Brake line fittings help needed please

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I am assuming you finished your brakes? How did it turn out? I need to do the same...want to come down and help me? Bring that fancy flaring tool. I have been eyeing that tool for a while!

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I have gotten the brake lines completed back in March, not tested yet though so we will see how I did. No leaks though so far. Here is how it went. Took some wire and mocked up the line routes and then got to it. The flaring tool was great. It did goof a time or two but that was user error by not getting the cut line de burred properly before flaring.

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the small lines from the master cyl to the prop valve were a pain. I re did those multiple times. The bends were so tight the bending tool I had wouldn't cut it so I bought a few rollers that fit the bill and hacked at it but got it done.

I would take the wire and run a form and then straighten the wire to get the length I would need. After flaring the section of line with fittings I took the rollers and used those to help get the bends without distorting the line. One of the rollers needed to have a guard ground off so I could put it in some vise grips and have working room to make the bends.

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Once the fittings were on I heated up the section I needed to bend. Not a lot of heat just a little to help. The line when that small was kinda tough to bend. You can see on the bench the attempt to bend before before didnt bend right, bent and flattened a good bit. Frustrating. With the wire as a guide I could see what my bend needed to be.

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Then the last little line that had only one bend wasnt as bad to deal with. Had some help.

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Then a bench bleed. Next time I would try the syringe method. Pumping that thing with the needle nose pliers took a while to get the air bubbles out. Then hooked it all up and did a bleed. I had all my connections made I thought until I saw fluid around the tire. I forgot to tighten the brake hose to the caliper. Cleaned it all up and all is well now. I hope by the end of summer I have this truck running. I still need to get the trans cooler lines and the fuel lines done. I hated having to pay for the tool and wish it was a rental somewhere, but it saved me alot of extra hassle.

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I thought I posted a response. Must have not hit reply.

Anyway, thanks for the detailed pictures. That helps a lot. I wish I could rent that tool for doing flares. Not sure I can justify $180...even though I want it and have wanted it for a while. I plan on doing a truck for my wife one day, so maybe I bite the bullet. You could rent me yours. I am just down the road in Savannah! No seriously...

On a side note...I have a great idea about members renting tools from each other that aren't used often. I just need to try it and see how it goes. Similar to the parts store...where someone would buy it for full price then when returned in good condition, receive slightly less than full price back for the rental...say $20-$30 for a tool like this plus shipping both ways. Might work might be a nightmare.

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I just bought the Eastwood brake flaring tool. I hope to use it often (more builds).

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You wont be sorry, it took stress off me so it was money well spent. I still have to get my fuel and transmission cooler lines done so I plan to get more use from it. And you are right you never know when that next build could happen.