do i need to extend the brake lines?

i plan to buy a 4 inch lift either from superlift or rough country for my '72 k20. some of the guys at work are telling me that i have to extend the brake lines and some are telling me that i don't. k20chevy (from this forum) said that i had to, but the guy that's gonna put on my lift says i don't.

SNOMAN, please tell me what i have to do. i have a dana 44 (disc) in the front and i have that HO72 Eaton axle (drum) in the back. if i do have to get the brakes, where do i go about getting the lines and how long do they have to be? can i put them on before i get the lift put on, cause i don't want to pay that guy for something i can do.  please, sno, help me out.

the thing is, they tell you you don´t need lionger brakeline because if you only drive it on the road an don´t flex it too much youu could be fine. but if you really flex your suspension, i would really give you the advice to run longer brakeline, there is no reason to tear the oem ones off and drive home with only rear brakes, or be stranded with no brakes at all!
like i said i´m using pro comp ss braised extended brakleines on mine with a 4" lift and i got mine from offraoddesign in colorado. they claim the work from 2" to about8" of lift, but if you´d put them on ant home and only drive the truck to the shop where they put the lift in, you should be fine. but i wouldn´t drive it four a month with longer brakelines and no lift!
hope this helps you out...  

i don't think that i'll be able to afford those braided brake lines. i have to work all types of ot just for this lift. the reason why i'm getting the lift is because i'm rubbing the front fender when i turn. would you know where i could get some inexpensive extended brake lines that will get the job done? maybe autozone? i'm new at most of this. i know the front disc lines need to be extended, but the back drum brake lines i have no experience with. i just extend those the same way i do the fronts? i appiciate all your help.   

what you actually could do, atleast to get by til you can afford the braides lines is to relocate the harline on the frame. that way you can keep your stock length lines and just pull the hardline further down. some companies offer a drop kit for the brake lines. although not the perfect sollution this is far better than doing nothing to the brakelines and tearing them off after a while.
i think rancho, superlift ans skyjacker offer sich drop brakets.

to the setup on the rear axle. there you only have one line going down tward the pumpkin and you have hardlines going to the brakes from there. so all together you need 3 lonfer brakelines or 3 drop brakets to do the job.
(with a kit, usually all 3 needed pc. are included!)

if you will go with dropping the hardlines though be careful to not overbend them or kink them in any way. those drop brakets should only run you about 20 buck or so! so this is a lot cheeopper than the ss braided brakelines.

hope this helps!

(look at the internet pages of the liftkit companies, there shoud be kits like that with part numbers)

from skyjacker i only found braided lines, but i have no idea what they cost, but here are the part#

pair front: #FBL26  and the single rear: #RBL12

the ones i got from procomp are about $100 for all 3 oft them.

the superlift ones front kit: #3094-6 and rear: #3093-5

rough country has extended brakelines $30 front $20 rear.
have no partnumbers on those though.

on the web it doesn´t say anything about the drop brakets, but there are some, i know!

good luck with the swap! :-)

let me know if it worked and if you have any probs feel free to ask!!

(don´t forget to send pics when you are done! ;-)  )

ralf

I would not drop the exisiting line down with a bracket and make two weak links. Get a longer hose, braided or not and be done with it.

the 4 inch lift that i bought is the black diamond by superlift (so the man says). its funny because i looked on the superlift/black diamond website and they don't offer my application (only jeep). i bought it from national tire and wheel. its the ad from my fourwheeler mag. i bought the $499 one that said it came w/52 inch springs in the back. the guy at ntw said that it also comes with shocks and a drop down bracket for the brakes. does any one know anything else about this lift? it seams like its too cheap for what i'm getting, but then again, its for a 36yr old truck.  

i think the kit should be alright. i got superlift springs for my truck and they are a little more expensive, but if they do sell sth with a brand name it hast to work!
so i´m sure you´ll be fine with this kit!

@snoman: i said that it is not the very best idea to drop the hardlines, just the cheepest way to get by! but i don´t recomend it! i would only use longer lines as well!
and might as well go with ss braided ones because they are stronger and don´t tear as easy!!

does the kit have a raised steering arm or dropped draglink? you need either one of those as well!!!  

i also bought the 4 inch dropped steering arm, and i will make plans to save for those ss brake lines. thanks a lot for your help, guys. and i'll send some pics when i can.  

THere is on draw back to a braided line while it is stronger it is a bit less flexible and you do not want it so strong that something else tears out instead of brake line if it is caught on something. Need to kinda keep this in mind at time for what it is worth.