[1078]

I'm ordering a coil of line & fittings to re-do the frame brake lines on a '73 frame. Any recommendations on the I.D.? My rig is about 30 miles away, or I'd just go measure.

 

[1410]

from who are you ordering the parts from?

 

[Dirt Dog]

I thought it was 1/4" on the frame.

 

[1832]

Yep, 73 brake lines are 1/4 and 71's are 1/8. I just found that out on my body-suspension swap

John P.

 

[1078]

Thanks guys.

i'll porbably use www.quadratec.com unless someone has better suggestions? their

kit comes with loose fittings and runs about $30

 

[1591]

An issue I have been having trouble with on brake lines. How are you planning to make the double flares on the ends of the brake lines. Or how important is it to use these ends? I assume it is, since the lines you buy made up & the stock lines used them.

I bought a double flare kit, followed the directions and broke the fitting

that is used to double the tubing end over on about the third try

. Never did get a good double flare on the brake lines. That stuff is hard, especially in the small diameter. Anybody have an opinion

.

Brad.

 

[dfjeepster]

I ran all new hard lines and used 3/16" tube. When possible I would use the pre flared line (a local store by me has it pretty cheap and its good quality, dont use Pep Boys stuff) or if I had to I would do my own double flares with a KD Tool kit. They are all really the same design but I have had the little piece that goes in the tube break on some of the cheaper kits I have used. The key is to get the amount of tube sticking up past the clamp correct and make sure the end is filed properly. Did you do it with the two steps, once with just the clamp and once with the fitting?

 

[Pack Rat]

The double flare is the only way to go. Provides more strength and gives a better seal. It's a good idea to slightly ream out the inside of the line before flaring and slightly bevel the outside. Helps form the first part of the flare, especially on the smaller diameter line. At least that's the way my dad taught me to do it and I've had no problems in the 30 odd years I've been doing it that way.

 

[1591]

Well, I thought I was doing ti right. Read the directions and everything. Bought a kit from NAPA, may have been cheaply made but was expensive to buy. The little fitting is also used to set the tubing height and I did bavel the end of the tubing. Must just be a cheap kit and I need practice. Ended up using premade lines and jsut using creative routing to take up excess length.

But I still want to figure out how to do the double flare, maybe something for winter, inside a warm shop.

Brad.

 

[Pack Rat]

Might be something to do as a demonstration at the Jam next year

. I'm sure not everybody knows how to do it. I think Lizard had some other ideas for How-To demonstrations too.

 

[2930]

A double flare is the ONLY way to go with brake lines. Any attempt at using a single flare can almost guarantee a split in the line...which is obviously somewhat less than desirable on something like brakes.

Once you get the hang of double flaring it's really quite easy and well worth the time and trouble.

 

[733]

I took my brake lines off and took them to a local hydraulic shop. They made new ones for me for about $50. It was well worth the $$, as I would have probably had to of done it a couple of times to get it right.

 

[090]

Early vehicles with hydraulic brakes used single-flared copper lines. It is preferred to replace these with double-flared steel. Always use a double flare on steel lines.
I use a WW2 surplus kit made by GM that clamps the tube in dies and the forms are driven with a hammer. It does beautiful flares, but I have never seen one for sale.

http://www.carcraft.com/howto/50919/

http://www.lapham-hickey.com/Resources/BundyDoubleFlare10.cfm

While you are in this deep, consider using DOT 5 silicon fluid. It should only be used when totally rebuilding the system, as it doesn't mix with DOTs 3-4. It costs more, but it does not absorb the water that allows corrosion, the cause of most hydraulic failures. I tend to get by rig wet, so it makes sense for me. I also use DOT 5 for antique vehicles, so that the bores don't corrode while the car sits for years in a collection, not getting regular flushes. If you flush your brake fluid every time you get the wheels underwater, you probably don't need it, but I'm lazy so i use DOT 5 and flush my brake fluid yearly. NOS rubber parts may not be compatible with DOT 5, but you really shouldn't use them anyway, all new brake parts are made with DOT 5 compatable rubber compounds.

 

[305]

Try to limit your hard-line size to 3/16" or AN-3. That gives a good trade off between volume and line stretch.

As for fittings, you might want to look into compression type fittings such as Parker Feruloks. They're more expensive than SAE flares but they work good and last a long time.

 

[1591]

Have seen those fittings used in refinery for tubing runs. I agree, they are much better than standard compression. Swagelok also makes a very good compression type fitting with a two piece ferule.
Brad.

 

[265]

Speaking of flushing the brake lines...I replaced my bleeder screws with the speed bleed screws from the Help! section the local parts store. I forget the whole part number, but it is the one that ends in "-1". If you look closely at the back of the package it gives the thread size. Make sure you don't get the metric size. You can't tell the difference by just comparing the parts.

Anyway, once installed bleeding is as simple as pushing the brake pedal and it is easy to run a couple of reservoir refills through the system to flush the lines. I may not have been doing it correctly through the years, but the brakes are the tightest they have ever been with the speed bleeding system. I'm sold and highly reccommend them.


Chris in Texas

 

[090]

It's not hard to learn to do it right, then you dont have to buy fittings.

 

[1078]

This has been posted before, but www.oldtimeparts.com routinely does ebay auctions with metal brake line kits that include jeepsters. They run about $38. As a coil of brake line with some loose fittings is $29, I may give them a shot.

Thanks for the info,guys. I do have access to a very nice double flare tool should I go that way.

 

[1591]

Bought one of the kits you mention and used most of it to do a complete replacement on Ole Yeller. This vehicle is a mish-mash of different years as far as I can tell, so some of the pieces did not match up. Easy to fix with a few extra parts from NAPA. But they did give good quick shipment.

The only downside is that they use "standard" length line sections and some end up being too long. Hence the reason for my question about double flares. I wanted to shorten up the lines, reinstall the fittings and put a new double flare on. Fortunately I tried the tool on some scrap line before I cut up my kit and found out it didn't work (or I couldn't work it

). Ended up just making some extra turns to "take up the slack" and left the lines as they came in the kit.

 

[305]

More about compression fittings

Never, ever use the fittings with the brass or copper ferrule unless, of course, (a) you have a death wish and (b) your life insurance is paid up.

Never use brass fittings of any kind and never use copper plumbing.