Brake Line Destruction

[Haseeb]

Hey folks! My journey in my previous post of changing the calipers and rotors of my car has resulted in the destruction of my brake lines (they were rusty and probably needed changing anyways). But what I wanted to ask is how do I go about this? Is it better to buy copper, steel, or rubber lines (and where would I buy it from)? Do I need a special tool to bend them into shape or are there pre-fabricated ones? And what kind of bolts/size do I use? As always I am balling on a budget LOL so if its more affordable to do it by hand I'd be willing to give it a try (I'd be good to learn too!)

 

[Belgiumbarry]

you can easy made them yourself... reuse ( or new) bolts.
You need a press tool set to make the tube end heads.

 

[duct-tape]

buy a flare tool, brake and fuel line bender and the right size steel tube. its cheap and theres a ton of videos. the most expensive part is the fittings and those arent bad. You can use the old part as a template

 

[Phemisg]

I wouldn't screw around with a flaring tool myself - to get decent SAFE results you 'll need to buy a high quality unit. Been there, have T shirt.
Better to buy universal lengths of European metric bubble flare lines from auto supply store. Take a piece of original in to match threads/flare. Get some tube benders from Harbor Freight and have at it. You can also use a piece of pipe of appropriate diameter held in a vice to make bends. Just don't bend by hand.

 

[Markos]

Hi Haseeb,

If the collective doesn’t disagree with the idea, I can send you the hard lines from my CSI.

 

[jmackro]

I wouldn't screw around with a flaring tool myself - to get decent SAFE results you 'll need to buy a high quality unit.

I agree with Phemisg 100% - from my experience, making leak-proof flares in steel line is far from easy, particularly with cheap tools.

NAPA -type auto parts stores do sell universal lengths of European metric bubble flare lines. The challenge is finding a line that is the correct length (or slightly longer) with the correct type of flare and fittings at both ends. When you factor in the cost of the flaring tool, as well as the materials you end up scrapping while learning the art, I'd guess that the "buy" solution will cost less than the "make" solution.

 

[mosearch]

I kind of agree with all of you.
I did exactly what Duct-Tape described...bought the bubble flare tool, proper bulk brake line and euro-bubble fittings. Spent a lot of time hand crafting perfect bubble flares...installed all new brake lines in rebuilt brake calipers...and actually had not one single leak or failure. So, call it success; mission accomplished.

However, I also agree with Phemsing; and if I had to do it again; I'd go to NAPA and buy close-to-right length premanufactured eurobubble lines lines. Or even order OE lines from W&N. It just takes too much time to hand-craft; and if you don't do a really good job, it could leak.

I would probably not install used lines, no matter how fresh they looked.

But if you still want to go all hipster-hand-crafted as I did, please private e-mail me and I'll make you a very fair price on the tools you need

 

[bavbob]

Yup, universal lengths of European metric bubble flare lines. Don"t bend by hand , you'll kink them. Expect to screw up the first few times so buy two or three of the same length and expect to toss one or two of them until you get it down. Nothing to it.

 

[Markos]

Has anyone had a hard line that wasn't rusty fail? I don't mean a leak at the flare, I mean blowing the actual line?

 

[chope97]

I used these line and bent them very carefully on the rear of my Bavaria worked great . they come in different sizes
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Metal-brak...555909?hash=item239d846905:g:38gAAOSw68lamH8V

 

[e30strube]

You can pick up Nickel Copper lines in rolls. It is much more malleable than stainless, but better corrosion resistance than steel. Napa and Advance usually carry it or you can order it from Summit Racing. Fedhil ( http://www.fedhillusa.com/ ) will rent you the tool (the good one) for flaring.

 

[bluecoupe30!]

Had this exact same thing happen a few months ago. Thought I was doing a good thing installing new brake hoses at the caliper. Of course damage ensued. Lucky I started with left side. After an attempt making my own, I was reluctant to install and found correct flare brake lines at local auto parts store. Right side a different story however as you may recall, the line from the calipers on that side, is a very long one, so either you need to make a very good, very long one with the correct bends, that you will trust, order new, or, I have heard of introducing a union somewhere along the run, so you can make simpler, shorter pipes that will do the job. Let us know what you do. Mike

 

[bavbob]

While you are it it, might as well change all flex lines to SS.

 

[duct-tape]

I wouldn't screw around with a flaring tool myself - to get decent SAFE results you 'll need to buy a high quality unit.

I bought an e30 that had been parked in the grass for a few years and all of the long lines were ruined under the car (brakes and fuel) I had looked up the cost of pre-flared long lines and decided to just buy my own & do the bends and flares. Maybe I'm lucky but I had zero issues with any of my bubbles, except for one that I forgot to put the fitting on before I flared it, so I had to cut it off and add the fitting and do another flare.
since then, Ive used my flare tool about 15 times, never an issue. I bought a pretty cheap tool as well. I'd be more worried about buying pre-flared lengths and damaging the ends while bending them (or buying them already screwed up from the vendor)