flared that gave me the confidence to use force that I otherwise would have hesitated to before knowing that but it was a good penetrating lubricant and some time... about a week in fact (special thanks goes to John Green) of spraying at least once or twice daily, leaving it to do its job, returning and giving it a try.
One came off using the Flare Spanners I bought (they're a set of Chrome-Vanadium..whatever that is.. Metric starting at 8mm upwards that cost around $55) and the other, now far less healthy looking nut, I ended up getting off courtesy of good old fashioned vise-grips and the sage advice of not trying to do in a day, that which takes a week,

I'll be doing the spheres on the SLS soon, I'm not 100% certain they've gone (though pretty sure now I understand the system) but have managed to find a set at around half retail that someone had bought but didn't end up using so will take the opportunity to renew them while I can, that way I'm relatively confident I won't need to touch that system for a few years (with any luck!) but I am going to attempt doing a step by step photo tutorial for the forum as my way of returning the favor for all the knowledge you guys have given me.
Until then or my next crisis, hope you and yours are well and happy.