My 1996 Buick Century has recently been afflicted with a brake problem. The steel brake line has corroded to the point of leaking in the rear wheel well.

I am by no means an experienced mechanic however I tend to enjoy the challenge of making my own repairs (brake pads, radiator leak, tune-up).

I've removed the bad section of brake-line and plan to replace it with a new piece, joining (double flare and connector) to the original mid-frame which is still in good condition, as well as replace the brake hose and wheel cylinder.

I'm just posting to get an idea of how difficult this is, potential gotchas, or even if its a bad idea to attempt this all together.

Thanks!

Andy

 

Welcome to the forums Andy!

I've never attempted to just replace a section of bad line, making my own flares - I'm not that brave

I've always removed the bad line [fitting to fitting], measured it and bought a replacement line with the ends already on it. Since it isn't always possible to get the correct length you may need to get creative with installing it.

I'm a painter, not a mechanic so stay tuned to see what the other say

 

Naildriver's opinion.....buy one premade. Making a double flare on stainless steel is a real PITA. For the most part the tubing is already bent to shape, so it is a fairly easy R&R. Don't do like I did when I was young, hair on fire, 10 feet tall and bullet proof. Made one for my 55 chevy from copper......oooh, lasted about a day. Back then they had pull up "emergency" brakes, and it was an emergency .

 

replace it. it's BRAKES. helluva pressure in the lines, and you are only taking chances of creating weak spots with every extra connection.
they do have flaring tools and lengths of lines, but you will need to be REALLY CREATIVE to bend them yourself, and not just bend, but bend without kink in bend, using pipe bender.
if you can find plug'n'play one, go for it. still will be a pita to fit through, BUT SAFE.

 

I dont think SS was mentioned,but no you cant double flare SS. AS mentioned steel ready made line is best for the novice. I usually end up cutting and falring it also as I hate excess line wadded up. In the past I have used copper on many applications including big trucks. The key is to use heavy wall tubing,it has to be special ordered. Dont try the stuff thay keep for gas lines and for Gods sake dont try the plumbers grade tubing.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

So i purchased a pre-flared piece of brake line from autozone and it worked out to be a perfect length.

The bending was not nearly as difficult as I thought (it must be some type of composite steel, not SS) though I did end up using a pipe bender for most of it. I also had the old piece intact so I used it as a template to mold the new one.

The flaring of the existing line that I cut also went smoothly (used a kit from autozone) and looks uniform with the pre-flared line.

I didn't have the current line wrenches so I will be attempting to finish up torquing to spec and flush the lines tomorrow, will let you know how it goes.

Thanks again for all the tips!

 

very cool. takes longer but saves life down the road. good job!!

 

parts stores sell the double flare tool a monkey can use it. SS steel is easy to get. union it flare it and drive it.

 

Why, when you can buy the flared tubing that will fit the car? What do you do with the tool once you have two flares made. Lot of expense for a simple repair.

 

I bought my double flaring kit 35 years ago and I've been saving money doing lots of jobs with it. If one line is going bad, the other lines are probably not far behind.