You will have no problem with this setup, You cannot compare Swagelok fittings to standard brass compression. These fittings are steel or stainless and have an extra piece inside that compression does not. I do limo repair for a living and many of the manufactures use Swagelok, if properly installed they never leak.

 

dont try using stailess steel brake lines.they dont have the same flair as steel lines. you either go completely ss on stay with steel. the ss lines cant take the flair angles that steel does. it isnt much more to get the ebtire line out and replace it. the rusted surface of the ould line can make for leaking flairs etc.

 

Metric bubble flare common on a lot of cars.

 

The "bubble flare" was on my '95 Crown Vic, I don't recall it being metric or not though. I was just glad to find someone who had the tool so I wouldn't have to buy it for a one time use...

 

My 99 did the same thing - sounds like the same line too. It's a 1/4 line and I left the original right in place. Unscrew the bad line at the front and back and snake a new line alongside the fuel tank inside the framerail and screw back into the unions. It was a long line - about 10' but it was alot quicker than compression fittings ( a no-no anyways) or dropping the tank, etc. The front fitting is a little tricky to get at because its mounted along the frame where the line starts to bend up towards the master cylinder but if you're triple jointed (ha-ha) you'll have no problem. No, its not THAT bad just a little tricky. Just make sure to tape off the end of the line as you snake it through to keep dirt, rust, etc out of the new line. And obviously bleed the brakes when you're done. Good luck!

 

i guess my problem is that i have never handled a roll of brake line or used a flair tool.

now is better than never.

one i have never heard of is a swagelock compression or where to get them.

at some point i do plan on towing a 5th wheel so i will do the repair the rite way.
and now that i dont have to drop the tank is even better.

 

For the price of buying the swagelock fittings/tubing, you could buy the flare tool and the tubing AND replace everything from the front of the truck to the rear. As previous members have stated, swagelock is good stuff, but for it to be done properly you would still have to flare the end of the normal brake line and put in an adaptor fitting. Swagelock compression fittings are only supposed to be used with the proper stainless tubing(that is if you actually want the rating to be what it says it is). Using a swagelock fitting on normal steel will not always work right. The ferrule in the compression fitting is supposed to be a softer alloy that both the fitting and the tubing. The ferrul that comes with the swagelock fitting will be of an alloy that is harder than the normal steel tubing and the fitting will not be sealing in the manner in which it was designed. If you want to use swagelok, the proper way would be to have a comprssion on one side, with a JIC fitting on the other, and use a similar Flare to JIC connector on the OEM Brake line, Finally joining the two with a JIC to JIC adaptor. For those who arent familiar with a JIC fitting, it is the standard fitting you find on hydraulic hoses such as the type you would see hooked up to the hydraulic cylinder.

For the price of doing all this, you can just get the tools and run an oem brake line with the proper fittings. If you are concerned about how to do it, all the double flare tools I have seen have good instructions how to use the tool to make the flare. Just get a piece a little longer than what you need so you can practice making a few ends.

 

JIC fittings are 37* flare fittings, commonly used in hydraulics. For a look at a bunch of neat stuff look here:

http://www.fittingsandadapters.com/

I have seen Swagelock used in powerplants, for chemical lines, in nuclear plants and the like. Gyrolock is another one, Whitey and a few others as I recall make that kind of stuff. A lot of it is for high pressure and critical use applications and most of what I've seen is stainless.

 

I did my rear line about 5 months ago. I dropped the tank and redid all the fuel tank steel vent lines B4 they dissolved. I did them in rubber fuel line. I did the steel brake line in one piece and flared the ends. Before I flared the 2nd end I slipped a piece of clear plastic tubing on it to keep it from rusting. After 5 mo's it looks new. I used antisieze on all the end's incase I ever have to take apart again and I sealed the ends of the plastic line and put a small tyrap on each end..I hate rust.


Dick

 

thanx for all the help.

i do plan on doing it the rite way and will let everyone know how it turns out.