flare nut wrenches for brakes lines (?)

[toolstools]

Something I've always wondered and finally going to ask. Why do flare nut wrenches exist? Wouldn't an open end achieve the same thing? Going across the flats would still bust it loose. This must he a trivial question so spare me lol. But honestly, besides to have more tools, who s the difference.

For reference I do have flare wrenches and flare Crows wrenches, and use them in their designed use.

 

[Buckgnarly]

More surface area by wrench equates to less chance of rounding off the fitting. They are not something you can just pound a bolt remover on/torch off/use vice grips/etc. if you ruin them.

 

[Zelatore]

It's pretty obvious the first time you get on a rusty brake line and mangle a fitting and think 'man, I wish I could have used my 6-pt box end on that!'

Basically, it's what BG above said - just a way to get a better grip on something that's often rusty/half-siezed anyway.

 

[toolstools]

Ok. Thanks.

 

[porschedude996TT]

Regular Open End wrench will round off the hex in short order because they are made of pretty soft material. A 12 point box end is a little better but it will do the same, plus you can't get the wrench off. Cutting a slot to mimic a tubing wrench may work, but a real tubing wrench that is 6 point is the best.

 

[Midman914]

X2 what they said. I bought both sets sae and metric 12 years ago, because Michigan is not nice to older cars and I got tired of struggling with out them. One of those if you need them you really need them.

 

[Warrenator]

I would go on to say when you need flare nut wrenches you need heavy stout ones. My El Camino brake lines were so rusty I couldn't get the lines off with whatever crummy flare nut wrenches I had, you could actually see the wrenches open up a little and round off the nut. Bought a set of used Snap-On and they worked fine. One of the few times I ponied up the $$ for Snappy, worth it.

By the way, please always engrave your name on your snap-on wrenches, then when you sell them on ebay I can buy them for half the price of unblemished wrenches. Thank-you.

 

[ddawg16]

Ditto....

The cost of the wrenches is nothing compared to the cost of replacing a line because you rounded the nut.

 

[pipsters]

So, as far as brakes go what I am finding is flare wrenches are good in the sense that they won't flex open. However the problem is they are very short, and the leverage you can put on them is minimal. I find for stuck things I get the flare nut crows foot out and use a long 3/8" ratchet on them - length is about 1.5x to 2x as much as a typical flare wrench.

 

[Professur]

Something I've discovered is that most people overtighten a double flare ... particularly one that's been done with a cheap flaring tool. I had a line done for me at a shop and the edge of the double was razor sharp. Everyone that looked at it was convinced it was a single flare. To get that to seal, you'd need to seriously overtorque it. Some of the lines on that car had already been replaced ... take a guess which ones were over tight and ruined the nuts getting them off ...

The reason for flare wrenches is because most plumbing uses brass instead of steel, and single flares. Brass rounds off very very easily using a steel wrench. A well done, once used double shouldn't need a flare wrench to take apart or install. One that's been cinched up 4 times by a ham fisted grease gorilla ... that's gonna need a flare wrench. Add in rust on steel nuts, and you're in for a bad day.

Investing in a good flaring tool does make all the difference .... I've coughed up for one and the very idea of reusing a brake line today is the furthest from my mind. Once you install it, fill the gap between the nut and line with grease, and apply a light coating over the entire nut to keep it rust free. Or maybe liquid electrical tape or some type of latex dip over it .... keep it from rusting and don't over tighten it and you won't need flare wrenches. ...'cept when working on someone else's car that is.