akitagandy
Member
Is there a good diagram on brake system and what size lines and where to use what
brake lines
- Thread starter akitagandy
- Start date
rooster57
Member
i posted a lot of brake stuff a month or so ago also speedway has a couple of good diagrams just have to get in there and search for um. i looked and i have removed them i will post them again if you need um or email me and i will send them to ya. Rooster57@cox.net
EX JUNK
Moderator
Michael, check out this link: Brake Line Kit Plumbing Diagram
You can also look closely at the chassis pictures that I sent you and see how I did mine. I bought everything at Speedway. I also used all 3/16" stainless tubing and AN fittings. The best advice that I can give you is to invest in a Speedway catalog.
Jim
You can also look closely at the chassis pictures that I sent you and see how I did mine. I bought everything at Speedway. I also used all 3/16" stainless tubing and AN fittings. The best advice that I can give you is to invest in a Speedway catalog.
Jim
rooster57
Member
This may help as well. I found this as i went and spent. AN fittings are a 37 deg flair a special flairing tool is required. Some guys dont use the alum AN fittings with steel line some guys will use the 37 deg fittings and flair 45 and they seal no problem. But not the other way i dont think so so i bought the 37 deg flair tool. The blue AN fittings are not real expensive but are twice the price of 3/16 fittings at napa. The guys at the local hotrod shop buy all brass fittings 45 deg flair everything and it looks great. The AN (army-navy) fittings look better if they are exposed. The sizes run in 1/16 inch So AN 3 is 3/16 AN 4 is 4/16 or 1/4 inch and so on. If you dont have the tools to double flair DONT its a pain in the A$$. Napa has a great selection of straight hardlines in all dif lengths so use the fitting on one end bend,cut Flair and SHAZAM Yesterday you couldnt even Spell brake-tech now u is one.
EX JUNK
Moderator
On my '37 I used the same thing, Al, but I said NEVER again. As you said, it is a real pain doing it that way. The making of the double flare is the real problem even with the "softer" stainless tubing and I would NEVER suggest using a single 45 degree flare on a brake system. That is why I used all stainless AN fittings with the stainless line on the T. Sure, it cost more to do it that way but it is the RIGHT way to do it if you want it to look great and work great forever and still be easy to do.
Jim
Jim
blownt
Member
SS lines are really made for AN 37 deg flare fittings and it is a single flare. Double flaring SS is a major pain and to do it without splitting is a real trick. I got rid of all my 1/4" SS lines and AN fittings last year when I was having brake problems. Went with 3/16" plain ol brake line from O Rielly and 45 deg double flare and brass fittings. Much easier to work with. Turned out my problem was not the lines but now I have a tighter pedal (more force, less volume).
rooster57
Member
That is my understanding the double flair is to keep the line from stress cracking. I think the 37 deg has more surface area and the SS line is less prone to split than steel line and doesn't need DF.BlownT are you saying the additional volume in the 1/4 line was a problem?? I would think once the line is full the dif between 3/16 and 1/4 would be so small volume wise it wouldn't be noticed. Did you change the Master Cyl bore size with the 3/16?????Hum
Ted Brown
Member
The main reason to use 1/4" line is that it is much stronger, wall wise, to rocks etc. But 3/16" line has been in use for many years without any real problems, will out live ME and probably YOU too... why spend good money on something like that? why not on something that will make your ride either look better or ride better? Who really wants to look at brake lines?? Not Me... Paint them BLACK... hideum...
donsrods
Member
What we do is we run to the auto parts store and buy a handful of various length premade brake lines, and cut those up to get the exact size we need to fit the car. We join the cuts together with small pieces of rubber tubing, and bend the lines to the final shape we want. Then we are able to take those mock up pieces back off the car and measure very carefully so we can order custom made stainless ones from one of the people in the industry who will custom make them. You can get whatever ends you need installed from them, and the lines are professionally flared.
We save the mock up ones so we can duplicate the bends in the stainless ones when they arrive.......saves a lot of work that way. It might cost $ 20-30.00 in steel lines that you eventually toss in the garbage can , but you get a really nice fit this way.
Don
Don
We save the mock up ones so we can duplicate the bends in the stainless ones when they arrive.......saves a lot of work that way. It might cost $ 20-30.00 in steel lines that you eventually toss in the garbage can , but you get a really nice fit this way.
Don
Don
blownt
Member
both 1/4" and 3/16" will work with not much difference between them. I used 1/4" SS in the first place because a friend of mine that works at the airport gave me a big ol roll free. It was not annealled tubing and was tuff to work with. I had a 68 Mustang mc with a 1" bore. My brakes were never great but they worked. Then about 2 years ago I was driving to a show and by the time I got there I had NO BRAKES. I had always wanted to try a Vega mc with a 3/4" bore and figured I would get a better pedal. Bought a vega mc and still had no brakes. To make a LONG story short, after a year of messing with them friggin brakes I ended up with 3/16" lines and fittings, a new Mustang cylinder and a new way to bench bleed the mc and have GREAT brakes and can bleed the entire system in about 15 minutes compared to yellin, b*tchin, and throwin tools for 4 hours and still not have a decent pedal.
To answer your question, according to several artiles I have read, 1/4" will flow more volume while 3/16" applies more force with the smaller tubing area. With disc brake calipers you do not need the volume of fluid you do with drum brakes.
To answer your question, according to several artiles I have read, 1/4" will flow more volume while 3/16" applies more force with the smaller tubing area. With disc brake calipers you do not need the volume of fluid you do with drum brakes.
Wild Mango
Member
Both steel ("bundy") and stainless brake tubing work harden. Don't use one of those dandy little tubing cutters that ring the tube with a little wheel, they produce a hard ring on the tube end. Cut it with a mini hacksaw or cut wheel and dress it back a tad with a fine file.
Go to your local gun shop and get a tube of case resizing lube, it is an extreme pressure metal forming lubricant. Use it to lube the tubing and the tool where you are flaring it. The difference it makes is dramatic. You can also use case lube on the connections to help everything "marry" together without excessive pressure, and on your bender dies. The stuff is water soluble and wipes off with a damp cloth.
Go to your local gun shop and get a tube of case resizing lube, it is an extreme pressure metal forming lubricant. Use it to lube the tubing and the tool where you are flaring it. The difference it makes is dramatic. You can also use case lube on the connections to help everything "marry" together without excessive pressure, and on your bender dies. The stuff is water soluble and wipes off with a damp cloth.
GAB
Member
The idea that the volume of brake fluid is influenced by the size of the brake line is not relevant as far as I'm concerned. I sat down and did the math one time for a brake system that used GM intermediate calipers and drum rears and the results were interesting. The volume of fluid moved in a brake application was approximately one third of one cubic inch. That is about the size of a Starburst candy piece...or for us older guys, a Walnetto candy. 
The piston area of a 7/8" master cylinder is about .601 sq.". To move .33 cu." of fluid would require .55" of travel on the master cylinder plunger and with a pedal ratio of 6 to 1, the pedal needs to travel 3.3". Based on this, it would seem that I was pretty liberal in the travels for the caliper pistons and the wheel cylinder travels in making my calculations.
I'll see if I can get away with this over here. Fat Pat don't like mixing mathematics with his brake systems
The piston area of a 7/8" master cylinder is about .601 sq.". To move .33 cu." of fluid would require .55" of travel on the master cylinder plunger and with a pedal ratio of 6 to 1, the pedal needs to travel 3.3". Based on this, it would seem that I was pretty liberal in the travels for the caliper pistons and the wheel cylinder travels in making my calculations.
I'll see if I can get away with this over here. Fat Pat don't like mixing mathematics with his brake systems
just for fun
New Member
Working in a aircraft Hyd. Shop made brake lines a breeze. Back half of the system is 1/4 inch tubing from NAPA. took a couple of brass fitting over to the machine shop and recut them to 37 degrees. Same for the front except I used 3/16 lines (put Volvo disks up front) All flex lines are teflon lined steel braided hose. This is the high pressure stuff and not the rubber lined steel braided hose that is sold by most suppliers. If you do use the rubber hose I would think you might consider using DOT 5 brake fluid.
