Brake Flaring Tools

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Arron tate

Arron tate

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Hello all,
Looking for input on what is the good quality brake line flaring Tool.
I have several lower budget (Inline Tube Item TLF02 / Westward Item 45FF43) and honestly they are junk.
I looked at the Eastwood ITEM # 25304 and although it looks great at first glance, upon viewing the Eastwood YouTube demo video it seems that although it looks good it may not perform that well. If you look the video around 3:24 min into it when the tech shows the finished product it honestly looks no better then the flairs that the tools I have now make. He states that the poor quality of the flair is due to not using the Eastwood deburring tool. Hummmm. I have that tool and although it does help the flairs that I make with my tools they are still off the same as there high priced tool. One would think that he would have prepped the tube before he flared the tube as to show a good flair...
Eastwood Professional Brake Line and Tubing Flaring Tool
What I'm looking for is a tool the does not mar the tube like the split type Inline Tube / Westward do and that makes a high quality flair like the pre-made store bought tubing.
Thanks in advance...
Happy Mopar :)
Arron.

Brake line tube.JPG
 
I got fed up with my cheapo flaring tool (looked like the Westward or Inline tube style tool) as it always slipped. I bought the Rigid flaring tool (#345?) that has a handle on the side. It was a great investment. I think they are around $125USD (it was almost $200 Cdn)
 
I have that eastwood one and it works awesome. Perfect double flares every time and it only takes a few seconds. The downfall is you have to clamp the tool in a vise to use it so the line has to be off the car. No, you dont need the deburring tool. If your cut is clean it will flare just fine.
There is a similar tool that uses dies that uses a small hydraulic pump you pump with your hand. This can be used on the vehicle. Had I known about this one prior to I would have bought it instead.
Shop around if you go with the eastwood one. Its just a rebranded made in china that can be found cheaper.
 
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I have a couple of tool truck sets, I wound up warranting the matco one a couple of years ago, the pin that holds the one end of the flat bar busted, had the original over 25 years and flared LOTS of tube with it.... SOB if the new one isn't Taiwanese, definitely can't get as nice of job out of it as the old one. I also have the master cool hydraulic flaring tool, I never have a problem getting consistent and good flares but the only bad thing about that one other than price, is that if you're trying to flare something in place under the car it's long and can be unwieldy, there have been times I've had a hard time getting it into the spot I'm working in. If I can do it away from the car and then put the newly made lune in place it's great.

I do enough of that sort of work that I buy the 25' rolls especially when dealing with 3/16" line. Less splice joints means less cost (those fittings ain't cheap) and less joints also means less places it can leak..... And less places that need to be flared along the way to begin with.....
 
MoparMike1974 said:
I have that eastwood one and it works awesome. Perfect double flares every time and it only takes a few seconds. The downfall is you have to clamp the tool in a vise to use it so the line has to be off the car. No, you dont need the deburring tool. If your cut is clean it will flare just fine.
There is a similar tool that uses dies that uses a small hydraulic pump you pump with your hand. This can be used on the vehicle. Had I known about this one prior to I would have bought it instead.
Shop around if you go with the eastwood one. Its just a rebranded made in china that can be found cheaper.
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Agree with everything here ^^^. U have the Eastwood one. Works good. Would rather have one that can be used under the car when needed. I think Eastwood has a version like that too. I did get some cupro-nickel tube of Amazon that wouldn't flare really well even with this one , but it was a disaster with the old style tools. Was worth the investment and I should be able to get most of my money back if I ever chose to sell it.
 
ps I also took from tips from this video when I did a bunch of 3/16 brake lines
 
I found the copper/nickel line flares like a dream. Maybe you got some cheap stuff. Other than the higher price there is no draw back to using it.
 
I have used the Eastwood one and it works great..
I bought the $102 knockoff version and it will be here when the snow goes away as they can't get it to the house...
 
I just bought a Masterkool hydraulic flaring tool for work. It is not cheap but OMG is it incredible. Perfect double flares in less than two minutes. The ends I’ve made look better than they come with from the parts store.
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I have the Eastwood flaring tool, works great. I've used it on standard steel lines, stainless steel, and those green, hand bendable lines you can get from Napa. Never had any issues with it as long as the lines were cut and prepped well. A little bit of anti-seize on the ends of the line makes things go a little smoother too.
 
Yes, any of these that use a die should be oiled when using it. Any light machine oil will do.
 
leechris81 said:
I just bought a Masterkool hydraulic flaring tool for work. It is not cheap but OMG is it incredible. Perfect double flares in less than two minutes. The ends I’ve made look better than they come with from the parts store.
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Have you used it yet? I'm between this and the "turret" style that eastwood and other sell. Talking with some folks and they did not like the hydraulic one as it was finicky to set up vs the turret style one.
 
I’ve used it quite a bit in the last couple weeks. I created at 20 + flares over the course of a few days. Even just practiced ten times or so on scrap pieces just to familiarize myself with it. I had no trouble setting it up and don’t find it near as finicky as an old school flare set from the parts store. I teach auto tech to high school juniors and seniors and have even started letting them try it out.
 
I have a Snap On flaring tool I've used for 30-years without issue. However if I was doing stainless steel or using the tool more than once every few years I would buy a Masterkool 72485 set.

Tom
 
leechris81 said:
I just bought a Masterkool hydraulic flaring tool for work. It is not cheap but OMG is it incredible. Perfect double flares in less than two minutes. The ends I’ve made look better than they come with from the parts store.
View attachment 1716055199
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I too have this tool, I've plumbed 6 cars with it, brakes, fuel,trans, etc,
not one bad flare, (even when I was just learning how to use it)
simple, quick, eazy,
but ,there are always some who just can't work it,
 
Car Nut said:
If you decide to flare your own brake lines…

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Been there more than once.
We used to make fun of guys at work who shouted out how good they were about this and that.
I would say well you have not been doing it long. Everyone's gonna mess up. It's how you handle it when you do.
Then i would get...how much they have done.
My buddy Rodney would ask how old are you? They would say some number in the early to mid 20s. You sure that's a life time of work would have guessed 120 only way you could have done all that.
 
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leechris81 said:
I just bought a Masterkool hydraulic flaring tool for work. It is not cheap but OMG is it incredible. Perfect double flares in less than two minutes. The ends I’ve made look better than they come with from the parts store.
View attachment 1716055199
Click to expand...
It didn't take long and I stocked one on my tool truck. It was fun to demo right on the truck. an easy sell.
 
One Lil trick I learned was to make your cuts w/ a dremel and a mini cutoff wheel... keeps the tube from being "work hardened" just make Sure you clean out the tube..
 
I have had a mastercool kit for 15 years and it is awesome. The Titan mentuoned above is handy for tight areas.

If you read the fine print on most any manual flarong tool (Lisle, etc.) they are for single, not double flare.

As much as I hate to point this out...there is a matercool knockoff for around $100.
 
I've used an old made in USA nut cracker type for years and never had an issue. I've done stainless with it too. It only chews up the line when the line is already bent. Not sure how any of these new ones avoid that.
 
I have the TFL08 from Inline Tube. It looks exactly like (and probably is) the one from Eastwood, Summit Racing, etc. Works great and should have bought it years ago. I use a tubing cutter on steel tubing and prep the ends well. The dies clamp the tube perfectly and couldn't ask for better flares.

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