No More Crimped Fuel Lines

[NoNeck]

I needed to bend 3/8" steel fuel line to 90°, but after the second collapse I was ready to try anything. I was using a quality Imperial line bender so it shouldn't be that difficult.

The first bend was made using packed sand in the line with just a little silicone grease on the upper jaw where it moved across the tubing. About 75% collapsed.

The second bend was made after the line was filled with water and frozen overnight. About 50% collapsed, plus a crack on one side of the tubing.

On the third bend I decided to insert an 8 gauge electrical wire and two 12 gauge wires into the tubing. I sprayed just a little Silicone in the tubing, then inserted the wires. I looped the ends of the wires to help pull them out after the bend. And... IT WORKED!!! I didn't get a picture of the bend because now it is on the truck and working great.

You guys probably have a million other ways to bend larger tubing without collapsing, but this worked for me.

POP

[Steeveedee]

That's pretty slick!

[jaros44sr]

x2, never thought of that, great idea

[jcwren]

I've not used these, but supposedly that's what these spring benders are for. Most of the stuff I've bent has been soft copper for HVAC systems, and I haven't needed to use them.

[NoNeck]

I thought about getting a set of those. If you have a lot of lines to bend they would be good to have around.

Thanks,
POP

[clay68c10]

That’s a damn good idea! Thanks, I’ll be using it.

[lutronjim]

I used one of those spring 'binders' on some 3/8 steel line to make 'bout 96 degree bind. It didn't collapse but I had to tear up the spring to get it off. Maybe their was some trick to removal I didn't know about.

[Greasey Harley]

Originally Posted by NoNeck

I needed to bend 3/8" steel fuel line to 90°, but...it shouldn't be that difficult.

... I decided to insert an 8 gauge electrical wire and two 12 gauge wires into the tubing. I sprayed just a little Silicone in the tubing, then inserted the wires. I looped the ends of the wires to help pull them out after the bend. And... IT WORKED!!!
POP

GREAT TIP!!
I aspire to be a good tubing bender. Seriously, it is a skill that I would love to master, and I practice quite a bit.
I've never seen that one before.
Thank you for sharing it!
-Russ

[Steeveedee]

It's interesting that the sand didn't work, because we bought hundreds of pieces of waveguide (think pipes for radio frequency waves) that were bent in some interesting shapes, and they were filled with sand for bending without collapsing. Of course, they were aluminum or copper, and in some cases real coin silver. The silver metal ones were from the old MILSTAR satellite days. Those were some mighty expensive spacecraft.

[Jrainman]

Originally Posted by jcwren

I've not used these, but supposedly that's what these spring benders are for. Most of the stuff I've bent has been soft copper for HVAC systems, and I haven't needed to use them.

I have used those spring types in the past , they are not bad on a slight bend ,when you use them to bend a actual 90 deg ,the spring either will take you for ever to come off or you will have to leave it on.

I have that same bender as Noneck its ok , but really not great In the directions the do recomend you anneal (heat) hard tubing before using the bender so the tubing will not kink. A friend of mine has the best tubing bender I have used its made by Yellow jacket tools and it is a rachet type hand tubing bender , it really is a nice set up ,but he paid 250 for it but he is a HVAC guy so he uses it a lot .