Prebent brake lines

[DThibault]

I found prebent stainless brake lines online Circle Track Supply for a decent price and upon checking out I was blown away by the shipping costs. They want more for the darn shipping than the lines. I've seen that scam before. Anyway, I am thinking of making my own but I have never seen stainless tubing in bulk and I'm not sure I can bent the stuff anyway. Any solutions? tHANKS.

 

[mwilson]

Why are you looking at Stainless??? I see you are in Mass and assume it would be to resist the salt/calcium/magnesium goop they spray on the roads.



If that is your reason then consider the Copper/Nickel Alloy line that is now available. Easy to bend without kinking and price is more than fair. Flares like a dream. I have purchased several 25' rolls for our shop use and the techs love it.

The 25' roll of 3/16" that I purchased Monday thru Carquest was $34. 00.

Also Corrosion proof from what I have read on the subject.



Here is a link to Copper.org for some more info

Copper.org: Applications: Automotive - Copper-Nickel Automotive Vehicle Brake Tubing



I would not throw Circle Track under the bus on the shipping rates as those lines are long and will easily go Oversize 2 if not 3 on the UPS rate chart. That brings the shipping costs up a lot.



If I can be of help, let me know.

Mike.

 

[RHestand]

I also recently replaced my brake lines with a 25' roll of plastic coated (Easy to bend and easy to flair. ) steel alloy line from NAPA. ($25?). This was after I checked the price and long lead time (2-3 weeks?) on a SS pre-bent kit.
My OE non coated steel lines lasted through 11 WI winters, so for the price differential and only a little more work involved, I decided I'd risk it. Plus I needed my truck and couldn't wait the 2-3 weeks lead time for SS.
Another thing I considered was just how accurately cut, bent, etc the new SS kit would be? If something doesn't fit or has a wrong fitting (There were at least 2-3 dif. type fittings on my OE truck. ), you could be in for another long wait, or consider having to cut and double flair it yourself. I'm not sure but I think it takes special heavy duty tools to double flair SS lines.
Ray
PS. It took me one weekend and that included R&R the fuel tank, and cleaning/wire-brushing all the old fittings. I was able to reuse all of them.

 

[mwilson]

The only issue that we have found with the plastic or any type of coated brake line is that no matter how careful you are little pieces will come off when you flare it and then you are back to naked steel.

The coated line was all the rage here until we were doing it over again 2-3 years later due to pinholes where the covering layer had been molested.



Ray makes a great point regarding the fittings as it is quite possible due to mid-year production changes that a few fittings would be different



The road chemicals here are causing failed inspections on OEM brake lines in some cases at the 3-4 year mark. Used to be 8-10 years when we only used a Salt/Sand mix on the winter roads.



That is why we have switched over to the Copper Nickel line up here in Corrosion County... :-laf

 

[JLEONARD]

The road chemicals here are causing failed inspections on OEM brake lines in some cases at the 3-4 year mark. Used to be 8-10 years when we only used a Salt/Sand mix on the winter roads.

There is also another factor involved.

4 or so years ago all companies manufacturing for automotive (and other industries) started to require materials and coatings to be RoHS compliant.

Basically for this discussion that means all the heavy metals were removed and with it the corrosion protection.

What used to survive a "standard" 96 hour laboratory "salt spray test" now only can survive 12 hours in the chamber.

That number doesn't mean much but bottom line is the current coating protects about 1/8 as long.

 

[mwilson]

The road chemicals here are causing failed inspections on OEM brake lines in some cases at the 3-4 year mark. Used to be 8-10 years when we only used a Salt/Sand mix on the winter roads.

There is also another factor involved.

4 or so years ago all companies manufacturing for automotive (and other industries) started to require materials and coatings to be RoHS compliant.

Basically for this discussion that means all the heavy metals were removed and with it the corrosion protection.

What used to survive a "standard" 96 hour laboratory "salt spray test" now only can survive 12 hours in the chamber.

That number doesn't mean much but bottom line is the current coating protects about 1/8 as long.

Wow, first I had heard of that. No wonder everything is trying to disintegrate underneath these vehicles. :#@$%!

 

[JLEONARD]

No wonder everything is trying to disintegrate underneath these vehicles. :

Yes exactly. When the automotive companies first got on board and demanded the change, they also "demanded" the same test results. Drove suppliers (like us) nuts because it couldn't be done reliably. Took about 3 years for the general test specs to be changed. Even now though, that 12 hour requirement is for a "virgin" part that has never been touched by human hands and get tested with a certain timeframe of being coated/plated.

A "true engineering geek" can find this in ASTM B-633-07. :-laf



And of course what they use on the roads today (magnesium chloride perhaps) prevents freezing to a lower temperature so it stays active longer and rusts better.

We're doomed.

 

[mwilson]

I also believe that any Magnesium Chloride film or coating that remains under the car from the winter road treatment becomes active anytime that it rains or the road is wet.

So it is chewing away at your pride and joy all summer long if you don't neutralize it somehow.

#@$%!#@$%!

 

[JLEONARD]

Good point. The fact that the stuff remains on the road surface despite many rainy days means it won't rinse off the underbody very easily.

 

[DThibault]

Thanks for the help, I will check into the copper nickel line. As far and Circle Track and shipping goes, under the bus they go. I checked for the hell of it and it would cost me $30 to get a tire gauge shipped via the slow boat. That is a trick for electronics business and the advertisements that go with them. I have one company that ships free often and others get 10 to 12 bucks for some little item that can go in a padded envelope. I tried to get a flywheel center bearing from an outfit that advertises here from Montana and that was going to cost me 15 bucks for shipping. No way. I am going to try to source one on the east coast.

 

[DThibault]

While scavenging parts from my California donor truck, D150 gas, I looked at the brake lines. They still look new! They were close enough to snap into the frame of the W350 and look great. I just have to shorten the front end a little to fit the junction box down by the starter. It was a real bonus to pick up that whole truck. I have been all over that thing like a vulture. It was amazing how many similar parts are working out for me. If anyone need some of the buff colored interior parts, most of mine are in good shape.

 

[JClampet]

Any thoughts on how to neutralize the mag chloride??

 

[Ncostello]

All you can do is flush often and use a soapy spray. We've got several 1995 International trucks still in the fleet at the highway department that are used to plow snow. They were kept clean by the drivers over the years. The others that weren't... they've gone to the highways in the sky. Literally eaten beyond repair.



Calcium Chloride is much more corrosive than Magnesium as far as metal is concerned. Mag is cheaper usually... so it gets used more often. We spray liquid calcium on bridges, curves and hills before a snow storm or ice. And all trucks have saddle tanks to mist (pre-wet) the salt coming off the conveyor chain/spinner. This can make the salt about 8 times more effective.



One year... we couldn't get the 2000 tons of salt we needed because of a shortage... so we pretreated sand with liquid calcium choloride and put it in storage. It did halfway decent.



I'd rather save tax dollars and not do so much... but the general (and ignorent) public wants bare pavement at any cost. I've seen people follow right behind the calcium trucks spraying full force even thought the signs say keep back. You know the type... late to work by 5 minutes every single day no matter the weather.



PS: Don't get the pure stuff on nice leather boots. That is if you ever want to get them on again... or you'd like to keep their waterproof feature.

 

[mwilson]

I had a rep in here this winter showing me Krown's line of products. They are based in Ontario.

Stuff looked pretty good, this link is to the neutralizer that they offer.....



http://www.krown.com/industrial/mr-35-salt-eliminator-test.pdf



Corrosion control seems to be the focus of their business, see what you think.



Link to the basic Krown Industrial Website.

Krown Industrial





Mike.

 

[MGaisbacher]

I got my stainless lines from Inline tube they needed some massaging and an extra 1 1/2 piece for the rust ball on the frame they call the abs module or something like that. I think I payed 330 for the kit and shipping was reasonable for what i can remember