Half decent double flaring tool?
Half decent double flaring tool? So I have to flare some brake lines and I picked up a Summit double flaring tool. It looked half decent but, it's the sorriest ******* piece of **** that I've ever seen. It's going back in pieces. With that said, what flaring tools have you guys had good luck with?
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Joined: Aug 2002
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From: Hartsdale, NY
I have an old quality set I've had for 25 years ...not sure who made it but it is OK. I bought a cheapie set from HF that is not good, however...
These guys have several different flaring tools from differnt manufacturiers:
http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/
...buy a exensive one and hope for the best.
These guys have several different flaring tools from differnt manufacturiers:
http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/
...buy a exensive one and hope for the best.
I ended up going to home depot and grabbing a a Rigid flaring tool since the clamping bar is alittle nicer. Along with the Summit dies it works pretty well, no leaks so far.
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yeah, it's all in the dies. If that doesn't work out for you I'll go out to the garage and remind myself which dies I have. I basically just bought a decent clamp and a really nice set of dies.
Make sure you smooth all the burs before you flare. ;o)
-Rob
Make sure you smooth all the burs before you flare. ;o)
-Rob
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We sell double flare tools with our line lock and ABS delete kits...we also sell them seperatly for anyone for 25.00 shipped.
We tig weld a new bolt part-way down the flaring bar to decrease deformaton in the flaring bar. The flaring bar itself it typically what deforms while flaring making the tube slip as you flare it. The less expensive units (<50.00) are pretty much all the same.
The only way you can get a quality kit is if you spend quite a bit of money. Typically you do get what you pay for. These are things like what we use...but we use them everyday...the cost and function warrants itself.
We tig weld a new bolt part-way down the flaring bar to decrease deformaton in the flaring bar. The flaring bar itself it typically what deforms while flaring making the tube slip as you flare it. The less expensive units (<50.00) are pretty much all the same.
The only way you can get a quality kit is if you spend quite a bit of money. Typically you do get what you pay for. These are things like what we use...but we use them everyday...the cost and function warrants itself.
Last edited by steve10; Sep 21, 2005 at 09:08 PM.
I just went through this with a cheap flaring tool I have. They all look the same to me so I am reluctant to spend a lot and still have a piece of crap. I managed to double flare some brake lines on one of my cars on Saturday when a line corroded apart but there is no way I could ever get the thing to flare anything bigger than 3/16" line. I tried 1/4" for fun and all it would do is mangle it. Is there a URL for this Sikes Pickavant brand?
Last edited by BJM; Sep 21, 2005 at 08:58 PM.
They all are pretty much the same...at least the inexpensive ones.
Minor differences...i've looked into a variety of them for customers and came up with what I described above as they all had their shortcomings... the modification we made makes them work much better. The problem is the clamping force needed for the tubing with the standard setups allows the tube to slip. By modifing them the force applied is moved closer to the tubing...this lowers the deflection of the flaring bar increasing the pressure on the tubing.. We would be happy to sell higher end models though truthfully, the ones we have and how they are modified works rather well.
They are nothing you'd want to use as an everday tool, but most certainly does the job and lasts quite a long time. Most folks do not want to spend 75+ for a tool they will use once in a blue moon.
Minor differences...i've looked into a variety of them for customers and came up with what I described above as they all had their shortcomings... the modification we made makes them work much better. The problem is the clamping force needed for the tubing with the standard setups allows the tube to slip. By modifing them the force applied is moved closer to the tubing...this lowers the deflection of the flaring bar increasing the pressure on the tubing.. We would be happy to sell higher end models though truthfully, the ones we have and how they are modified works rather well.
They are nothing you'd want to use as an everday tool, but most certainly does the job and lasts quite a long time. Most folks do not want to spend 75+ for a tool they will use once in a blue moon.
Originally Posted by steve10
They all are pretty much the same...at least the inexpensive ones.
Minor differences...i've looked into a variety of them for customers and came up with what I described above as they all had their shortcomings... the modification we made makes them work much better. The problem is the clamping force needed for the tubing with the standard setups allows the tube to slip. By modifing them the force applied is moved closer to the tubing...this lowers the deflection of the flaring bar increasing the pressure on the tubing.. We would be happy to sell higher end models though truthfully, the ones we have and how they are modified works rather well.
They are nothing you'd want to use as an everday tool, but most certainly does the job and lasts quite a long time. Most folks do not want to spend 75+ for a tool they will use once in a blue moon.
Minor differences...i've looked into a variety of them for customers and came up with what I described above as they all had their shortcomings... the modification we made makes them work much better. The problem is the clamping force needed for the tubing with the standard setups allows the tube to slip. By modifing them the force applied is moved closer to the tubing...this lowers the deflection of the flaring bar increasing the pressure on the tubing.. We would be happy to sell higher end models though truthfully, the ones we have and how they are modified works rather well.
They are nothing you'd want to use as an everday tool, but most certainly does the job and lasts quite a long time. Most folks do not want to spend 75+ for a tool they will use once in a blue moon.
Shep
edukatek12@aol.com
[QUOTE=shep28]How can I get one of these modified flaring tools that you speak of?QUOTE]
Shep,
We sell them with our ABS delete kits. We do sell them separatly if you need one. They are available for purchase though our online ordering on our website under the braking section.
A tip for you is if you already attempted to flare the tube, if it slips, more then likely the best thing to do is just cut off 1/2 inch were it was compressed. Once the tube has compressed, you'll more then likely never have sucess on that tube since it's already reduced in diameter.
Steve
Shep,
We sell them with our ABS delete kits. We do sell them separatly if you need one. They are available for purchase though our online ordering on our website under the braking section.
A tip for you is if you already attempted to flare the tube, if it slips, more then likely the best thing to do is just cut off 1/2 inch were it was compressed. Once the tube has compressed, you'll more then likely never have sucess on that tube since it's already reduced in diameter.
Steve
