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Brake line flaring tool

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Revtach

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Sep 24, 2016
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Seems like nobody makes a quality manual brake line flaring tool for under $200.

I bought the Rigid 245 kit and was disappointed. The first few flares worked great but then suddenly the tubing started pushing through the bracket. Shame...it felt like a quality tool.

So before I bite the bullet and buy a $300 professional hydraulic flaring tool set, does anyone have any experience with a cheaper manual one?
 
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jdlong

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I have both the bar style (Lisle) and this Cal Van in line kit. I find myself using the Calvan kit the most. You can also get individual kits for one size tube much cheaper than a master kit. The Calvan kit is more cumbersome to use but I end up with near perfect flares. The clamping pressure of the screws is near direct to the tube. As long as you only cinch the clamp screws when inserting the tube, the clamp aligns itself when you engage the die collar. Only then do I torque down the clamp screws and get near perfect clamp alignment, thus near perfect flares. With the bar style flare tool, it's easy for the clamp to go slightly out of alignment causing a bad flare. I have been told early Calvan kits were reported to have slippage problems but Calvan fixed that I am told. I've never had an issue. What I like about the Calvan kit most is I can flare the tube ends easily after fishing brake line through the vehicle due to the compatness.

https://www.amazon.com/Cal-Van-Tools-165-Non-CARB-Compliant/dp/B00AOTBVJQ
 
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WWheeler

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Showkey

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This has come up multiple times:

Eastwood and Mastercool.........but Mastercool can bust the $200.

+10 on what wheeler said........

A monkey can make perfect flares with the Eastwood !

$190 right now with free shipping.
 
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mfrantz90

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If you have the money buy the master cool kit it will make your life easy


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threewood

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Yuma, AZ
I have been using the OTC 4503 with great success. Used it for brake lines, transmission lines and fuel lines on my 62 Plymouth. Regular steel lines, never tried it with stainless. Also, mine were done with the tool mounted in my vise. Once I got the free end right, perfect double flares and even did some decent bubble flares for fuel line ends to accept rubber hose.
 
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Bcom

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This is a good question. i bought a cheap set once and it worked one time and then the clamp tool bent. Ive always had good luck with the rental ones from Oreillys or Autozone. The brands were OEM and OTC. Both of them worked well
 
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Tony G

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Those hydraulic kits are great I have been using a BluePoint manual type since 1975 and its still going strong. Maybe your tool failed or it might be low quality line material. Some brake tubing just plain ***** to work with.
 
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Jamie V

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ToolmanGary said:
Snow key has is right. I have a Mastercool and have used it for years, it was the best till the Eastwood came out, now I prefer the Eastwood.
Click to expand...



The Eastwood is awesome but it's one downfall is not being able to flare a line on the vehicle like the mastercool can.

If your building a bunch of lines on the bench the Eastwood seems better. But under/on the vehicle the mastercool would be the better choice.
 
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Chevy-SS

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Switch to Nickel/Copper brake lines and your problems are completely solved! The Ni/Cu lines are very durable and also wonderfully easy to bend/flare (using even a cheapo flaring tool). No more steel brake lines for me!
 
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matt01073

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Feb 1, 2013
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western mass
I have the blue point kit for double flaring as well as the bubble flare kit , I am in mass. where brakelines rot on cars less that 3 years old . I use these kits at least several times a week and never had a problem with steel or nicop line unless it was very poor quality line that is not consistent wall thickness and you cant grip it .
 
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theoldwizard1

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Chevy-SS said:
Switch to Nickel/Copper brake lines and your problems are completely solved! The Ni/Cu lines are very durable and also wonderfully easy to bend/flare (using even a cheapo flaring tool). No more steel brake lines for me!
Click to expand...

Yeah, but all the "over achievers" here want the OP to spend a lot of money that has WAY MORE CAPABILITIES than what he requested !

Never used nickle/copper but I here it is "amazing" !
 
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Jamie V

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theoldwizard1 said:
Yeah, but all the "over achievers" here want the OP to spend a lot of money that has WAY MORE CAPABILITIES than what he requested !



Never used nickle/copper but I here it is "amazing" !
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It amazes me that a guy (like me) buys a good tool that does a great job and I'm an over achiever????

It's funny how many of my friends don't call me that when they want to come over and borrow my tools?

There is more than one way of looking at things. I choose to save the money from taking my vehicles to a repair shop and invest in the quality tools to do the job myself. I end up still saving money and then I have a good quality tool to do another job in the future. Some people will just struggle with lesser quality tools, and others will just pay someone else to do their work for them.

If you live anywhere that sees road salt in the winter rusted brake lines are a very common item and a good quality flaring tool is very valuable when replacing them.
 
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mfrantz90

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Jamie V said:
It amazes me that a guy (like me) buys a good tool that does a great job and I'm an over achiever????

It's funny how many of my friends don't call me that when they want to come over and borrow my tools?

There is more than one way of looking at things. I choose to save the money from taking my vehicles to a repair shop and invest in the quality tools to do the job myself. I end up still saving money and then I have a good quality tool to do another job in the future. Some people will just struggle with lesser quality tools, and others will just pay someone else to do their work for them.

If you live anywhere that sees road salt in the winter rusted brake lines are a very common item and a good quality flaring tool is very valuable when replacing them.
Click to expand...



I couldn't have said it better


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theoldwizard1

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Jamie V said:
It amazes me that a guy (like me) buys a good tool that does a great job and I'm an over achiever????

It's funny how many of my friends don't call me that when they want to come over and borrow my tools?
Click to expand...

I am all for buying good quality tools, but tools that I am going to use more than once or twice in my lifetime !

I was working on a friends car and we messed up a brake line. We were going to splice it so we bought a flare kit from NAPA. No go. We had to limp it down the road and have them do it.

So how many time have you and your friends used your MasterCool kit in the past 12 months ?
 
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trackwelder

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n.y
Jamie V said:
It amazes me that a guy (like me) buys a good tool that does a great job and I'm an over achiever????

It's funny how many of my friends don't call me that when they want to come over and borrow my tools?

There is more than one way of looking at things. I choose to save the money from taking my vehicles to a repair shop and invest in the quality tools to do the job myself. I end up still saving money and then I have a good quality tool to do another job in the future. Some people will just struggle with lesser quality tools, and others will just pay someone else to do their work for them.

If you live anywhere that sees road salt in the winter rusted brake lines are a very common item and a good quality flaring tool is very valuable when replacing them.
Click to expand...

I agree on all of your points. Problem is the cheap guys who have never used it will argue to death that it's to much. I asked a few years ago right here on GJ about flaring tools because I struggled with old dinosaur flaring tools. With the valuable user input from this forum I purchased the master cool set and absolutely love it.
 
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Revtach

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Sep 24, 2016
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For anyone who is still interested...

I ended up buying the craftsman flaring tool kit from Sears for $67.99. It doesn't come with a cutter or burring tool so you have to buy those separately. However, the clamp actually holds the tubing very firmly and even after 5 flares there was no slipping at all. If this tool had an automatic self-centering feature like the Rigid tool does, then it would be a winner. Since it does not, some of your flares will end up crooked unless you are very very careful. I have yet to test out my new brakes to see if any of the crooked flares leak but I will report back when I do test it.
 
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skruft

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May 9, 2011
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There is an Imperial tool that will make 37 degree flares in stainless steel tuning and is high quality, but it's very expensive new.
 
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Professur

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I redid a car in steel because nobody carried nicopp in my area. Then one place got it in, at more than 4x the price. I paid happily. How this stuff isn't required by law on all new cars is beyond me. It's standard equipment in Europe.
 
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bob15

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What is wrong with this kit?

KD41860.jpg


Been using it for decades without any issues.....on double flares for brakes and single flare for LPG and air fittings.
 
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Professur

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First, it scars up the pipe under the fitting. Bad enough on plain steel, but when you pay extra for coated only to have it destroyed before it's even on the car ...

Second, speed. I can do easily 10 on the Eastwood before you'll have one done well with that.

Third, repeatability. Sure, with practice, you can knock out matching flares. On the Eastwood, you can't do otherwise. My 9 year old son couldn't screw it up.

4th .. and biggest. Crushing the flare. The biggest single issue with that tool is overtightening. When you look down the barrel of your flare, the ends should be round. Soft. Allowing some spring for the fitting to crush and seal. Maybe you're more skilled, but I've had lines flared for me at a pro shop ... and then end looked like a single flare. Crushed flat and utterly worthless. With the Eastwood .. you can't do it. The tool simply will not do it.

In the hands of a skilled operator with time to do it right, your tool gets the job done. In the hands of someone pressed for time, or less skilled, the Eastwood or Mastercool save time, and waste, by being near idiot-proof.
 
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WWheeler

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bob15 said:
What is wrong with this kit?

KD41860.jpg


Been using it for decades without any issues.....on double flares for brakes and single flare for LPG and air fittings.
Click to expand...

Looks like an otc/kd/gearwrench set which is probably the exact same Craftsman set the OP (Revtach) went with in the end a few posts above yours.

They work ok, but they don't make them like they used to. They used to be made in USA and lasted years even when used by novices, but nowadays they are disposable after not so many uses especially if you don't know how to use it - perpendicular deburred cut tube, proper stickout as measured with the die, clamping pressure is a big thing too. Used to be you just tightened up 'guttenteit' and that worked every time, but now that they aren't 'made in usa' anymore there's a fine line between tight enough and too tight which is what ruins them, not to mention, perhaps most important, they will make better flares and last a lot longer if you always remember to lube it with a couple drops of oil or whatnot. Nowadays they are a disposable with a limited useful life even if you do all everything right.

Or just buy the Eastwood and have one that will work beautifully for years and years.
 
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theoldwizard1

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