Brake line oops

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Mason Moran

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I was working on my brakes today and I snapped a brake line. I'm going to a junkyard to pick parts off a dart tomorrow. Do brake lines disconnect in conventions places? I snapped the one where it connects to the back right wheel cylinder
 
Additionally, where can I buy quality affordable replacement parts. The ones I got from auto zone aren't right
 
You can buy generic replacement brake tubes in different lengths at any good parts store. You must be careful, in this day and age, to get "standard U.S." tube and fittings, and NOT metric and or "bubble flare" You will want 3/16 inverted flare. All fittings except the ones at the master cylinder and maybe the disk brake proportioning valve on newer cars, should be standard size flare nuts......already made up on the tube.

But I see in another thread........you have way larger problems. DO NOT drive that car with that suspension broken
 
Available from Inline, Right Stuff, Fine Lines... The rear tubes meet in a T on the axle housing. And yeh, if you had rust that bad under there. Chances are you are needing all the brake lines. Pretty much anything can be fixed or replaced on these cars. Just time and money... LOL
 
This might be an unpopular opinion but, NiCop brake lines are surprisingly easy to bend, flare, and replace your old rotted lines with. They’ve also come down a lot in price. Instead of paying a lot for preformed OEM lines, why not just make your own? I learned by myself (with the help of YouTube) and, it’s far from rocket science. The flare tool was $20-ish off Amazon and the NiCop comes in a variety of lengths (on the cheap).
 
I got nickel/copper and it was pricey. 25 ft roll on sale for $50= half price up here. Looking forward to trying it, haven't worked with it yet.
 
I'm not sure what year/model car you are dealing with, but inlinetube.com is the best place to start.

They have complete, pre-formed brake line sets for most models. Super easy to work with, the lines will just slide right into place.

Should be $100-$150 for a set. If that seems high, just think about the importance of good braking ability for your car.

Is your life worth $150?
 
4spdragtop said:
I got nickel/copper and it was pricey. 25 ft roll on sale for $50= half price up here. Looking forward to trying it, haven't worked with it yet.
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I tried to get it here, parts guy couldnt find it.
 
Typically i would never consider trying to get a brake line off a donor car. Easy to make my own.
Even pre-made parts store lines are cheap. A few simple bends and its done.
 
Heres stuff I got Frank from local independent parts store. Comes in different sizes.
Tooljunkie said:
I tried to get it here, parts guy couldnt find it.
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I bought a 25ft roll and all the fittings at the local O'Reilly Auto... bought a flare tool...

New brake lines in the whole car less than 75 bucks... car stops on a dime... first time ever doing it. Asked questions here and got some very smart people offering to answer and give me advice. :thumbsup:

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I also picked up some line, fittings, bending tools and a double flare tool and replaced my entire system front to back. The lines were brittle and master cylinder was full of rust, so I figured to do the whole thing vs band aiding it. Truly was fairly easy once I got the hang of the flare and bending tools.
 
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Thats what the groove in the tubing cutter is for, to cut flare off very short, so you can put the nut on that you forgot.
 
I bought a 25ft roll and all the fittings at the local O'Reilly Auto... bought a flare tool...

New brake lines in the whole car less than 75 bucks... car stops on a dime... first time ever doing it. Asked questions here and got some very smart people offering to answer and give me advice. :thumbsup:


Few questions: Looks like 'aftermarket' rear sway-bar. (I'm guessing no OEM ones on A-bodies?) Where did you buy it and how many $?
Also, does it really state "Old Timer' on your plate? Is that in lieu of the more common "Collector" ? :D
 
hwd2 said:
I bought a 25ft roll and all the fittings at the local O'Reilly Auto... bought a flare tool...

New brake lines in the whole car less than 75 bucks... car stops on a dime... first time ever doing it. Asked questions here and got some very smart people offering to answer and give me advice. :thumbsup:


Few questions: Looks like 'aftermarket' rear sway-bar. (I'm guessing no OEM ones on A-bodies?) Where did you buy it and how many $?
Also, does it really state "Old Timer' on your plate? Is that in lieu of the more common "Collector" ? :D
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Regarding the sway bar, I actually dont know what brand it is, it was in the trunk of the car when I bought it. PST said they think its their old rear sway bar, its actually attached via new pst mounts as well. I also have a new pst front sway bar, the car handles well for a 50yr old car... I'd like new rear springs next year though.

The plate does say "Old Timer" on it. In Nevada 25yr old cars can get "classic car" on their plates. If if your car is 50 years old you can get "old timer" plates. I thought it was cool and funny to see an "old timer" car driven by a 30yr old with little kids in the back seat :D
 
I also bought a 25' spool of bulk brakeline and remade every single line on the car. Only took a few hours, I'm not a fan of the flare tool that is shown above if you plan to use it a LOT. It works good for a while, but the 'teeth' in that clamping bar wear down and then the line can slip while flaring it, probably not an issue with copper line, but with a stiffer brake line. I went with the one that Eastwood sells, highly recommend it, 100% perfect leak free flares everytime so far.

Eastwood On-Car Flaring Tool for 3/16” Brake Lines

One thing I would do differently than above would be to put the abrasion guard over the brake line that runs under the vehicle. The Nickle/Copper line is pretty soft and I'd hate to have some road debris come up and bend it or crack it. It's pretty cheap as well, and easy to install before the final flare goes on, and it'll look somewhat factory as well.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IRQXJDS/?tag=fabo03-20
 
72Duster440 said:
I also bought a 25' spool of bulk brakeline and remade every single line on the car. Only took a few hours, I'm not a fan of the flare tool that is shown above if you plan to use it a LOT. It works good for a while, but the 'teeth' in that clamping bar wear down and then the line can slip while flaring it, probably not an issue with copper line, but with a stiffer brake line. I went with the one that Eastwood sells, highly recommend it, 100% perfect leak free flares everytime so far.

Eastwood On-Car Flaring Tool for 3/16” Brake Lines

One thing I would do differently than above would be to put the abrasion guard over the brake line that runs under the vehicle. The Nickle/Copper line is pretty soft and I'd hate to have some road debris come up and bend it or crack it. It's pretty cheap as well, and easy to install before the final flare goes on, and it'll look somewhat factory as well.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IRQXJDS/?tag=fabo03-20
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Agree, the cheap flare tools are... cheap. But it worked great. If I was doing lines frequently I would definitely consider picking up some of the nicer more expensive flare tools.

That abrasion guard stuff looks pretty nice, my stock lines had the same stuff on it.
 
DentalDart said:
Agree, the cheap flare tools are... cheap. But it worked great. If I was doing lines frequently I would definitely consider picking up some of the nicer more expensive flare tools.

That abrasion guard stuff looks pretty nice, my stock lines had the same stuff on it.
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Totally agree, for the occasional use the clamping bar style works great. Once you use it a LOT, or on some stuffer material, the teeth wear down. I had a few entire vehicles worth to do, so I splurged. It was worth every penny. I actually bought this as well, made the ends perfectly squared with chamfers on the inside and outside of the tubing.

Eastwood Brake Line Deburring Tool for Stainless Steel


But, like you said, not needed if only doing a few.
 
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