So I'm redoing hard brake line on GM14 bolt. Copper/nickel is easy to bend and flare. Stainless harder to bend and I'll probably take it to a hydraulic shop to flare. I won't be Rock crawling but going through a lot of brush, grass, trees etc. Some mud and rocks but not big rocks. Anyone used the copper/nickel? How did it stand up to the elements? How long have you had them? What about the stainless? Thanks gang!
CK5
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Hard brake line, copper/nickel vs stainless
- Thread starter PHC CK5
- Start date
only steel is dot legal, if you use copper it will not pass any mechanical inspection. I think nickle tubing would be spendy ( do they make it?)
Steel tubing is not the difficult to flair when get the tube in the correct position flair tool vise, put the flair tool vise in bench vise to aid clamping force. Get so extra tubing cut in 1.5" length and do some practice flairs. Brake line must be double flared. If you have the tool you should try it. If not buying tool may be less than paying to have done. steel tube comes pre flared with flair nuts in different lengths you may be able buy it and make it fit w/o having to cut and flair
Steel tubing is not the difficult to flair when get the tube in the correct position flair tool vise, put the flair tool vise in bench vise to aid clamping force. Get so extra tubing cut in 1.5" length and do some practice flairs. Brake line must be double flared. If you have the tool you should try it. If not buying tool may be less than paying to have done. steel tube comes pre flared with flair nuts in different lengths you may be able buy it and make it fit w/o having to cut and flair
Ni-copp brake line is a Copper, Nickel, Iron alloy. It is in wide use on European cars. Porsche, Volvo and others. Regular steel brake lines, I think are rated to 17,900 PSI if I'm not mistaken. Ni-Copp is rated to 17,000. Ni-Copp is DOT approved.
JEGS NiCopp Brake Lines are a seamless copper nickel alloy tubing DOT approved for hydraulic brake systems. They are strong as steel, rust proof and easier to work with than any brake line on the market. ... Since it is flexible, this allows it to be easily snaked into positions that conventional brake lines cannot.
JEGS NiCopp Brake Lines are a seamless copper nickel alloy tubing DOT approved for hydraulic brake systems. They are strong as steel, rust proof and easier to work with than any brake line on the market. ... Since it is flexible, this allows it to be easily snaked into positions that conventional brake lines cannot.
Ni-copp does ring a bell now that I see Ni-copp. I read op as copper or nickle tubing. I believe the brake line I used on my Manx type buggy was ni-copp. German, I had to bubble flair it for several lines easy to work with. thanks for clearing that up.
Ned Kelly
1/2 ton status
Stainless brake line is not fun to work with. I would not bother with it.
Regular steel line is pretty good (the only place I use that is on the exposed area on the rear axle tube as it is more dent resistant than the copper/nickel line).
The Copper Nickel lines are nice tow work with and hold up very well, and I've used that on the remainder of the vehicle.
Regular steel line is pretty good (the only place I use that is on the exposed area on the rear axle tube as it is more dent resistant than the copper/nickel line).
The Copper Nickel lines are nice tow work with and hold up very well, and I've used that on the remainder of the vehicle.
Brake lines up here are lucky to last a few years if the vehicle gets driven after November..
OEM steel lines seem to last up to 15 years often,but the parts store "pre flared" ones that are just galvanized often fail rapidly--the steel tubing in 25 foot coils is thicker ,some have a green or black coating that supposedly wards off rust,but it too will fail after 5 years quite often..
The copper-nickel stuff has been used overseas for decades and they called it "Terne"..it is very easy to flare compared to steel ,lasts much longer (I've yet to see one fail from corrosion yet),and it only costs about $10-$15 more than the regular coated steel tubing in coils..
My friend replaces dozens of brake lines every month,and he mostly uses the copper-nickel stuff if the customer doesn't object to the slightly higher cost..he's worn out a few dozen flaring tools,including a very costly hydraulic one,flaring steel tubing,they don't last very long,the copper-nickel is much easier to flare and doesn't put as much of a strain on the tool..
His only complaint about the copper-nickel stuff is if the line ever needs to be unscrewed later,like to replace a wheel cylinder or brake hose,it tends to not want to unscrew--being softer,once it gets torqued down it expands inside the line nut,and wont spin,it'll just twist up into a spiral and break off--leaving an extra inch or so "slack" so you can simply cut off the line and have enough left to re-flare another line nut on it takes care of that problem..
I've not used the copper-nickel line myself yet,but wish I had,because I replaced every brake line in my 82 GMC in 2012 and many of them look ready to pop in spots already..but I still have a few 25 foot rolls of the coated steel line,I didn't think my truck would be around this long,or still running..
OEM steel lines seem to last up to 15 years often,but the parts store "pre flared" ones that are just galvanized often fail rapidly--the steel tubing in 25 foot coils is thicker ,some have a green or black coating that supposedly wards off rust,but it too will fail after 5 years quite often..
The copper-nickel stuff has been used overseas for decades and they called it "Terne"..it is very easy to flare compared to steel ,lasts much longer (I've yet to see one fail from corrosion yet),and it only costs about $10-$15 more than the regular coated steel tubing in coils..
My friend replaces dozens of brake lines every month,and he mostly uses the copper-nickel stuff if the customer doesn't object to the slightly higher cost..he's worn out a few dozen flaring tools,including a very costly hydraulic one,flaring steel tubing,they don't last very long,the copper-nickel is much easier to flare and doesn't put as much of a strain on the tool..
His only complaint about the copper-nickel stuff is if the line ever needs to be unscrewed later,like to replace a wheel cylinder or brake hose,it tends to not want to unscrew--being softer,once it gets torqued down it expands inside the line nut,and wont spin,it'll just twist up into a spiral and break off--leaving an extra inch or so "slack" so you can simply cut off the line and have enough left to re-flare another line nut on it takes care of that problem..
I've not used the copper-nickel line myself yet,but wish I had,because I replaced every brake line in my 82 GMC in 2012 and many of them look ready to pop in spots already..but I still have a few 25 foot rolls of the coated steel line,I didn't think my truck would be around this long,or still running..
Did every line in my ‘68 with the copper stuff.
Went easy, bent smooth, and didn’t seem to show any drawbacks.
It is a street truck however in CA, so it wouldn’t know about the problems y’all are talking about.
Had about 4K miles on it when I sold it. IIRC
Went easy, bent smooth, and didn’t seem to show any drawbacks.
It is a street truck however in CA, so it wouldn’t know about the problems y’all are talking about.
Had about 4K miles on it when I sold it. IIRC
He’s in Hawaii, it’s not much different. I ran steel tubing (summit racing branded) on my truck for both fuel and brake lines. No issues flaring and it has some sort of coating which is sufficient for this area against corrosion.
Thanks for the tips, good point on the flare getting torqued
So before I found out about copper/nickel line I got this hard brake line from Napa that's easy to bend with a coating in it. When I seen the old line, it was the same. So that's when I was looking into stainless and sales guy told me about copper/nickel at Hydra Air. Getting my stainless brake hose made by them. Was gonna purchase from ORD but shipping was crazy to Hawaii
I went down the MAW spiral equipping my workshop to build with stainless tubing just before my move from NH to TX.
Stainless is beautiful, durable and hard to work with so being a glutton for punishment that’s what I chose.
:
Spent a fortune on hydraulic flaring tools and a tubing straightener. It’s hard to find long lengths of straight stainless, but it’s easy to find rolls of annealed stainless and it’s cheaper too.
Also bought the Kuhl Tools polishing stones for the flares to insure they’d be leak-free... nothing worse than a leaking fitting that you’ve spent so much time on. (From what I’ve read)
-G
Stainless is beautiful, durable and hard to work with so being a glutton for punishment that’s what I chose.
:Spent a fortune on hydraulic flaring tools and a tubing straightener. It’s hard to find long lengths of straight stainless, but it’s easy to find rolls of annealed stainless and it’s cheaper too.
Also bought the Kuhl Tools polishing stones for the flares to insure they’d be leak-free... nothing worse than a leaking fitting that you’ve spent so much time on. (From what I’ve read)
-G
I used Inline Tube and ordered all CNC bent and flared lines for my Blazer.
Stainless takes a lot of force to get to seat. Make sure you have some good line wrenches.
I had one line that was a little stubborn at the prop valve...other than that no issues and no leaks. Looks pretty, lasts forever, not the cheapest option but at the time I felt it was well worth it. At the very least it was a decent selling feature and contributed to me getting a really good price for my Blazer when I needed to sell it.
I tried finding a pre-bent SS kit that fit my C10. After InLine Tube, whoever CPP uses, and LMC or ClassicIndustries (I don’t remember) all failed to fit right... is when I went the copper tubing route and did my own.
Now that I think about it, just the front section and front part of the rear is copper. I used a straight piece of SS on the frame and found a decent axle piece (still had to bend it by hand some)
Now that I think about it, just the front section and front part of the rear is copper. I used a straight piece of SS on the frame and found a decent axle piece (still had to bend it by hand some)
I chose this one....
Coiled to Straight Tubing Tool For Brake & Fuel Line Tube Straightener Flaring (C-1-1)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YQ4AEHA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Z14xCbS2PQKV3
I liked that the wheels are all in double-shear and won’t deflect under loading. Still in box though so I can’t provide any 1st hand experience about its performance.
-G
for my cwazy builds, I run stainless... I've got the Mastercool flarer, so not a huge deal..
but I run the ni-cop on basic rigs that i just skoot around in, like blackie my 91... just easier/cheaper to deal with...
but I run the ni-cop on basic rigs that i just skoot around in, like blackie my 91... just easier/cheaper to deal with...
The inline tube stuff shows up in a box considerably shorter than a Blazer, you have to uncurl most of the pieces. The first one I did I was terrified I was going to kink it. It's a lot tougher than I thought and using the technique they showed in the destructions they were able to be straightened without too much fuss without any tools.
Wouldn’t be the first time I “over thought” my build process and the tools / processes that would be needed...
If nothing else, it does feel nice adding a new, quality tool to the workshop
-G
