Who has bent thier own brake lines?

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by In The Ten Ring

Time is indeed valuable, especially with my schedule. However, it's always better to learn how to do things oneself. I credit TXFirefighter for helping me realize that applied to my truck also.

Thanks brother.

I worked in a lot of environments where the "old guys" in the shop had skills that impressed me. Now, as I get older, I try to be more like those guys. Don't be afraid of anything, always get outside your comfort zone, expand your skills. Building old trucks is cool. Being able to really "build" old trucks is cooler.

When someone sees your nice hard lines, you can either say "yeah, I got them from www.hardlineexpress.com" or you can say "yep, that took a few hours and some frustration to build". I know which guy is more interesting to me. The first guy, I smile and walk on. The second guy, I'm gonna be there for awhile pumping him for answers, tech advice and tips so I can do it myself.

[Tinkermc]

i AGREE with most of the guys here, it's not that hard to do yourself, go slow, have fun and be real proud when your finished.

[mrolds88]

I have done all of my work with premade sections as I havent found a good enough double flare tool yet. One little trick I have used to do bends that require something other than what my Lisle bender does goes as follows. I use 1/2 drive sockets and a set of vise grips. You do have to be careful for obvious reasons. Get the tubing clamped just tight enough to hold it. It came to me when I had to do the lines between the MC and distribution block on my 87 Suburban body swap. I needed to make the section the looks like a spring that allows everything to flex and not break. First I bent the small radius going from vertical to horizontal with either a 1/2 or 9/16 socket. Then clamped it around one around 1 1/4" Slowly wrapped it about 4 or 5 times. Then went back to the small socket. That gave you a stack that is offset from the centerline of the vertical tubing. If you would want to center it, Just clamp the smaller socket at each end of the part where you had clamped the 1 1/4 socket. Made a nice neat job. Now if I could only find a good reasonably priced double flare tool...

[pwdcougar]

My Craftsman double flaring tool has been working great for the past few years. The cheapo one I got first didn't last long.

Doing brake lines on a project though is entirely different than doing them on the wet grass at a camp ground so you can get home. The lines on my daily driver 97 Silverado have all rusted away at one point.


Like a lot of guys here I take pride in being able to do things myself.

Paul

[Jahloha]

Originally Posted by In The Ten Ring

Last weekend I bought a Craftsman single and double flaring kit, a Rigid tube cutter with reamer, and a heavy duty bender (ebay).

NAPA carries a pipe called "Poly Armour" that is supposed to be 30x more corrosion resistant than OEM steel tube and so easy to bend you can do it by hand. Pretty cheap too in 25' lengths.

I intend to use it to replace my fuel lines but it's supposed to be good for brake lines too. Great vids on youtube man.

See my thread on "making own fuel lines" or whatever it was from last week.

Good insight. I found your post and it helped for sure. Installing new lines is still bit out for my project, but like planning now.

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

when a new pre bent ready to install kit costs $155.00 why bother ? surely your time and effort is worth something and taking a day to bend brake or fuel line is time better spent elsewhere .

Thats always the question, is it worth my time? I would say it is because I hope to be able to say I did it all, once this project is completed. Or at least have the knowledge on how its done (machining, for example).

Originally Posted by 54belair

I have done that. I have also bought different lengths of premade (straight) tubing. takes some measuring and some planning---but its not rocket science--just takes time and a plan.

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

Another skill in the tool box of life. I agree fully. Save money and improve your skills at the same time.

I agree 54 and Tx, just have a plan and learn a skill. I assume thats one of the main reasons a lot of us get into these trucks, outside of nostalgia sake, its to prove to ourselves we can do it.

[Grumpy old man]

I agree everyone should learn any skill that is available to them and maybe it was the business side of me thinking cost pre made vs costs for materials and labor costs to produce a quality part .many people can build an entire project but at what cost ? If you spend $50.000.00 materials and labor to build a $25,000.00 truck that's a time consuming expensive hobby isn't it ?? Let me tell you from experience there were many weekends I spent working on a custom piece for a customer I now wish I spent with my kids at the park !

[CUSTOM/10]

I have bent all my own lines on my last few trucks and on a friends that was a plumbing nightmare! He had an air ride suspension control system, brake lines, fuel lines, trany lines and more. All were done in stainless steel tubing & fittings. I'll soon be doing my own again in all SS. You can buy all the supplies and tools needed from Summit Racing. They have SS tubing and they also have an alloy of copper / nickel that's easier to bend & flare than SS, but has much better corrosion resistance than plane steel. The SS that comes in coils is softer than the straight hard SS and can be flared, but I recommend a hydraulic flaring tool. SS can be tuff to double flare.

Now I have a back ground in HVAC so I have bent tubing most of my life, and actually enjoy making it look neat and clean. But most anyone can do it if they take their time and practice some beforehand. If your going to use SS you need good quality tools. Those double flaring disks on cheap sets break easily when doing SS. That's why I recommend a hydraulic flaring tool. Bending is easy once you get the hang of it. But make sure you have your fitting on the tube and on the correct side of the bend or your screwed. It's also easy to bend the tube in the wrong direction. So you need to mark the tube on the side indicating the way you want the bend to go. If you bend it the wrong way on your last bend *&$@ it's junk. So take your time and double check before bending it. You'll also need to learn different angles and how much tubing you will use for each angle or you'll miss your target.

It will be a little bit before I start bending my line, but when I do I'll try and post pictures, and some helpful hints.

Gary