Brake line flaring tool?

[blee03]

Anyone have any good recommendations for a quality brake line flaring tool?

I need to double flare some 3/16 brake lines for my truck. I was in a pinch and tried using a $30 tool from O'Reilly auto parts but the tool was so poorly machined during the manufacturing process the piece that does the actual flaring would not pull down evenly. Tried a bunch of times and finally gave up.

Which flaring tool have you had good results with?
I only need to do 3/16 brake line but I wouldn't be opposed to having a flaring tool that can do many different types and sizes

 

[oldnslo]

Brake line flares are totally different than hydraulic tube flare. I have hydraulic tube flare made by Parker Hannifan that has worked very well for me. No clue on a source for a good brake flaring tool though.

 

[jonsstihl]

rigid makes a nice one but I think I got a bad one. my yoke must be off because I couldn't get a straight flare with the rigid yoke. I have to use the yoke from a cheap flaring tool with the rigid biscuits to do the double flare. the biscuits that came with the cheap flaring tool don't work well.

 

[jonsstihl]

rigid 345-DL

 

[R134a]

Anyone have any good recommendations for a quality brake line flaring tool?

I need to double flare some 3/16 brake lines for my truck. I was in a pinch and tried using a $30 tool from O'Reilly auto parts but the tool was so poorly machined during the manufacturing process the piece that does the actual flaring would not pull down evenly. Tried a bunch of times and finally gave up.

Which flaring tool have you had good results with?
I only need to do 3/16 brake line but I wouldn't be opposed to having a flaring tool that can do many different types and sizes

Mastercool 72475
Lisle 33260
Titan 51535

I have all of them. The Mastercool is effortless and will always give you a perfect flare. Setting aside price, the issue is working "on the car"" in small spaces. In this instance the Titan would be my go to. The block has to be TIGHT when screwing in the die. Do that and you have a factory quality flare. Having just replaced 3/16 lines, I would only use the new nickle-copper type brakeline. The original PVF steel is a nightmare to work with.

 

[alexpops]

Mastercool or Vevor universal kits on Amazon have a bunch of options.

 

[blee03]

Mastercool 72475
Lisle 33260
Titan 51535

I have all of them. The Mastercool is effortless and will always give you a perfect flare. Setting aside price, the issue is working "on the car"" in small spaces. In this instance the Titan would be my go to. The block has to be TIGHT when screwing in the die. Do that and you have a factory quality flare. Having just replaced 3/16 lines, I would only use the new nickle-copper type brakeline. The original PVF steel is a nightmare to work with.

What makes the PVF steel a nightmare to work with?
Heading to the auto parts store soon and I was going get the PVF steel... but they do have Copper Nickle line as well.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/nicopp/american-grease-stick-nicopp-copper-nickel-brake-line/ags2/cnc325?q=25ft+brake+line&pos=1

 

[WranglerX]

Just use pre-flaired replacement lines, FLAPS (Friendly Local Auto Parts Store) generally have assortment of sizes and lengths.... Usually cheaper than getting fairing tool the does not work well....

 

[5030]

rigid makes a nice one but I think I got a bad one. my yoke must be off because I couldn't get a straight flare with the rigid yoke. I have to use the yoke from a cheap flaring tool with the rigid biscuits to do the double flare. the biscuits that came with the cheap flaring tool don't work well.

Interesting. Ridge Tool guarantees their flaring too against defects. I suggest you contact them for a replacement yoke. One thing I do is when I clamp their yoke over the brakeline and get the height set correctly (I presume you know how to set the tubing height in the yoke correctly right?)

I'll take a pair of vice grips and clamp them on the open end of the yoke (the yoke is case hardened so toy won't damage it by clamping with the vice grips. Anyway, I clamp the open end firmly to keep the correct tubing protrusion while I affix the clamp and forcing cone to the tool (with the flare cup installed in the tubing and then I crank down the side screw ( which provides the necessary clamp force (tight as I can get it, then I run the forcing cone into the flare die until it bottoms, back it off, remove the flare die and run the forcing cone back into the flare until it bottoms and that makes the double flare.

The brakeline tubing must be cut exactly square with the face of the yoke to get a square flare. I use a thin kerf cut off wheel to cut my tubing and I ream the cut end with a small twist drill chucked in a hand bit.

Mine always come out peachy. I really like the Rigid tool compared to the cheap Chinese knockoff ones, that slip Once I get the flare made, I'll take a piece of fine steel wool and clean the inside of the flare to insure it's gonna seal correctly. I flare Ni-Cop as well as steel lines no issues.

For 'double bubble' flares I use an OTC professional flaring tool

 

[blee03]

Just use pre-flaired replacement lines, FLAPS (Friendly Local Auto Parts Store) generally have assortment of sizes and lengths.... Usually cheaper than getting fairing tool the does not work well....

Yeah I might go that route if this ends up not working...

I bought a prefabbed line from O'Reilly's (BH2201317A) but the thread on one of the ends of the line is incorrect even though the O'Reilly's website says it fit's a 2012 Ram 2500 4x4. Went to put it on yesterday and only 1 fitting was correct, so I figured I'd cut it off, put the old fitting on the new line and re-flare it... which didn't work out due to the el cheapo flare tool (which is being returned today)

I wouldn't mind having extra line and a good working flare tool in the shop so next time anything like this happens I can fix it and not have to make a run to the store or wait for parts to come in

 

[5030]

Me, I'm a big Ni-Cop line person. The don't ever corrode and easy to work with. Just did my wife's car that the steel lines corroded on. You can buy a 50 foot roll of Ni-Cop pretty cheap.

 

[5030]

Yeah I might go that route if this ends up not working...

I bought a prefabbed line from O'Reilly's (BH2201317A) but the thread on one of the ends of the line is incorrect even though the O'Reilly's website says it fit's a 2012 Ram 2500 4x4. Went to put it on yesterday and only 1 fitting was correct, so I figured I'd cut it off, put the old fitting on the new line and re-flare it... which didn't work out due to the el cheapo flare tool (which is being returned today)

I wouldn't mind having extra line and a good working flare tool in the shop so next time anything like this happens I can fix it and not have to make a run to the store or wait for parts to come in

SE Michigan huh? So am I. You can borrow my flare tools if you want to...

 

[blee03]

SE Michigan huh? So am I. You can borrow my flare tools if you want to...

Yeah, I'm in the Almont / Imlay City area. Thanks for the offer! Much appreciated.

I'm hoping the Titan 51535 and a roll of 3/16 Ni-Cop from O-Reilly's will do the trick.

 

[Thomas]

Ridge.

 

[5030]

You are a bit North of me. I'm down near Toledo off 23. Just close enough to Toledo to smell the stink...

OTC makes a pretty good flare tool but the Ridge tool one is better. The 'trick' if you want to call it that is cutting the end of the line square and being careful about how far is sticks through the yoke. Rule of thumb is, no farther than the diameter of the tubing to be flared. Never use a tubing cutter, I always use a thin kerf cut off wheel in my air grinder....and... when you grip the tubing in the yoke, it has to be clean and dry and no oil on it either, or it will slip.

I use one of those cheap HF pliers type benders to form the tubing and don't forget to slip the fittings on the tubing before flaring too.

 

[Topzide]

I'll 2nd the Ni-Copper lines! That stuff is great to work with! Just did all lines on my '01 1500 Ram. Was a pleasure to work with.

 

[5030]

For the life of me, I don't know why American automakers don't use Ni-Cop. European automakers have for decades,
. I remember back when I had an MG Midget in the 60's. I was Ni-Cop. Ni-Cop never corrodes either plus it's easy to work with versus steel lines. Like American cars have to use rubber brakelines to the wheel cylinders instead of stainless braided lines. Considering what vehicles cost today, makes no sense to me. Steel brakelines especially on the rear really take a beating and corrode and fail.

 

[R134a]

What makes the PVF steel a nightmare to work with?
Heading to the auto parts store soon and I was going get the PVF steel... but they do have Copper Nickle line as well.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/nicopp/american-grease-stick-nicopp-copper-nickel-brake-line/ags2/cnc325?q=25ft+brake+line&pos=1

You have to use tubing benders with PVF. Its just too stiff. There is no room to snake a front -to-back pre-bent line. It was crazy enough routing the NiCopp line which was done on the car. It was a little more $$ and worth every bit.

 

[Vigo327]

so poorly machined during the manufacturing process the piece that does the actual flaring would not pull down evenly.

Aside from all the useful stuff already said, if you have a flare that is going lopsided and not staying square to the tube (this is what i interpreted your statement to mean, but i might be wrong), you probably have too much 'stickout' from the vise. Make sure you're using the tool to measure how much line should be sticking out through the vise.

I've had these problems in the past but now I've bent and flared an entire brake system for a 51 chevy truck body on a ~75 blazer frame so I guess i'm over the hump. Still don't really enjoy it..

But i did pick up a really cool old Imperial 37degree flaring tool at an estate sale recently and im excited to try that one.

 

[rScotty]

Yeah I might go that route if this ends up not working...

I bought a prefabbed line from O'Reilly's (BH2201317A) but the thread on one of the ends of the line is incorrect even though the O'Reilly's website says it fit's a 2012 Ram 2500 4x4. Went to put it on yesterday and only 1 fitting was correct, so I figured I'd cut it off, put the old fitting on the new line and re-flare it... which didn't work out due to the el cheapo flare tool (which is being returned today)

I wouldn't mind having extra line and a good working flare tool in the shop so next time anything like this happens I can fix it and not have to make a run to the store or wait for parts to come in

I've owned several different complete hand-flaring sets - including two different Snap-On & Matco sets. My conclusion is that it seems to be an area of tooling that hasn't had much attention or innovation.

But by simply buying half a dozen kits and returning the junk ones I did find one happy exception.

There is a company that makes good flaring tools. The company is Mastercool and they use a different and far better way to make a flare. Amazon carries the entire line. This is what the pros use.
I bought the least expensive kit that uses their "Eccentric Flaring" process. Part number is PART#70058-A, and was right around $100. Heavily built, ball bearing action, and uses that eccentric wiping action to make a smooth flare. They make all sorts of kits, but that one worked for me.

The complete kit is what to get as it includes their matched tools that are all excellent quality. If you haven't used an eccentric type flaring tool before you'll need to make a couple of practice flares before you believe how easy it is to make good ones.

rScotty