Is brake line flaring difficult?

[Paisano]

Ahhh............Understood
And perpendicular too.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yeah, if the cut is uneven, you won’t get good results. I say square because I’m used to working construction. Perpendicular is a good term to describe it.

I’ve gone to the Nickel/Copper line, easy to bend even without tools and never rusts. Be careful buying it cheap online because sometimes it’s copper coated steel. Real Ni/Copp line is non-magnetic. I buy stainless steel fittings for it. Rust is a big problem here. Not so much in AZ though.

Soft lines are sometimes a little difficult to flare in those cheap tools, I had to clamp it really tight and it would often deform the line a little, I’d have to file a little of where the line pressed into the grooves so the nut would slide up to the flare. The tools like Bobby suggested and the hydraulic and turret tools have smooth dies and it’s not a problem

 

[superj]

and get a flaring tool with the proper flare angle. they make different flare angles for different things so you might flare, say a 35 degree flare but your vehicles is 40 degrees. those are not the actual numbers but make sure its an automotive brake flaring tool so its right. brakes use a different angle than some other lines do

 

[lowspeedpursuit]

I've done dozens of flares with the Titan tool. Cutter and reamer from home depot. Mostly nicopp, generally on the bench with the block in a vise. It's piss easy.

When I was learning, the two problems I had were:

1. Use die lube, but only a little bit. Don't glom it on there and leave it.

2. Don't ever crank the wrench at the stop. You want the last tightening movement to be smooth.

Lately I've been fixing heat-pump flares with a "nice" eccentric ratcheting tool, and in general I think brakes are "easier" not because you're doing anything different, but because high-pressure single-flares need to be absolutely perfect. Double-flared connections are a lot more forgiving.

 

[bobbywalter]

The tool I bought from Napa over 40 years ago looks like this and works fine. I agree that it's important to get a clean cut on the line and file off any burrs before flaring. Practice a few times and go for it. Remember to put the fitting on the line- facing the right way- before you start.
View attachment 139339

this is good if you dont have to make brake lines very often and are on the bench.

only thing i used for 30 years....have a handful of them laying around..


the 3/16 nipple usually busts off after about 20 or 30 uses....which could be a week for me some years...but i was always able to get the dies and had a herd of them up until the mid 2000s.



but ..

making a flare in a wheel well or the frame rail behind the tank is not a thing it can do...

what i listed above...is a god send in regards to that.

i had several turret hydro units...they are worth their weight just in time saved.. but hard to replace because they disappear quickly in the field.

 

[scotts90ranger]

But leaving the nuts off is how you get a perfect flare every time!

Extra points if you get two nuts installed or one backwards... not that I would know anything about that... I've installed swagelok fittings a few times and had two nuts on the tubing many times though...

 

[racsan]

FIFY

and not on the line backwards

 

[19Walt93]

this is good if you dont have to make brake lines very often and are on the bench.

only thing i used for 30 years....have a handful of them laying around..


the 3/16 nipple usually busts off after about 20 or 30 uses....which could be a week for me some years...but i was always able to get the dies and had a herd of them up until the mid 2000s.



but ..

making a flare in a wheel well or the frame rail behind the tank is not a thing it can do...

what i listed above...is a god send in regards to that.

i had several turret hydro units...they are worth their weight just in time saved.. but hard to replace because they disappear quickly in the field.

When I bought the kit I was a mechanic in NH, with all the road salt I made a lot of brake lines. All the nipples are still original.

 

[bobbywalter]

When I bought the kit I was a mechanic in NH, with all the road salt I made a lot of brake lines. All the nipples are still original.

then you are better than me.

i am from salt central. even nichrome rots within fittings here.....even with stainless. galvanic corrosion is a thing.

 

[19Walt93]

then you are better than me.

i am from salt central. even nichrome rots within fittings here.....even with stainless. galvanic corrosion is a thing.

People who don't drive on salted roads don't understand what we're up against. When I dragged my Mustang out of a barn in August 1990 I replaced all the brake lines. I don't drive it in the winter and they look like new dusty brake lines today. Our roads are white with salt and getting out of the traveled lane will kick up clouds of salt dust.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I for one am very thankful that I don't know what you're talking about...

 

[19Walt93]

I for one am very thankful that I don't know what you're talking about...

You should be. When I started at the dealer in 1975 we had 4 mechanics but only 1 lift. If you got a 5 year old car for inspection, you had to put it on the lift to check for structural frame rot before you could pass it. 66-77 Broncos had rust bubbling out of the rear quarter seams in a year or 2. Couriers were even worse. In 1968 my neighbor gave me his 58 beetle (because he took the engine apart and couldn't put it back together) and bought a new Toyota Corona. In 2 years it was so rusty that it was buckling in the middle and the doors wouldn't latch. The local Toyota dealer had a field behind the shop piled with rusted Tacoma frames a few years ago. They admitted a problem with their frames from the 1995 model year through 2009 when they said they fixed it. The worst thing I've seen on a Ranger is rusty rear spring hangers.