Can it be done "in the field"?
I got what I thought was a screaming deal via marketplace on a "lines to go" stainless brake line kit for an 80s Dodge truck.. Most of this is on my project. Problem being that I later found out that they only make their kits for a short bed.
Soni have about a 16"ish gap between the front section of the line that goes down the frame to the rear end and the back section. I don't want to hodge podge a section of regular line in between to join them.
My son came up with a straight piece of stainless line that came from a kit he bought that came "either way " for a truck that he replaced the lines on,Ade for a newer truck with more wheel base options than these trucks had. But this is a little"too" long for my needs. I do have a hydraulic flaring tool. I do alot of making new lines for vehicles at work but I have only ever used the traditional steel line or the newer "ni-copp" line. I've never tried to flare stainless line before.

I have "heard" that for some reason it could be but only to 37* not to the regular 45* of a conventional double flared brake line as it will crack if taken any wider than 37*. Is that true?

Don't know but I heard the same thing.

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

I don't know about the 37 vs 45 angle problem, But I will tell you that double flairing stainless at home is almost impossible. The flair will crack, even if you can get enough pressure to make the bend.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

I do have a hand held hydraulic flaring tool.... Don't know if that would help.

Just get some adapters/unions for brake line and some extra pieces of pre-flared brake line tubing and don't fool with flaring stainless.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I don't want to mix stainless and regular.... I don't think I can just go to the parts store and get a length of pre flared stainless line the length I need.... I wish I could

I have done stainless line on some cars. It is work with a typical on car double flare tool. But it can be done.
It is easier with a tool like this: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-900318d


As the stainless is hard it tends to be less forgiving if you munch it up with the tool. Practice on some scraps first.
If it is a driver and no one will ever see your unions or 2 different matetials and you can live with it, then join it with nicopp line, stainless fittings if you like and brass unions.
Nicopp is super easy to work with and flare!
The fluid does not care what material it is being pushed through.

The angle is important. Do not mix standard sae 45⁰ with a 37⁰
Most passenger cars and light trucks like yours will have SAE 45⁰


Best of luck!

Greg

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http://www.youtube.com/hyperpack

Everyone I ever talked to told me not to even try stainless because of the hardness & cracking...etc. Greg you must be a double flare guru!

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2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!

12.70 @ 104.6

I've used ni-copp line before. As well as regular steel. (I thought I'd said that earlier) Many times Enough times that it was well worth buying the hydraulic hand held flaring tool (I have the Mastercool brand)
And have plenty of both on hand. . But simply, being as how I have this truck down to a bare frame, and the fact that I bought a stainless steel line kit it just seems half assed to patch it in with something else. Not saying there would be something "wrong" with doing so. I actually thought of that. If I wind up doing that I'll just make the whole run out of either plain (coated) steel or ni-copp.

Never cracked on me. Works fine on the road racing dart.

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http://www.youtube.com/hyperpack

Personally if I was going for a very very nice set of brake lines I would use the nickel copper stuff and buy a roll of 1/4" 3:1 glue lined heatshrink. Slip the heat shrink onto the line before bending and before the fittings. You end up with an inch or so of visible copper and the rest is covered in a nice black rubber coating. If you use the glue/adhesive lined stuff it will bond to the tube, make sure to keep oil off of the tubing before slipping the heatshrink on.

The drawbacks of stainless compared to the ease and cost of nickel copper always pushes the win to copper.

That might be what I end up doing... I haven't had a chance to mess with this since before I posted post #1.

Ok.. success.
I got a piece of straight stainless line about double the length I needed to bridge the 2 sections
It was a left over from a brake line kit my son put onto something.
I don't know the application it was from or the brand of line kit but he said that whatever it was that company did the opposite. They made a kit that was for whatever truck, but included this piece in case needed for a longer wheelbase version. So I cut it to length and tried to flare the leftover. It surprisingly flared easy, not much unlike regular steel line.
I filed the outer edge, and filed the burr on the inside of the tube from the tubing cutter with a small rat tail file. And (because it was the first thing I grabbed off the shelf) a can of disc brake caliper slider lube and out a dab onto the end of the tube. The scrap piece went easy so I did the "for real" part.

From what I've found out there's 2 different grades of stainless line.
One is quite rigid/ stuff and hardly wants to bend, and with that grade they tell you to heat the end dull red to "anneal" it
The other one bends easier and doesn't "spring back" so much I forgot what they called this version.
But I do see that they offer stainless brake line in a roll just like they do with steel or ni-copp
I haven't looked at price yet.
I might try to pick up a roll if that's the case...

As an aside I did send a "contact us" message to "lines to go"/ fine lines telling them what kit I got, and that it appears that they only offer a line kit for the short bed versions of these trucks.
I asked them about the ability to flare their stuff in the field, and the variables in brake lines on these trucks.
Such as an 8-1/4 or 9-1/4 rear end vs a Dana... The Dana's use wheel cylinders that have the lines coming into them at a 45* to the backing plate where the 8-1/4 and 9-1/4 come in perpendicular to the backing plate.

I also suggested that many brands used the Dana 60 and that they probably already have premade lines possibly from a similar year Ford truck that would probably fit these trucks just the same.
I asked about either a 1 piece line that would go the whole length of an 80s Dodge truck long bed frame or at least a linger front section or back section so there only needs to be 1 splice in the line at most instead of 3...

I hadn't tried to flare what I was of yet when I sent the e mail but wanted to pick their brains on the subject anyway.
I know there are others here messing with those same trucks.

I've used the stainless Summit line sold in coils, made ~2-dozen flares in 3/16", the biggest challenge I faced was getting the fixture for the hyd. tool to hold the line w/o slipping while forming. Also, if You're bending longer convoluted sections, the tension transfer tends to 'unbend' or open completed bends when making subsequent ones. No cracks, just don't expect them to appear as perfectly defined a 45° seat as You're used to, but they worked. I antiseize the lines where the nuts run/seat, + a tiny bit on the threads, they still look great 20+ years in service in the rust belt.