Im trying to put a 45* double flare on a 1/4" steel brake line tube that i have but im having trouble putting the flare on the end of the tube. im following the instructions of the tool, but still no luck. they come out like total crap. i can't seem to collaspe or crush the line with the adapter piece into a ball shape or folded shape like its supposed to be before you go to the next flaring step. could the tube be to hard? i have an idea, can i heat the tube with a torch and then press the adapter onto the tube to crush it properly? will that work?

 

Do not apply heat, it is not necessary.

It takes patience to get a good flare.

I am not sure what the instruction say in your kit, but once you cut the tubing to the desired length use a file and put a bit of taper on the raw end of the tubing. (Usually it is the straight cut edge that causes the greatest difficulty when trying to do a good flare, it binds in the "anvil" part of the clamp.)

Then put your flare tool onto the end of the line at the appropriate distance - usually you use the anvil portion of the tool to measure. After you have it set up properly (with the taper filed on the tubing) wet it with brake fluid, then crank on it - the taper plus the brake fluid should make life much easier.

Once you get the "bubble" then change out the anvil part of the tool with the taper, lubricate with more brake fluid, and complete your flare (a word of caution - when finishing the flare, do not tighten it too much, you can destroy a good flare by splitting the tube with too much pressure).

 

man i could not get one decent flare. i had to go to a buddy to try to use his MAC brand tool and they came out a little better but not good enough to seal. i tried using all the tips everyone mentioned but with no luck. they leaked i guess because the flares were a little off center... none of the flare we did came out like the ones you see on the tubing in the auto parts stores.... What now? do i look for a shop with a professional hydrualic flaring tool?

 

& a lot of practice!!

Are you replacing a short section of line? If so you could buy a pre-flared section of brake line close to the size you're replacing and bend it into shape.

 

I have had a few come out looking similar to the ones on the tubing in the store (not many). You say your flares were were a little off-center - how much is a little? Even when I have had flares slightly off-center I have managed to get them to seal.

How tight did you tighten the fitting? Unless your flare is way off-center you should be able to get them to seal by apply a bit more torque when tightening.

I have had fittings that I thought were tight only to have them leak, tighten a little more - still leak, tighten a little bit more still - no leak.

 

they were off center that when you look at the flare and spin the nut around you see more material on one side than the other.....

i tryed tightening in increments but no luck. one flare just seeps a little but the other one pours out the fliud.....and i jammed hard on that one but still it poured out like crazy....

 

ok update: last week i took the line and unions back apart to look at it and noticed that inside the unions where the inverted flare is, it showed a C pattern indicating that the flares we made did not have full contact causing the leaks. so not only were the flares a little lopsided but i saw that the flares were higher on one side than the other when pointing the brake line to the sky and looking across it. so i figured since the flares are messed up anyway why not file them across and make them flat. so i did and i put a new union back on to see the contact pattern and now it showed full contact after filing the flare. so now im thinking this might actually seal so i fiiled the rest of the flares and put it all back together and then spiked the brakes hard like before and no leaks so far. i assume they will seal now. however, i did not bleed the system yet beacuse i want to change one of the rear axle lines since its really rusty by the wheel cylinder. but i think im sealed up now because there is full contact between the unions and the flares we made....and this time im using a preflared line that is flared on both end for the rear axle line!

 

If that is stainless steel you are not going to find a tool suitable to do a double flare or appropriate fittings, single flair is used for soft metals as they can tend to tear. Stainless steel is most often used with 37 degree JIC or 37 degree AN (Army/Navy spec) fittings. 3XX series stainless steel will become ferromagnetic after work hardening (bending or using a tube cutter) But offer the best corrosion and heat protection. JIC flare was predominantly used in aviation and hydraulic machinery. If you can barely get a magnet to stick to your coil of tube except where you used a bender or tube cutter it is stainless steel. Remember stainless steel is 4 times stronger then copper for tensile strength and nearly 50% stronger then soft steel.

I recently bought a RIGID brand 37 degree flaring tool new quite cheap for use with stainless steel tube up to 35 thickness (under 60 bucks) But you must file, anneal, or patiently cut stainless steel or it will just push through the vise, not the fault of the tool either. The working point is orbital and zero point, it applies force only to certain side of the tube at once with a tension governor built it that will pop out the handle drive train until you reverse it and it re-engages, that is if the material is too hard for the tool- typical yolk and vice with only one clamp- works well