I am in the process of converting my Dana60 to rear disc. I bought the Ruff Stuff brackets and weld on brake line tabs and the offered lengths of steel lines don't match what I need. I have heard that flaring brake lines is kinda touch and go. I have never done it and want to be sure its gonna be safe with brakes involved. Is it easy to do and safe?

 

Its a piece of cake. If you have the tool. Stainless is tough material and if not carefull can split. I buy the steel line in a 25ft roll from Lordco. Its like 28 bucks. Then is use the brake line bending tool I got for 7 bucks to bend it all nice like the originals, and cut and flare were needed. Remember to put the fitting on first, then flare it. Lol. Been there done that. A couple times. Hahaha.

 

Some pointers:

Use a small tubing cutter to get a square cut.
Deburr the cut end, both inside and outside.
Don't forget to install the fitting over the tube..!!!!
Now spray the die and tube with WD-40 (or equivalent) before double-flaring.

Practice makes perfect. Even a low-buck kit from AZO will do the job.

I got my brake tools and supplies from Speedway Motors.

 

Do yourself a favor and get NiCopp line. Very easy to bend and flare and will not corrode. You don't even need a tubing straightener; I de-coiled mine by hand into straight sections.

AGS Nicopp Brake Line Coil 3 16" O D x 25 Foot | eBay

 

As HIO said, deburr the inside and outside of your tubing end after you cut it to length.

When you put the tubing in the flaring bar, you want the end of the tube to stick up the same height above the flaring bar as the thickness of the 'step' on the side of the double flare button.

Insert the double flare button into the end of the tube. Be sure to get the flaring yoke centered over the flaring button/end of the tube and compress the flaring yoke until the button bottoms out against the top of the flaring bar. It's OK to crank down with a fair amount of force on this 1st stage of the double flaring process.

Remove the button and recenter the yoke over the end of the tube. On this 2nd stage, DO NOT CRANK DOWN HARD WITH THE YOKE. You just want to get the 2nd stage of the double flare 'well formed.' Final compression of the double flare should come when you tighten the line into the caliper/wheel cylinder, flexible brake hose, brake valve or in the MC ports.

I've made a fair amount of brake lines in the past 30 or so years and no one showed be how to do it (I wasn't born knowing how to bend or double flare tubing. I just figured it out by fooling with it).

I don't use any lubes on the flares when I'm making them. If you do use any kind of lubricant, I would suggest using a dab of brake fluid on them. DOT 3, 4 and 5.1 brake fluid is synthetic-based and not petroleum-based. (DOT 5 is silicone brake fluid --not compatible with DOT 3, 4 and 5.1).

The seals inside the various brake components are not tolerant of petroleum-based oils/lubricants. If it comes in contact with them, they will swell and rupture, leading to a brake failure, potentially of the worst magnitude.









From 1984 to 2009, I had an Imperial-Gould manual flaring bar (pictured in the following photo).



I used to have one of those El cheapo 3-in-one tubing benders. It didn't take long before I pitched it and got some real (quality) dedicated benders. By "dedicated," I mean each tubing bender only bends one diameter of tubing. The 3 silver benders, left to right, are Imperial brand 3/8", 5/16" and 1/4" benders. The black bender is the one I use the most. It's a Rigid brand for 3/16" brake tubing.

....I still have the manual flaring bar but, it pretty much got retired in 2009 when I bought this Mastercool (p/n 71475) hydraulic line flaring/double flaring set. --makes production-quality flares each and every time.







Making your own lines isn't that difficult. A little bit of practice and in no time you can make nice lines too.

 

I need/want that arsenal of benders! That Mastercool tool is bar non the best out there. I have the Eastwood and it works awesome but does not give you the "off bench" flexibility like the MC. I'll add the MC when I start my next project.

 

UR da man... Good tools, and practice, make for good results.. Love your technique.

Thanks for sharing, I am motivated to do a better job next time, and to buy some good tools. Thanks UR

Baja

 

I've had cheap line tools and more expensive (but not the most expensive) line tools and the quality tools do make a difference in the end result of the overall fit, quality and appearance of the lines.

I can also almost always tell when someone hand forms a line instead of using a bender. You don't get the crisp, tight professional looking bends by hand forming.

I caught the Mastercool flaring set on sale. I got it for $289.00 and free shipping at the time. That set was worth it even if it had been at a higher price.

 

I was intimidated by the prospects of double flaring my brake lines as well. I listened to Ultra and went ahead and bought me a kit. Mine came from NAPA. It was money well spent. I did practice some and I over-bent my share of lines in my efforts. But the result is I have all-new, functioning brake lines on my project truck. Mine are crude by Ultra's standards.

 

Bending lines is actually quite easy once you get the hang of it. Go to the local home improvement store and get a section of heavy gauge copper wire and use it to form patterns. I use the K-tool 70081 flaring tool for easy, flawless double flares.

 

Some information on how I fabricate lines.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post14804098

 

Lots of good info guys! Thanks. My best friend manages the local NAPA store and they have a flaring tool set he said I could use for free. Gonna give it a try i guess.

 

UR, I nominate you for a sticky for a primer on brake theory, and repair for your excellent series on brake work. I hope I get more votes from the rest of our group to second this nomination.

 

Thank you for your kind words. I used to have a series of photos on here showing step-by-step how I double flare lines with the manual flaring bar and how to flare them with the hydraulic flaring set. But, those pictures were hosted on Image Shack (back when it was free). Now, it's not free and they dumped all my photos that were in that post.

 

I second that nomination!!Name the sticky well Steve and it will get hit zillions of times people Google,Bing,etc. in the future.