[Ozark]

It just recently come my attention that my late wife's Explorer had a deteriorated fuel line. Apparently someone used regular rubber line like what you would use on a vacuum line. So it is deteriorated and burst at the same time. I have ordered a nylon fuel line from Amazon.
My first question is how long of a hose will I need from the tank to the fuel filter? I'm hoping that the 10-ft section I ordered would be more than enough.
My second question is how hard is it to get it fit over stainless steel fitting?

 

[J_C]

You can use rubber line as long as it's high pressure (rated above fuel system pressure) and coupled correctly. Was the original line nylon? I would have guessed steel.

The line doesn't get put over the stainless fitting on the tank sender or filter AFAIK, instead you need the line-specific couplers that adapt to the Ford fittings on both ends. I could be wrong though, have not tried to fit nylon lines on a recent vintage Ford, but generally from what I recall you'd get a whole kit including the spring-loaded connectors that claims to be able to handle '06 era Ford, or purchase them separately. Trying to force a nylon line over a stainless nipple is not the way to do this. I might misunderstand what you mean.

Is there much in the way for this fuel line run? Brake line runs with factory pre-made, pre-bent tubing can be tricky after the vehicle is completely put together, but in the case of just tank to filter fuel line, I wonder if you can just get the entire pre-made fuel line from Ford and just bolt ("bolt" being used loosely, meaning clip with mating connectors already on it) it on? Is the filter on the frame or up in the engine bay?

 

[Ozark]

Original was nylon and the filter was next to the frame.

 

[J_C]

If the filter's next to the frame, you need nowhere near 10ft of hose, but if you don't buy the whole ~$200+ Ford hose assembly, you're supposed to use connectors on both ends. Dorman might make some, if you have the fitting sizes for the metal nipple fittings, an auto parts store might have that. Maybe you already have those connectors still, it's not clear how (or why) the prior repair was done.

Another option is just pull that line off a donor vehicle at a junkyard. As far as I can tell, it uses the newer design where you just push the clips in by hand, don't need a special tool inserted in beside the fuel line. Then again after years, it could be stuck and need finesse to get off without breaking the connector. Reusing one, it might need new o-rings if it doesn't seal.