Replacing hard brake lines.

[BT]

Hello retro rides. I need some help regards brake lines.

Yesterday I drove my truck to work and I was sat with my foot on the brake at a junction, all of a sudden the pedal went softer than usual, however it still held the car.

Once I arrived at work it became apparent that the copper brake like had split and dumped it's load all over the floor. Lovely.

The section that has split is only about 8"long in total. Problem is I have never replaced a hard brake line, so what is involved?

Do I cut the ends off, get a replacement bit of copper and shape up a bit of pipe, flare the ends and refit?

If so, is all brake line the same size? Or will I need something specific?

Any help on the matter would be excellent.

[andyborris]

I'd get copper nickel pipe, Kunifer is it's trade name. Stronger, still flexible and non rust. Brass fittings too.

There are Imperial and Metric fittings and pipes, I'm not sure what age/make your truck is, so I'm not going to guess what you'll need.

Buy or hire a good quality flare tool, speeds up the making of good flares. Flares tend to have 2 shapes, male and female!

Have a good practice on the broken pipe, but it really is very easy. If you can remove the old pipe with all it's bends in place, it's easy to match it with the new pipe.

And if you can, bleed the brakes the 2 man way, gives you a better chance of spotting leaks while you're crawling about on the floor!

[BT]

Thanks very much for the help there. Funnily enough I make extremely high pressure pipe work as part of my job, however it's all made out of stainless and the smallest I work with is 6mm! So although slightly related... Also no where near related!

My truck is a 2000 L200 crew cab.

Never had the Paitence to figure the one man bleeding method, so two man it is.

Thankfully I have a good friend with a decent flare tool I can use.

Thanks for the help.

[usedabused]

BrenT,

Hear goes.....

1, Drop battery off or pull the brake light fuse,
2, Wedge the brake pedal to the floor with a suitable lump of wood or what ever fits, ( this will stop the brake fluid leeking out all over.
3, Cut the offending brake line as close to the fittings as possible and remove old fitting with a socket or ring spanner ..

3B, Inspect the rest of the brake hoses and pipes and remove them also ..

Take care at this stage not to disturb the other fittings as they have a rather irritating habbit of siezing up, tighten, loosen etc etc...

4, toddle off to a good auto factors with your salvaged brake components. It would be rather prudent to source the appropriate factors before you start as you will need somebody that will flare the pipe and fittings for you.

5, buy some correct spec brake fluid from this car parts brake flaring individual...

6,Return to the injured vehicle with your acquired booty and replace the pipe complete with fittings ( once home the fitting only require a half turn )
Bleeding.

7, Now you will need a bottle of some description, a glass milk bottle is ideal if you can find one and some rubber hose (vacuum hose works well)long enough to run from the bleed nipple to the bottom of the bottle (similar container NOT THE NEW BOTTLE OF FLUID)

8, Pour a little fluid in the (milk bottle) enough to cover the tip of the hose and smear ( I love that word smear) some grease around the base of the nipple to prevent air seeping in through the threads.

9, Top up fluid reservoir, crack off bleed nipple, remove wood from brake peddle and start pumping, keep checking bottle and reservoir ( don't let it get below minimum )

10, after topping the reservoir a couple of times nip up the nipple and see what the peddle feels like, you may need to bleed the full system and or change all the fluid.

If you do need to bleed the lot then start with the wheel furthest away from the master cylinder and work back...

I'm sure if I have missed anything the mighty Knowledge bank that is RR will be along soon..

Good luck...

I must point out if the fluid is below minimum before you start you may need to bleed the full system...

[rustydan]

Best thing I bought was a self bleeder for doing brakes, think is was around 18 sheets of the queen face and uses your tyre pressure the bleed the system. Doing brake lines is easier than you think, only did my first just last year and took me about 10 mins to make, fit and bleed. Toughest bit for me was bending the pipe neatly so it didnt look like 'Mr Messy'

Dan

[welshpug]

i usually re-use the original fittings where possible, o.e unions are far higher quality than anything I've found aftermarket so far.

pipe on cars is typically 3/16"

copper nickel pipe is stiffer so you do need a decent tool to flare it, your typical £20 screw type aren't usually good enough, the standard garage fare sykes picavant lever type does perfect flares every time. downside is they cost a lot more new and you need a vice (get on ebay, i got mine used, only 4 dies but i don't need the full kit)

get a halfords trade card and you can pick up a one man bleed pipe & pot for £3, attach to an open nipple and slowly pump away till you see clean non-aerated fluid in the tube.

[andyborris]

It's a good idea, (though rarely done) to replace the brake fluid every 2 years. It absorbs moisture and while this won't affect the braking too much, it will rust fittings together!

[usedabused]

I have used all manner of brake bleeding tools and gadgets and (to me ) nothing beets a lentgh of vac hose and a bottle..
Even bought nipples with a check valve in they still draw throught the threads..

I have a vice mounted brake flare tool well worth the hundred quid it cost me and the different size dyes are only twenty quid.

flared up some new aircon pipes for a lads 1938 Bently looked factory...

If you do think you are going to be doing brake pipes alot then invest in a good flare set,pipe cutters and pipe bender.

And yes I re use the factory ends cause I'm greedy...

[rollingcoal]

best flairing tool I have ever used ,can also be used with pipe still on the car

also get a pressure bleeding tool eg gunsons ezeebleed

[usedabused]

Never seen that before rollingcoal looks like I might add that to the tool box..

[rollingcoal]

yes you can get both metric and imperial so good for our old British classics and modern cars. found it was best to get both types together as it was on offer as a combi deal on the bay of e

[bortaf]

Jan 13, 2017 13:21:25 GMT usedabused said:

I have used all manner of brake bleeding tools and gadgets and (to me ) nothing beets a lentgh of vac hose and a bottle..
Even bought nipples with a check valve in they still draw throught the threads..

I have a vice mounted brake flare tool well worth the hundred quid it cost me and the different size dyes are only twenty quid.

flared up some new aircon pipes for a lads 1938 Bently looked factory...

If you do think you are going to be doing brake pipes alot then invest in a good flare set,pipe cutters and pipe bender.

And yes I re use the factory ends cause I'm greedy...

Same here, i have an eezybleed and it's great (if you lower the Psi of the tyre you use) but parts keep snapping in constant use so i invariably end up with a mate doing it oldskool with a jam jar and some rubber hose but TBH i don't think they are intended for prof use rather the odd diy job.
I also reuse the factory ends, you rarely find the quality as good with aftermarket, a qrick clean up on the bench wire brush and back on they go

[andyborris]

I use the a similar tool to this Sealy one , had no real problems.

But the one shown above looks a lot easier to use and it produces better flares too, less guesswork on fitting the pipe into the tool, seems to be around the same price, so that's the one I'd buy now.

[cobblers]

You know what, I've spent nearly 20 years fannying about with cars and never put two and two together that flooring the brake pedal would cover the outlets on the master cylinder and stop the whole system steadily syphoning fluid out. It seems incredibly obvious now and I feel like an idiot, but thanks usedabused!

[hario]

**Searches eBay for old flaring tools..**

[nomad]

Find a local garage that can make pipe up for you (or buy a tool - I normally borrow one as I use very rarely)
Measure length of the original pipe.
Remove it (do not disturb the bits it fits into - you want to be able to just screw a new pipe in) and save the end fittings.
Give end fittings & measurement to local garage, etc.

I use a bleed pot, no tyre pressure, just a tube with a 1-way valve that goes into a small pot.
Remember to keep topping up the brake fluid reservoir as you bleed the system or it will run dry and pull air into the system.

Then pub!

[datsundrew]

Cobblers.......I'm with you on that, and I've been fannnying about with cars for 30 years! It's so obvious, how did we miss that one?!

[DavidB]

I have the box shape flaring tool and it does the job everytime.
I also have a mini pipe bender from Amazon. Don't buy the cheap vice type flare tool as they're not great.


You'll never get the bends if OEM pipes but close.

Don't forget to put the union on first before you flare the pipe, as I keep doing.