Does anyone have any experience running new brake lines? That is my project on my 55 F-100 this winter, as well as a new master cylinder. I believe 3/16". My question is what tools will I need? Double flaring kit? tube cutter? tube bender? Is there a premium brake line that I should use? Or is brake line brake line? Should I buy brake line in individual pieces, or a 25' roll? If I buy it in the roll, is there a way to straighten it so it looks good and neat during a straight long run?


Thanks for any suggestions from anyone who has gone through this before.


Gary

 

I bought a roll to do mine and almost used all of it . Double flaring tool a must. Tubing cutter cuts straight and clean . You can straighten the line by hand . If you want to get it real straight, roll the line on a flat surface before flaring the ends. You can buy the ends where you get the line . I used my old fittings. Before you bend the line, make a template out of wire to the shape you want .That way you won't waste any line. Be careful not to bend the line too sharp or it will kink. You can buy a cheap tubing bender but not necessary . Just take your time . I replaced all my brake system. hoses lines master and wheel cylinders, shoes... My brakes are all stock factory 4 wheel drum and will stop on a dime. The only problem I have is I can't power brake and spin the wheels because the rear brakes work so well.

 

I bought the grey-greenish line from NAPA and it was non-kink. It actually was very difficult to kink it, and it worked/bent very well. I used some small pulleys I had laying around to bend it. I also bought lengths that were pre cut so I didn't have to flare any myself. Just did a lot of measuring and used couplers where needed to make the runs longer. I had to add a couple extra bends here and there, but no leaks from the get go.











Use this kind of wrench as it will be minimize stripping the bolt heads


Have fun!

 

I got myself an inexpensive double flare kit and I used straight lines that had the ends on them. I had to shorten a few and put new ends on them, but not too many. You can buy the straight lines in several lengths.

I had a tubing bender, but I found the best way to bend the lines was to fill them with sand. Tape the ends of and they bend very nicely. Then dump the sand out and away you go. Of course be sure your sand is very dry and blow out the lines to make sure it's all gone.

Once I started the sand method I didn't even need the tubing bender very much. You have so much control over the line.

 

Gary,

I've attached an article I did when I plumbed my disc brakes on the '53...maybe it will help you some..

One thing I will stress.... don't cheap out on tools...they will only do a bad job and frustrate the crap out of you. Spend a little money and get good quality cutters and flaring tools.

Another thing YOU WILL experience... put your fitting on before you make the bend or do the flare...

good luck

John
http://jniolon.classicpickup.com/plu...iscbrakes.html

 

This has been great advise. The only thing I would add is most of the big auto parts stores have a "loaner" program. You pay a deposit (it's what the tool would cost new) and get it back when you return the tool. I eventually bought my own double flare tool, but used a "loaner" from Autozone for many years.

 

Coiled brake line is very hard to straiten unless you have a tool for it. They are expensive, but Google'' brake line straitening tool '', and there will be a couple of home-made ones that you can build for cheap. I personally prefer the strait lines. Good luck.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post15014737

See that post.........I did it just for this post, but figured others could benefit. I detailed it on the HAMB.

 

All good advice so far. A tool that wasn't mentioned if you are going to do your own flaring: a 6 " # 2 or #3 cut swiss pattern flat or 1/2 round file for squaring off the ends of the tubing before flaring. All cutters will compress, taper and leave a burr when they cut the tube. To make a good double flare you need to flatten and true the end of the tube before making the flare. Place the tube in the clamp of the flaring tool so it protrudes a very slight amount. Lay the file flat on the clamp and gently file the end of the tube down to the clamp so it is perfectly true and square and all the taper from the cutter is gone. Should only take a few passes, but will save a lot of wasted tubing and leaks.
A swiss pattern file can be recognized by it having a cut # (0-6) higher the number the finer the file, stamped into the tang. May also say "swiss", this is the tooth pattern style, not the country of origin.
A good quality file should run 10 - 15.00 (I like grobet brand)

Hint: if your flaring tool does not have a stop, avoid over compressing the second bend, there needs to be a small space under the bend for the nut to compress to make the seal when tightened. Biggest mistake novices make when flaring is to over compress the bend which leads to the bend cracking and/or a burr forming on the seat portion of the tube, and overtightening the fitting nut to try and compensate resulting in fittings immediately leaking. Buy at least one pre-flared tube to use as an example if doing your own flares. Discard any flares that are not perfect. Your life is worth far more than a couple bucks worth of tubing!

Hint 2: never try to "stretch" the tubing (running it straight to the fitting). Always cut and form the tube so there is some slack in it. It should go straight into the fitting and solidly bottom out on the fitting seat. The tube will expand and contract with temp, and must not cause strain on the fitting joint. The slack can be made neat and more functional by using a small Z, S, or U bend before the fitting. Try to avoid large vertical U bends or loops in the tubing that can trap air bubbles making bleeding difficult.

Hint 3: do not use any thread sealing compound or tape on the fitting nuts. The threads are not where the seal is made. Trying to stop a leak by sealing the threads is putting a rag band aid on it. If a slight extra tightening of the nut doesn't stop it leaking, replace the tube.

 

I've done many miles of brake and fuel line. Here's a good article. Good luck:http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&...2hJ0_JsapIYUMA

 

I just finished up the brakes on my truck. I used a little over a 20 foot roll of stainless line on mine. I pretty much used all the tools mentioned so far. I used some coat hangers and bent them to the shape that i wanted, and then transferred that to the stainless lines. I used a small tubing cutter to cut the lines and filed the cuts and got the true as ax stated. I then slipped on the proper fitting, and used a hydraulic flare tool to do the flares. Although this tool is pretty expensive, i think it is worth it if you will be doing a lot of lines. It will also do push connect, 30 degree single flares , bubble flares and gm fuel line flares.

I would also plan out where your hoses mount and how they mount. I bought some tabs and mount the hoses before running the lines.

 

Thank you everyone who answered my request for Tools and Advice on running brake lines. All this information is going to help me very much when I start this project in a couple of weeks.


Gary

 

I purchased everything from Speedway. Bender, flare tool, fittings and a coil of line. To cut the line, I used a dremel instead of a tubing cutter. It doesn't crimp or harden the end of the line. File it straight after cutting. Don't forget to put the fitting on before you flare. On the second part of the double flare, don't squash the tubing too tight. Let the fitting do the final pressing of the flare. Put the fitting before you flare the line. Use good sense and good shop practices and you'll be OK. Don't forget to put the fitting before you flare.