Brake hoses

[magicman]

My mechanic insists there is only one rear flex brake hose on my 1968 250sl?  I thought there were two rear hoses?

[Benz Dr.]

Get a another  mechanic. There are two different brakes hoses.

[magicman]

That's what I thought. I have confidence in the lead mechanic but he didn't do the brake work. Can they call you for assistance in locating the other brake hose?

[ja17]

Its not hard to find.  Just follow the metal brake lines.

[wwheeler]

I would do what Dr. Benz says, get a new mechanic. Most cars with solid rear axles have only one rear brake hose. But this is a Mercedes with a split rear axle. Different ball game.

[jameshoward]

You don't say how many wheels the car has.

If 4, there should be two hoses.

But I'd also suggest Dan's advice be followed...

[magicman]

We resolved the missing brake hose issue! As I mentioned, the lead mechanic didn't do the work & apparently the mechanic that did the work thought only one should be replaced. Not sure why he insisted there was only one though The good new is that the car will be back on the road tonight for the first time in a couple months. I also had the brake booster rebuilt by a local rebuilder & replaced the tie rods, inner rack & steering dampener. All of those parts were original, including the brake hoses, so after 45+ years they were due.  Thanks again for your advice & assistance.

[Jonny B]

Can you post some photos of the brake booster after the rebuild. New boosters are being made out of unaffordium, so having some options on rebuild is a good thing.

[garymand]

Replace all your rubber brake hoses. 2 in front and one more in back.  They absorb somethng out of the brake fluid and swell closed. If one did it, the others will soon follow resulting uneven braking.  I've been getting my 250 road worthy, one rear was totally blocked, the other worked only one-way.  I replaced all 4 calipers with rebuilts, they were only 65 to 85 $ each.  The rotors are cheap too.  Something if you do yourself, it costs $300 in parts -rotors.  The rotors are ~$150 for all 4.  Under $500 for new brakes.  

[Cees Klumper]

X2 on the hoses. Replaced mine after one was so restricted it would only work one-way; you don't see it from the outside but I believe most hoses have a date mark on them, so only thing left is to check that against a normal useful life. And I replaced my calipers this summer, made a big improvement in the braking characteristics (which I never considered as poor to begin with).

[magicman]

Both rear brake hoses were replaced & I had the front hoses replaced just a couple of years ago. Calipers & rotors are in good shape.  JonnyB -as far as the brake booster is concerned, I had the internals rebuilt but the actual brake booster housing is original. The shop repainted it, not a perfect job but it will suffice for now.

[Jonny B]

How did they take it apart?

[sandcrab59]

Thats a good question Jon.
How do you take it  apart?
Tom

[magicman]

My understanding is that you need a special wrench like tool to open up the brake booster. It cost me $135+ shipping for the rebuild.