Do it myself or professional flare

Tahoedonner

Tahoedonner

Member
I have confidence that if the tool I borrow from x auto parts store works as advertised I can successfully flare my own brake line.

However:

it won't take long to pull the line out and have it professionally done for........cheap I would assume.

How reliable are the "borrowed" flare tools from store x?

If it only takes me 15 minutes to pull the entire rear line should I just have it professionally done?

Any input is greatly appreciated.
 
Go ahead and do it yourself. Remove the old line and duplicate the bends first, then cut the one end to the proper length and flare the end.

Don't be afraid to fail as brake line in bulk is fairly cheap and the more experience you get will make you an expert in a short amount of time.

I use objects around the house to bend the line against to get a nice radius. Example the pole for the basketball hoop or whatever is close to the radius you need. Pvc pipe for example.
A tubing bender is also useful for tighter bends.
 
I never had any good luck with those flaring tools, rented or purchased, from the chain stores like auto crapzone. Couple years ago a purchased an outstanding flaring tool that literally takes all of 10 seconds to flare the tube for brake lines. Bring up your pre bent lines and I will help you flare them..
 
I just replaced the rear brake line on my Scout II. I went ahead and bought a premade line from napa. It was a little long so I used a 3/4" drive socket to make the coils and then used tywraps and a short piece of hose to tie the coils together. No worries that way. I do have a tubing flare tool but I don't think I could do a better job than premade tubing, especially when you get new fittings with it. Just my .02. Danny
 
With good tools (I know I talk about hf stuff) quality flare's are easy. No don't buy a hf flare tool. Also those coils May trap air and make bleeding the brakes a bit more difficult, depending how they are oriented.
 
Horizontal coils. We do that on oil, manifold, fuel pressure and brake lines on the airplanes when the lines don't quite fit correctly. Bleeding was no problem on mine. I can take a pic and post it if you want. Double flares on steel brake lines can be tricky and a premade line from napa, etc. Was only like 7-8 dollars.
 
Quality tools huh? Here's what I use to flare my own brake lines and bleed my own brake by myself. The flaring tool gets clamped into a vise and literally takes all of 10 seconds to do the double flare for the brake lines. Best investment I ever spent. Paid for itself as soon as I got it. I got real tired wasting time and material trying to get any other flaring tool to work properly. Since I do 99% of my wrenching by my self, the motive brake bleeder makes my life easier to bleed the brakes when ever I feel the need. Not once have I had any issues with it.
 

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Thanks for all the replies. I should have been a little more descriptive as to which brake line I had the issues with. It was the 15 foot or so line that runs from front to back. The connection in the rear that is right behind the gas tank was the culprit. Had it been one of the shorter lines that run along the axle I definitely would have just bought a replacement.

I used a borrowed tool, that was brand new, and it seems that all of you were right so far. It was easy to do and the tool was a piece of crap. The flare came out just fine but while tightening down the wing nuts with a breaker bar I snapped one in half. At that point I decided that it was tight enough and did the flaring. I'm going to fill the brake system tonight and search for any leaks. Fingers crossed.
 
scooter said:
quality tools huh? Here's what I use to flare my own brake lines and bleed my own brake by myself. The flaring tool gets clamped into a vise and literally takes all of 10 seconds to do the double flare for the brake lines. Best investment I ever spent. Paid for itself as soon as I got it. I got real tired wasting time and material trying to get any other flaring tool to work properly. Since I do 99% of my wrenching by my self, the motive brake bleeder makes my life easier to bleed the brakes when ever I feel the need. Not once have I had any issues with it.
Click to expand...

More info on the brake flaring tool? Brand name?
 
ihpartsjeff said:
more info on the brake flaring tool? Brand name?
Click to expand...

It's an eastwood exclusive. The whole kit came in it's own plastic case when I got mine. Their description of the flaring tool, on their web site, is fairly detailed on what it can do. Little pricey, but for me it was well worth it. I got real tired of the crapzone tools that didn't work like they were supposed to.
 
Hi kimball. That flaring tool looks like a quality unit. For me with just the one Scout I like the premade brake lines. They also have a poly vinyl coating on them and they're black so they blend in with the rest of the mess. Tahoedonner; for that one line from the master cyl to the rear end if the fitting is leaking where it goes into the rubber hose I would also flare it there instead of trying to replace that line. Danny
 
Hey Danny. Thanks. It has come in extremely handy compared to what tahoedonner recently mentioned. I have had similar issues with those other types of flaring tools. And after going through at least 3 of them(tools) and countless flaring attempts with them, I purchased my eastwood flaring tool that made a pro flaring each time and so much easier and no wasted material.
 
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