Copper Brake Lines Or...

[Tommer 0]

hi all,

 

swapping the rear beam over from old car to new, I had to cut the copper brake line that runs down the trailing arm as the unions were un-doable.

 

my question is twofold...

 

firstly, is it best to replace these copper lines *(yes both sides) with copper and if so, where is a good place to order such things? the local peugeot garage near me said they can't do it without the original unions as they can't get hold of them anymore.

 

and secondly, if not with copper, what should i replace them with?

 

cheers all

Edited April 30, 2010 by Tommer

[backroadpug 12]

just buy a roll of 3 16th copper pipe 30 buck for 5 meters and you will need a stepped male end and a large full treaded male end both option 1 flares. sure if you asked a smaller garage to flare them they would for nothing

[AndyJ 1]

I've just done all my lines in copper last week due to MOT... only hard part is finding a flaring tool, however most garages will make up the pipes for you for not much money if you take the old ones along.

 

Got the copper pipe from Unipart (£7.57 for 24ft of 3/16"), and the flaring kit from my local motor factors (40-odd quid - still cheaper than getting someone else to do it).

[shalmaneser 26]

all the bits are available from a motor factors. You can get a flairing tool from machine mart although it's a bit fiddly it does a good job in my experience.

 

10m of tubing is about a tenner, the ends are about 50p each and the flaring tool is £20 from memory.

[Toddy 7]

I use Copper-Nickel, more strength than plain copper

[Anthony 1,003]

As said, copper is fine and the stuff I did on my car has been fine for years. Unions are a standard male 10x1 that you can get from any motorfactor for pennies.

 

If you get really stuck (and have some form of alternative transport) I'm in Swindon and can make you some pipes up, but I'm sure you can find someone local who'll do it for you if you don't want to buy the flairing tool etc.

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

I use Copper-Nickel, more strength than plain copper

I think this is what most places supply for brake pipes anyway, not just plain copper.

 

As said, the hardest part is the flaring tool but the pipe is usually under £10 & union (m10) between 10p & 50p each depending on where you are.

 

Graham.

[flipperthebushkangaroo 2]

Another daft question from Roddie.

 

How do you bend the pipe? is there a good tool for the job that anyone would recomend?

[Anthony 1,003]

Copper pipe you can very easily bend and shape by hand without kinking or stressing it

[SurGie 54]

A pipe bender or carefully do it your self so you dont break the pipe, i did my fuel pipes by hand and only bent them the once to it wont crease too much.

[BusEngineer 7]

A pipe bender or carefully do it your self so you dont break the pipe, i did my fuel pipes by hand and only bent them the once to it wont crease too much.

 

 

Agreed, brake pipe bends really quite easily just go steady so as not to kink it, MOT man wont like kinks!

 

I found my knee to be a perfectly ample pipe bender for my fuel pipes even though i own a perfectly good snap on pipe bender much quicker when your rolling round under the car!

[Tommer 0]

I bit the bullet and bought a flaring tool, mini pipe bender (hehe), 25ft of pipe and a load of ends on ebay. brake line me up!

[Joe-Tait 0]

Think i will have a go at making some up over the weekend

 

Cheers for the advice people

[Batfink 201]

As long as you use new ends and new copper lines its very easy to do.

[Guest WillieCarr]

A pipe bender or carefully do it your self so you dont break the pipe, i did my fuel pipes by hand and only bent them the once to it wont crease too much.

 

Ive just been reading through this forum for info to do my own brake lines and i had an idea.

If you are so bothered about not creasing/ stressing your new lines you could find a 12 inch peice of rubber pipe that has quite thick sides and slides over your brake lines, with a little bit of space to spare. If you were to bend the brake lines inside this rubber pipe they would run smoother, and the bends would be more circular instead of possible kinks.

Just an idea, see if it works.