I was crawling around under the KJ as part of my pre-trip inspection (a bunch of Sydney Jeeps are going outback to the Simpson Desert in a few weeks). I noticed that my rear brake hard line (part # 52128514AD) has been rubbed by a wiring plastic protective tube to the point where it (the brake line) now has a flat surface on it. I don't know how thick these hard line tubes are but if I can feel a flat surface it concerns me. Below are some photos, is this something I need to get fixed (its still under warranty) or should I not worry. I have relocated the rubbing plastic and wrapped the brake line in that spot with silicon rescue tape (aka Tommy tape, etc). What do you think?

I should add that the KJ is lifted so Jeep Australia will probably argue about warranty replacement -"well if it wasn't lifted it would not have rubbed".... read your Owners Manual - your cost to replace.

Glend, good eye!
Another point to consider.
Looking at the harness above and in front of the rear pumkin it can be a jumble of an organized mess. And with those parking brake cables added to the mix too.
Last summer I had to replace said harness due to a defect caused by bubbing/ vibration rendering an intermintent connection of the passenger rear ABS tone ring pickup sensor. I found myself taping and zip tieing all over the place to get the positioning I felt that rubbing is nonexistent. And that is at stock height (well 1 inch lift).

I cannot really tell by the pics but it looks like brake line replacement is not needed. But some kind of rubbing buffer will be needed there to stop any more wear.

anyway FWIW

Roland

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2006 CRD LTD 2.8L VM Motori turbo,CAC, 100K-new timing belt
ORM-SEGR, Trans cooler, CLIII hitch front/rear, Journey HD controller
Mopar skids,"Stone Soup" rails, KK clevis fork 1" mild lift w/Daystar stops
215x85 LRD BFG Commercial A/T's, Rola Rack, V6 airbox, Fumoto valve
10K winch, B5 Biodiesel (ULSD CP3 lube)
Its a Diesel baby!

Pretty wild how plastic is harder than steel.

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2006 Sport CRD

Could the Aztecs have known, that in 2012 after a 4 year experiment, our country would cease to exist?

ya i was just wondering how the plastic rubbed through metal

the brake lines are pretty thick. i would say wrap it in something to prevent it from rubbing more and keep an eye on it for a while.

Dust is great abrasive. I figured the axle moving up and down rubbing the brake line on the corrugated split tubing (with dust as the abrasive) would have polished it flat. As the tube is flexible it just has to provide a sliding surface for the dust to do the work. There is some evidence of wear on the back side of the tubing but it is spread across the length of the tube whereas the brake line just wore in the one spot.

I had a brake guy look at it today and he didn't think it was worn enough to warrant replacement. It was mainly through the paint (yes that pipe was primed and painted) and maybe 1/4mm of the metal (just enough to feel it).

So I encapsulated it in epoxy putty and relocated the offending ABS sensor line from where Jeep had attached it to the rear sway bar up onto the parking brake cable. In the attached photo you can see where it was originally attached to the sway bar (plain stupid if you ask me). Funny thing is that they did not do it that way on the other side (where it follows the parking brake cable up). Anyone with an ABS equipped KJ might want to have a look at theirs.

I believe post 2005 crd's need some kind of rear brake line extentions if you install a lift. They come with the lift kits. You have an Aussie crd so who knows???

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2005 sport crd-SOLD No regrets

Agreed, the "soft" plastic is not nearly as easily abraded as the "hard" metal. This is exactly the principal used by rock tumblers. Take a plastic or rubber barrel, put some rocks and abrasive in it and tumble it for a couple of weeks. The rocks will come out nice and smooth and the plastic or rubber will remain relatively unscathed.

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