Advice on power steering hose replacements?

[skytripping]

I joined the club of self-a-bus-ers a few months back, and officially entered into the era of coach ownership. My second outing in the Greyhound owned 1983 MCI MC-9 (before I even had the original seats out) won me a burst power steering hose in the front end. Yay!



same hose as above after running a bit of fresh fluid through the lines:



Now I'm trying to get the hose disconnected from the copper tubing that runs into the trunk, and as you can see it's rustier than a bag of tetanus. I'm afraid that if I torque any harder on the hose coupler nuts, I'll end up damaging the copper lines. Any suggestions or tips would be much appreciated.



But even once those are off, I'm not sure the best approach to getting new hoses. Is there a super-secret place where abundant, high-quality, inexpensive replacement coach parts are enjoyed by the busing masses, or is it best to have something custom made?

Thanks for your input. And thanks for all the posts I've enjoyed as a guest up until today, the day I graduated to a full-blown member of the forum.

[brmax]

At this point I would seriously only use the very center and the right connections with wrenches.  I say that as im pretty sure that center looks to be a steel fitting and tough.
A good wire brushing and a soaking several times with a penetrant would be a start.  In this job I would also prevent any overspray as a future task may be needed for expediting the dissassembly.

Good day
Floyd

[Sunchaser Art]

Well, I must say, you have a very nice coat of rust on those steel fittings!  As was mentioned, give it a few days of soaking with PB Blaster (or some other rust buster)--maybe a few times, and only use good line wrenches (crow's foot) on those (I prefer Snap-On myself). . .you really don't want to strip the wrench edges on the fittings.  If you can wiggle yourself into a good spot to pull some torque (with two wrenches and only turning the swivel fitting), they may come off without too many busted knuckles.

Once you have the lines off, you can take them to any hydraulic place (sometimes even a Napa or truck parts place) and they'll make you the hoses you need. 

[skytripping]

Well, I must say, you have a very nice coat of rust on those steel fittings!  As was mentioned, give it a few days of soaking with PB Blaster (or some other rust buster)--maybe a few times, and only use good line wrenches (crow's foot) on those (I prefer Snap-On myself). . .you really don't want to strip the wrench edges on the fittings.  If you can wiggle yourself into a good spot to pull some torque (with two wrenches and only turning the swivel fitting), they may come off without too many busted knuckles.

Once you have the lines off, you can take them to any hydraulic place (sometimes even a Napa or truck parts place) and they'll make you the hoses you need. 

Thanks brmax and Sunchaser Art. That was the other main issue: I hardly have any clearance for good travel with my wrench(es). Too many other lines and doodads under there. But I always like a good reason to buy nice tools I don't yet own though, so I'll go find something fun to add to my collection and feel better about this mess under my feet.

[Sunchaser Art]

Most of the time you can put the two wrenches so the long ends are close (like between 12 & 2 o'clock), then pull the both with one (or two) hands just by clenching your fist.  Just keep an eye on the fittings so you don't strip the wrench ends, because then they're a pain to remove.  If they don't come off the first time, squirt them again with a penetrating oil.  Once they budge, you're good to go.

[chessie4905]

If there is room, you can always cut off the copper tubing and either reflare it or use a new compression ring with new nut. Take the removed assembly to a Parker hose shop and have a new on made up with them adding some extra length to connect at the cut off point. Find a point where tubing isn't corroded.

[bevans6]

On the hoses, you get them made by a hydraulic shop, they have the hose, the crimping tools, and there are no standards so every one is custom.  On the connectors, I might try a little heat, maybe a small flame on a Mapp torch or O/A, but what I expect is that even if you get the nut ends to turn, the connector on the hard line will be toast and you will probably be figuring out how to splice the hard line or if you are lucky just re-terminate the end.  I would cut off the hose part with a cutting wheel or hacksaw (reciprocating saw with a metal blade) so that I could get a full ring wrench or a socket on the hexes. 

[DoubleEagle]

If there is room, you can always cut off the copper tubing and either reflare it or use a new compression ring with new nut. Take the removed assembly to a Parker hose shop and have a new on made up with them adding some extra length to connect at the cut off point. Find a point where tubing isn't corroded.

I second this as the most reasonable approach, but I would attempt to trace the condition of the solid line as far back as possible. Your coach has been in a lot of road salt, and there might be other marginal areas of corrosion that will let go after you have made the repair. I would not even attempt to take those fittings apart, just cut the line out. There is nothing sacred about having everything original.

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

I guess it is too late for Duct Tape. 

[buswarrior]

It's all here.

Cut the hose off to gain better access for ring wrenches, wire brush and good penetrating oil drizzled on it multiple applications over multiple days.

Strongly consider just cutting it all out and establishing a new connection on the hard piping.

Using enough torch to heat those requires fire protection to the surface above...

Remember who gets to take it all apart next time, lubricate and rust protect all assemblies for the future.

Use proper connectors for the pressures involved, this isn't a Home Depot plumbing job... Industrial hydraulic supply fittings please.

And secure all new work so that it can't rub on anything!

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[skytripping]

These are all great suggestions and input! Thank you for the ideas. I'm kind of new to this, though I've done a number of repairs on my own light (by comparison haha) vehicles and have run into some tricky stuff, but I always seem to bristle at the tight, tight, dirty, upside-down (did I mention tight?) problems that seem to be 90% of my vehicle repairs (tell me again when I'll stop fighting these kinds of issues and learn to really love them?). My neck is sore.

I would cut off the hose part with a cutting wheel or hacksaw (reciprocating saw with a metal blade) so that I could get a full ring wrench or a socket on the hexes. 

Great simple idea, and one I hadn't considered, so thanks for the suggestion bevans6! I'll try that first so I can at least get the one side off and assess further.

[Iceni John]

Why do you have any pipe there at all?   It's usually best to keep the number of joints to a minimum, so why not run hydraulic hose all the way from the PS pump to the steering box, using normal hydraulic fittings throughout.   Hose is only a few dollars a foot, so for a few hundred dollars you'd have a 100% new high-pressure hose assembly;  the lower-pressure return hose is less critical, but again the fewer the joints the better.

John

[chessie4905]

Since the original is buried in the main tunnel, probably not a practical idea. The rest of the lines will be like new protected in there. With the amount of rust in that area, more corrosion issues are going to show up in other body and framing areas, sorry to say. I wonder what condition the framing inside the walls is like near rear sides, and condition around spare tire compartment area.
I hope you have the coach safely blocked while working on it.

[jmblake]

I was thinking the same thing chessie, I know what i just went through with my 9 and it didn't look near that rusted.
Jason

[eagle19952]

At this point I would seriously consider re-routing and replacing end to end these and all the rest of the fluid transmitting hoses...

PS air and diesel are fluids...