Brake lines

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Xxl2

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One of my brake lines rusted out. That was a fun drive home. What is everyone recommendation for new lines? material ? Hows nicop?
 

RichLo

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I'm in the same situation with my winter beater Blazer trying to finish it before snow.

I ordered a roll of NiCopp and the flaring tool below. I do enough brake line repairs I figure its time to get a good flaring tool and order rolls of hard line instead of keep on paying a premium for pre-flared stuff. This tool should pay for itself in 2 or 3 brake jobs.

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97C1500TJ

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I also like the copper-nickel line. Easy to shape and flare. Amazon has rolls of it with fittings pretty cheap.
 

dave s

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I'll add my vote for the ni copp lines. It flares nice and is easy to bend just where you want it.
 

Nad_Yvalhosert

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Up here in New Yuck, nicopp ends up looking terrible after a couple of salty winters.

My vote is prebent & flared stainless. Never worried about kinking, rusting, or blowouts in my plow truck once I upgrade.

LMC truck has full kits for just a couple hundred bucks with shipping. More expensive than bulk line, but no wasting time to flare or bend. Also, it looks damn professional; straight lines, evenly curved bends, they fit into the OE line clamps...
 

Schurkey

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I had substantial trouble flaring NiCopp in 3/16 size--the only size I've worked with.

Other folks seem to have no trouble with NiCopp; and I can flare double-wall seamless steel tubing with little trouble.

I never did figure out what I was doing wrong. I also haven't been trying to gain experience with it, although I should.


I've never worked with stainless brake tubing. I've heard it's tough to get the flares to seal--the material is hard and doesn't conform well. Some folks have recommended specialized copper flared sealing washers for use with stainless tubing flares.
 

JeremyNH

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Take a look at Rock Auto for pre-bent SS kits. I am replacing the flex lines with braided no-flex lines during a hydroboost swap and when I removed the rear flex line the tubing twisted off with the flare nut on the drivers side axle and the main feed line. Picked up a Dorman kit from Rock Auto for $140 to the door. I haven't installed it yet since it just happened last weekend and the kit came yesterday but I did inspect and test fit and the kit is complete and accurate to the truck. I'm only going to replace the lines under the bed because they're the ones that see road spray (also two of the four pieces are presently busted which is why I'm doing it at all). The remainder of the kit I'll keep for as needed repairs going forward. From what I've read on sealing you just need to put the nuts through a few tightening/loosening cycles to get a good seal on SST.

1998 Z71 5.7L.
 
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RichLo

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I had substantial trouble flaring NiCopp in 3/16 size--the only size I've worked with.

Other folks seem to have no trouble with NiCopp; and I can flare double-wall seamless steel tubing with little trouble.

I never did figure out what I was doing wrong. I also haven't been trying to gain experience with it, although I should.


I've never worked with stainless brake tubing. I've heard it's tough to get the flares to seal--the material is hard and doesn't conform well. Some folks have recommended specialized copper flared sealing washers for use with stainless tubing flares.

I just got done doing 3/16 NiCopp last night on my Blazer with that new flaring tool I posted earlier in this thread. 8 flares and a test flare and all of them turned out perfect. That thing is slick, I wouldnt doubt it could easily do stainless also.
 

Intragration

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I had the exact same "busted brake line ride home" you described. Ordered a set of pre-bent lines from Inline Tube. I've used them previously and have always been very happy with them. I picked mild in this case because I figured it would be an easier install. (I don't know why...I've never had a problem with stainless.) As it turned out, they unexpectedly sent me stainless, and I just went with it. The install was no problem, as usual. I tightened them well first go-round, and had zero leaks.

The one thing that was slightly annoying is the front-most front-to-rear line was not coiled like factory. I held them to their "identical to factory" claim, and they ended up bending me a new one for free, which was perfect like the rest. Standup company, and I would definitely recommend stainless. I will probably get new fuel lines from them eventually, because the only thing scarier than crusty brake lines is...crusty fuel lines.
 
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