General Tech Nickel Copper Brake Lines

I was trying to make a flare end with a buddy a while back and we weren't having any luck, it would split or crack or go lopsided. I didn't think much of it at the time, and just told home to take the line to the brake and clutch shop and they would fix you up for $5 or so.

Fast forward a couple months and I need to replace about an 100" line running from front to back of my new/ old Ford Ranger. They don't make a line that long and both ends are different, the guy at Advance Auto sells me a roll of this nickel copper stuff (which I have read is softer and easier to work with). I had the same problem as I did at my friend's. I figure it must be the same stuff cause Looks the same and has the same issues. After 3 or 4 attempts of making a decent inverted flare I give up. I ended up finding a coil of steel I had lying around and it worked fine.

Is there a secret to working with this stuff? Working with my cheap tool and the steel line the secret is to camp the **** out of it. Tried softer and harder clamping and slight variations in initial protrusion length with the nickel copper stuff. No luck on getting a decent flare, metal wasn't smooth and or lopsided mushroom? Any tricks to using the stuff?

The copper/nickel is certainly softer than steel and there may be different alloys available to complicate even further. It is prone to going lopsided and I suspect the solution to that is getting the initial protrusion perfect when clamped in the tool. Take care with as the alignment of press as well. Use the protrusion guide, usually the edge of the die that comes with the kit. Keep the clamping part securely in a vice if possible. I' avoid on making flares with the brake line still on the car.
I have also found that my slightly imperfect flares worked fine.
Tom

Thanks Tom

I learned early on that you must chamfer the inside and outside of the line you are working with. If you are using a tube cutter it leaves a very sharp edge on the ID, which must come off. It takes a decent flaring tool...many are junk and do not stabilize the die as it is compressing. Then, for the first step, compressing into the bubble, you must take care to work rather slow and make sure the die is compressing in line. If you are doing everything right and still getting lop-sided, then I suspect your flare tool is not solid enough.

That is good advice, I don't have proper chamfering tools, just a pointy piece of hard steel and some sandpaper.

I've had the same problem, and I use a fairly high-end flaring tool. It's funny that I did my entire TD with that tool and cunifer lines, with no problem. Tthey are all 45-degree double flares. I plumbed my TR4 mostly with steel lines, but I had to do a couple of cunifer pieces, and I had a lot of trouble getting the initial bubble nice and symmetrical--it kept going lopsided. Not sure why I had problems this time, and not earlier, but John's comments might be a hint.

Earlier, I tried doing some flares in cunifer with a cheapo flaring tool, and it was a disaster. I couldn't come even close to obtaining a decent flare.

You might want to see if you can borrow a good flaring tool, or just use steel line. It's a little harder to form, but not really all that bad.

I had some old steel line sitting around and used it. The flares look pretty good, should get a chance to check out the seal Wednesday.

I bought Eastwood’s flaring tool that mounts to a bench vice. It’s done very well on cunifer but I did have the lopsided problem with steel. I tracked down my specific problem to the pipe not clamped in strongly enough, at least that seemed to fix the issue.

Yes, working with the steel you really need to clamp down hard on the pipe, haven't figured out the trick with the copper nickel. It is back together and working, one of the flares needed a little extra torque to seal. 97 Ranger, had to replace RWCs because one of the bleeders was rusted on. Haven't seen this much rust since I daily drove Triumphs and Healeys in the 70s and 80s.

Yes tube flaring is a brutal learning curve, no pun intended. I use a small rat tail file to do what John suggested and to get the flare to fold back onto itself after the first step of the bubble is completed. I also take a fine file or small grinder and file that very little bit of a ring on the tip of bubble off, so the fold can go back into itself. If the center section sticks up even a 64th the flare will fold lopsided because of that little small ring that is left on tip of the bubble gives the tube strength. One other thing to watch is the angle of the tool that pushes the flare back into itself because they wear out or have the wrong angle and blow out the flare before it folds.
steve

Yes tube flaring is a brutal learning curve, no pun intended. I use a small rat tail file to do what John suggested and to get the flare to fold back onto itself after the first step of the bubble is completed. I also take a fine file or small grinder and file that very little bit of a ring on the tip of bubble off, so the fold can go back into itself. If the center section sticks up even a 64th the flare will fold lopsided because of that little small ring that is left on tip of the bubble gives the tube strength. One other thing to watch is the angle of the tool that pushes the flare back into itself because they wear out or have the wrong angle and blow out the flare before it folds.
steve