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metal brake line? where to get right length?

cjben

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Illinois
I need a new brake line for my 92 jeep cherokee. the metal one from the rear passenger's side wheel cylinder to the junction block on the driver's side of the axle. I bought one 40 inches long from the parts store,thinking it would be long enough. well,it is about 4 inches short,i found out after I already bent it up and can't take it back. the next size up is 51" and that is way to long. what can I do to get about 44"? they have an 8" section,and i guess i could use a adapter to join it to the 40" section,but i am really trying to avoid making more places where it could leak and i would have to loop it around or something to get rid of the excess,and i really don't want to do that. thanks for any ideas!!
 
or just coil one that is to long, with a tube bender, to the length you need. or you could buy a double flare tool?
 
buy a longer piece than needed that has double flare on both ends. brake line is very cheap. maybe $5 for a 48" piece, if that.

bend to the length you need and cut off one end. take back to auto parts store or even a repair station and have them put the double flare on cut end. make sure you have the correct fitting on it. double flare tool is about $50 if you want to buy and do yourself. if it your first time with the double flare tool; practice, practic, practice.............
 
I used a 'pocket sized' can of WD40 I had laying around to make a couple loops in the too long piece. Failing that, how about the 36mm socket you have laying around for removing front DS nuts?:D
 
89xj said:
buy a longer piece than needed that has double flare on both ends. brake line is very cheap. maybe $5 for a 48" piece, if that.

bend to the length you need and cut off one end. take back to auto parts store or even a repair station and have them put the double flare on cut end. make sure you have the correct fitting on it. double flare tool is about $50 if you want to buy and do yourself. if it your first time with the double flare tool; practice, practic, practice.............

As stated above, purchase the longer piece. Then go to Autozone and rent a brakeline flaring tool kit (double flare not metric bubble flare). Then practice on the old line that was too short. Then bend and flare.
 
89xj said:
double flare tool is about $50 if you want to buy and do yourself. if it your first time with the double flare tool; practice, practic, practice.............

You can get a decent double flare tool for about half that, I got mine at NAPA for around $28. If you only have one flare to make, it's still not worth it.
 
Once you get it fixed buy yourself some tubing and as the man said....practice...practice...practice. Get a decent flaring tool and bender, nothing to elaborate but not junk either.
If you are replacing one line you can be sure you will be replacing more. I replaced ALL my brake lines at a fraction of the cost of buying pre-made lines or vehicle specific lines by buying a roll of 3/16" line and some tube nuts. Flared and bent everything my self, and even though I have been doing this sort of thing for many, many years and many, many times I still had a couple flares that were "iffy", NP...if you have a 25' roll of line( paid $15 for it) just re-make the flare.
You'll get a real sense of accomplishment when you can replace all the steel lines on your rig. Of course if you do this and the brakes fail and you drive through your house...well don't blame me...what the hell do I know...I'm old......LOL
Good luck.
 
By the way, adding to the above, I would not worry about the connectors leaking. If the flares are good, those brass blocks are fine, and if you have a few of them in your long lines, you'll be able to replace pieces very easily later.
 
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