While I was in the middle of tightening my torsion bar keys, I accidentally brushed the bottom of the clutch hardline and it started dripping brake fluid. The hardline is the small rusted tubing pictured on the right side of the photo above.

It took a bit to find a replacement as the Nissan diagrams are not proportioned correctly, so it was hard to tell if it was the right part or not. I found Courtesy Nissan on eBay, and they were able to give me the product dimensions which matched the part, so I ordered from them. Part dimensions are 10" x 8" x 4".

Lower Hardline P/N: 30850-9Z400

One of the hardest problems I dealt with was getting the air out of the lines between the clutch master cylinder and the slave cylinder after replacing the lower hardline section. Even though the truck was shifting properly before the line was replaced, I could never get a good bleed afterwards. I ended up replacing both the master and slave cylinders at the same time, and that resolved the issue right away. Most people online recommend bench bleeding the Master cylinder before installing it. Insert a 2ft and 1/4" ID clear tube to the exit port on the cylinder, and place the other end in the reservoir. Fill the reservoir with brake fluid then pump the cylinder until you don't get any air bubbles in the line, then install. One trick I did learn was to buy an 8ft and 1/4" ID clear tube, fill it with brake fluid, and connect one side to the bottom end of the lower hardline, and the other side was placed in the master reservoir. I was then able to do the first part of bleeding the system by myself by pressing down on the clutch, crimping the line while pulling the clutch pedal back up, and repeating until all air bubbles were out of the system. I then connected the lower hardline to the flexible clutch line, the 1/4" tubing to the slave bleeder valve, and had a helper then operate the clutch pedal, while I operated the bleeder valve. I only recommend using this long clear tubing trick if your system was fully flushed, but it prevented me from having to continually check on the reservoir level, as it kept refilling itself.

I wouldn't recommend getting the master and slave cylinders from your local auto parts store. After I replaced it the first time, the slave cylinder had been making a clicking noise on and off when the clutch pedal was pressed in, and about a year after I installed it, it sprung a leak and left me on the side of the road. I now have one installed from Exedy USA, which is working well.

The complete list of items used in this project, and other projects, can be found in the Parts List below.