Help with brake line flaring

hr8882 · May 22, 2014

After years of flaring steel brake lines sucessfully I decided to use Ni copper line because
of constant corrosion here in the NE. I can't get this new line to double flare without the flare
breaking or cracking. what am I doing wrong ? Is there a certain technique thats different
than steel line.

bobbywalter · May 22, 2014

i aneal it first with propane, go a little bigger then normal on the bubble and watch carefully on the foldover...as soon as it seats after breaking over i stop and let the rest of the seat form on the make up in place.

cvar · May 22, 2014

I had no trouble flaring the NiCu lines. Perhaps your flaring tool is bad? I used a brand new one from Autozone, and it worked every time. I was careful to cut the tubing off squarely, filed it smooth, and gently reamed every piece before flaring. I used a drop of oil every time I applied the flaring tool. No cracking. See photos here: ( http://imgur.com/a/sUnMy ) <== CLICK

Oh, and I didn't crush the double flare with excessive force. Maybe you're too strong for this?

Mark_88 · May 23, 2014

cvar said:
I had no trouble flaring the NiCu lines. Perhaps your flaring tool is bad? I used a brand new one from Autozone, and it worked every time. I was careful to cut the tubing off squarely, filed it smooth, and gently reamed every piece before flaring. I used a drop of oil every time I applied the flaring tool. No cracking. See photos here: ( http://imgur.com/a/sUnMy ) <== CLICK

Oh, and I didn't crush the double flare with excessive force. Maybe you're too strong for this?

Excellent write up CVAR!

I did my entire brake line and hoses about 8 years ago and only had to go back and redo the rear driver side due to a brake cylinder failure. It is starting to rust a bit at contact places but otherwise in good shape. I did the zip tie thing with mine since I had the same problem of finding replacement clips.

And...I also bought pre flared lines for the MC because I still have no idea how to make the flare properly for that application. For the rear brakes I bought a 3 or 4' length and put a line joiner to finish the rest because I didn't want to drop the tank. Only problem I had was measuring the line to the rear flex line, but there is a bit of room to play with that so I was able to flare the line standing up instead of lying down.

I had to cover the end of the line to feed it past the gas tank because I didn't want to risk getting any crud in the line...just taped a rag around it and fed it past the tank...even though my frame rails were recently cleaned and painted.

And I hung the lines as high up on the frame as I could to keep them away from possible buildup along the rail...even though I haven't seen that too much on most trucks.

hr8882 · May 23, 2014

Thanks for the reply, I'll give that a shot. That is one advantage to NICU is the ability to form to the flare seat.

bobbywalter · May 23, 2014

yeah, i like it. i want to do my whole truck with it, hopefully sooner then later.

i had no issues a few years back on the first few coils i got to use, and then i had some splitting and hard forming with a few coils...so i tried the propane and it went much better.

not smashing the seat like i do with reg line has resulted in no issues.

i just assume theres a bit of variance in manufacturing, and likely most of the time hitting it with the propane now is a waste of time. of course redoing a flare is a waste of time too so its just been a routine.. but its a great product to work with in the salt belt.

Help with brake line flaring

hr8882

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bobbywalter

TRS Technical Staff

cvar

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Mark_88

Well-Known Member

hr8882

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bobbywalter

TRS Technical Staff

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