HI all,

After a couple of brake line leaks it appears I have found a LPT for sealing up brake lines, specifically if you are patching a line.

Replaced a couple and was fine, needed to just patch a line due to location.

For the life of me I couldn't get my DIY double flare on old line to seal, cut and re-flared a couple of times but still no seal

I ended up grabbing "finishing washers", they are made of stainless (wont help), brass or nickel; $1.00 for 5 of them.
Available any any local hardware store.
Trimmed down to fit with scissors and filed edges so it literally screwed into brass union connector.

10mins later, the connector that wouldn't seal no matter what I did, was sealed up perfectly!

The brass or nickel is soft enough to press into and seal any and all minor flaws a diy double flare might have!
Literally a "perfect" flare connection that just slips in

 

Hey, if it works it works. That's a pretty clever idea. I wouldn't trust it myself. Im sure with my luck I'd end up in a ditch lol.

Those screw-type diy flaring tools don't work. I don't understand why they even sell them. The die material is too thin and too soft, so after the first flare(if it even makes one) all of the teeth get stripped, bricking the tool. Whenever doing brake flares, always use a high-quality tool with large, hardened dies. I highly recommend the hydraulic master cool one if you're doing the whole car. If you are doing just a few, these amazon titan ones work fantastic for $40/each they have hardened dies.

1/4"-
3/16"(for the rear axle line)-

You also need to make sure you're cutting the line perfectly using a tool like this... It even has a grove for cutting off old flares without cutting off too much of the line and only the flare.

Lastly. Get a set of flare nut wrenches. You simply can't tighten the fitting enough with an open-ended wrench.

 

Thanks for sharing,

Neal