Dadillac Posted August 15, 2007 Report Share Posted August 15, 2007 Recently I needed to replace my driver side parking brake cable. While replacing it, I noticed that the rearmost driver side brake tubing is quite rusted. I want to replace it before it fails. But nowhere can I find any info on the size of the tubing. To anyone who knows, is it 1/4" or 5/16"? Metric or standard? Double flare or bubble flare? Any info will be a tremendous help. Don "Modern warriors saddle iron horses of chrome." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jschunke Posted August 15, 2007 Report Share Posted August 15, 2007 A '94 seville uses 5/16" bubble flare. Don't bother going to the dealer for brake lines. Your local parts store is best bet, although I'm not sure they carry stainless steel lines. You may have to go to summitracing or some other outfit to get stainless lines, then flare them yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadillac Posted August 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2007 The last time I bought brake tubing was probably 20 years ago. But if memory serves me well, doesn't the new line come with pre flared ends on both sides? If I get a bubble flared line, do I double flare my existing line to match up to the bubble? Or do I cut off one end of the new line, and double flare it, and use a union? I am confused Don "Modern warriors saddle iron horses of chrome." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigCat83 Posted August 16, 2007 Report Share Posted August 16, 2007 They are bubble flairs - get a bubble flare kit from Eastwood, it's a decent tool kit and does the job right. I recently replaced a section of the right rear brake line on my son's '97 Eldo. PIA job - no room to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadillac Posted August 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2007 I think I got it figured out. I am almost certain that it is 3/16" tubing. I bought two lengths today, one with metric threads, one with standard. I cut up the standard thread one, and practiced flaring it. I am almost certain that I need the metric one for the car, but if not, a standard one is only $5. I will cut the old rusty line, and do a double flare on it. I will also cut the end of the new line, and install a stabdard thread fitting, and do a double flare. Use a union between them, and I should be golden. It doesn't seem too difficult to do. Just tight working quarters, working on my back. Hoping for no leaks. Don "Modern warriors saddle iron horses of chrome." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted August 16, 2007 Report Share Posted August 16, 2007 I think I got it figured out. I am almost certain that it is 3/16" tubing. I bought two lengths today, one with metric threads, one with standard. I cut up the standard thread one, and practiced flaring it. I am almost certain that I need the metric one for the car, but if not, a standard one is only $5. I will cut the old rusty line, and do a double flare on it. I will also cut the end of the new line, and install a stabdard thread fitting, and do a double flare. Use a union between them, and I should be golden. It doesn't seem too difficult to do. Just tight working quarters, working on my back. Hoping for no leaks. Don The lines are 5mm (3/16") and have the ISO flare (Bubble Flare). You can't use a traditional double flare where a bubble flare is called out or the connection will leak. Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadillac Posted August 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2007 I think I got it figured out. I am almost certain that it is 3/16" tubing. I bought two lengths today, one with metric threads, one with standard. I cut up the standard thread one, and practiced flaring it. I am almost certain that I need the metric one for the car, but if not, a standard one is only $5. I will cut the old rusty line, and do a double flare on it. I will also cut the end of the new line, and install a stabdard thread fitting, and do a double flare. Use a union between them, and I should be golden. It doesn't seem too difficult to do. Just tight working quarters, working on my back. Hoping for no leaks. Don The lines are 5mm (3/16") and have the ISO flare (Bubble Flare). You can't use a traditional double flare where a bubble flare is called out or the connection will leak. I am going to use the bubble flare where it connects to the rubber hose at the caliper. I will double flare the other ends as I could only find a union that accepts double flaring. Remember that I am not replacing the entire line, only a section. So double flares to connect the old and new lines will be fine. Don "Modern warriors saddle iron horses of chrome." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadillac Posted August 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2007 Well it is done besides cleaning up. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I removed the old line easily. Bent up the new line easily. Flared the ends easily. SOB leaked at the union. Go to auto store and buy a compression fitting. No leaks. Time to bleed. Dam bleeder screw frozen in caliper. Two hours later bleeder is out, off to auto store. Major thunderstorms in NJ today. Took two hours to return from auto store. Everything back together, brakes bleed, time to test drive. Brakes work beautifully, but, there is now an annoying squeak. Took tire off, caliper off, found nothing. Put back together, still squeaks. Screw it, whatever it is will clearance itself. Clean up is tomorrow. Don "Modern warriors saddle iron horses of chrome." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC Posted August 18, 2007 Report Share Posted August 18, 2007 Well it is done besides cleaning up. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I removed the old line easily. Bent up the new line easily. Flared the ends easily. SOB leaked at the union. Go to auto store and buy a compression fitting. No leaks. Time to bleed. Dam bleeder screw frozen in caliper. Two hours later bleeder is out, off to auto store. Major thunderstorms in NJ today. Took two hours to return from auto store. Everything back together, brakes bleed, time to test drive. Brakes work beautifully, but, there is now an annoying squeak. Took tire off, caliper off, found nothing. Put back together, still squeaks. Screw it, whatever it is will clearance itself. Clean up is tomorrow. Don Thanks...Now I know not to replace brake lines. As long as all is well as far as stopping. Oh...I was caught in the storm...I was getting worried when I saw the hail getting bigger and bigger as it was hitting my car. Luckily all is OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadillac Posted August 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2007 Well it is done besides cleaning up. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I removed the old line easily. Bent up the new line easily. Flared the ends easily. SOB leaked at the union. Go to auto store and buy a compression fitting. No leaks. Time to bleed. Dam bleeder screw frozen in caliper. Two hours later bleeder is out, off to auto store. Major thunderstorms in NJ today. Took two hours to return from auto store. Everything back together, brakes bleed, time to test drive. Brakes work beautifully, but, there is now an annoying squeak. Took tire off, caliper off, found nothing. Put back together, still squeaks. Screw it, whatever it is will clearance itself. Clean up is tomorrow. Don Thanks...Now I know not to replace brake lines. As long as all is well as far as stopping. Oh...I was caught in the storm...I was getting worried when I saw the hail getting bigger and bigger as it was hitting my car. Luckily all is OK. I didn;t see any hail in Middlesex county. But we got hit three times. I was driving during the second storm. That was during the two hour trip from Woodbridge, to Edison, back to Woodbridge. Luckily it wasn't high tide or the flooding would have been much worse. While cleaning up from yesterday, I was bending up the old brake line to throw it away. Most of the line, although very rusted, was still quite strong. But I did find one very weak area. That area maybe had less than a year left before failure. So I guess that I was lucky to find it in time. I will be checking out the rest of the lines this weekend to see if there is any more rusty lines. Don "Modern warriors saddle iron horses of chrome." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted August 18, 2007 Report Share Posted August 18, 2007 Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I see Murphy was helping you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bschelle Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 I would be careful using a compression fitting on a brake line. There are tons of pressure and the comp. ftg. isn't built to handle it. The only comp. ftg. for a brake line are made of high tensile steel and come in unions only (That I know of). Just my 2 cents! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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