"Illegal to splice brake lines" WTF????

[Clay]

Last night I was trying to take my rubber brakes lines off my GLHT to install the minivan calipers. Of course the steel line was rusted solid to the fitting.... so of course it twisted off. No problem, just more work as usual.

anyway, I go to the local autozone to get another flare fitting, a union, and a piece of line.

The guy behind the counter said it is "illegal to splice a brake line, they will impound your car if they find it".

Is this true? We dont have inspections here, so it wont be a big issue.

I just dont see how putting a union and staying with flared fittings is going to make the brake system perform worse than stock. I mean, they put tees in the lines to go left/right, how is a union any different. I would hate to have to replace the passenger side front brake line anyway!!! That thing runs behind the heat shield on the fire wall! Major pain to get to!

The funny thing about it was they had everything I needed, and they still sold it to me.

clay

[speedyshelby]

They tell me that also when I buy brake lines. From they said as long it isn't a compression fitting and you do have a doulble flare tool you should be fine.

[looneytuner]

It's a pain. I did it because I made the same mistake as you. You should the the fles line off the caliper first and unscrew the fles line from the steel line. Once you have the two seperated, you can hit the steel line with pc blaster and a torch to loosen the fitting from the line.
I don't see why you couldn't flare a new piece on there though. I just didn't think of it at the time cause I was mad at myself.

[Clay]

yeah, I have got the correct double flaring tool, and I know the "rule of thumb" about not using compression fittings (even though we use them at work for high pressure hydraulics at work), so I dont use compression fittings, flared only for me.

[JDAWG]

i used a compression fitting that held for like 2 years on a car. I know they wont pass MD inspection.

[turbovanman²]

Its not illegal to use brass fittings if the lines are flared, at least not in my Province. Heck, look at new cars, they have many lines done like this.

[DeckSetter]

This is the first I've heard of this. I've bought brake line twice in the past 6 months and they never said anything at Advance.

[TylerEss]

People get scared of brakes and say stupid things. I was looking for a new prop valve for my 600; 3 junkyards said they had 'em.

Two said they couldn't sell it because "It's illegal to sell used brake parts. Buy a new one at NAPA." When told "Nobody manufactures a new one or I wouldn't be dragging --- all over town looking for one in a junkyard..." they had no other response than to repeat "It's illegal."

Now, 'course, the third place sold it to me, said thanks, and waved goodbye. Guess that's how it goes.

[ottawa rogue]

AutoStoned strikes again!!! if you double flare your lines and use a flared union, you should have no problems at all. if in doubt, contact your local highway patrol or state police, whoever does your vehicle inspections.
heck, depending on what you drive you might even have a few of those in your brake lines from the factory

[Boogieman142]

i am a NYS inspector, flare unions will pass, compression fittings will not.

[Tony Hanna]

I don't really like using compression fittings on brake lines, but given the choice between a compression fitting and a rusted out ready to pop line, I'll take the compression fitting any day. Compression fittings won't pass a WV inspection, but I've never heard of anybody having problems with union/flared connections.

[WVRampage]

flared union conectors work fine for me as I am also in WV and my 78 F-250 has one right on the side of the frame behind the cab,it has been that way for years maby since new and my rampage aswell has them behind the cab on both brake lines.I would never use a compression fiting for anything in a brake system.

[Tony Hanna]

I have in a pinch when I didn't have access to a flaring tool and had to get the car drivable. A couple good full-out panic stops on an empty stretch of road and then recheck the fitting to make sure all is well. Since I threshold brake out of instinct, the panic stop tests exceed any pressure that the brake system would ever see during normal driving. If done right, it works ok for an emergency repair but it's definately not something I'd do to someone else's vehicle or try to use long-term.

[Clay]

Well, I put the splice in yesterday with little issue. The only real problem was trying to find a way to get the flaring tool into a place where I could use it for the brake line still attached to the car, and the freakin SOFT brake lines I bought from the parts store were almost impossible to flare due to the soft metal allowing the tube to move in the die. Other than that it went as expected.

Now to try and get the other side apart with out breaking stuff. Though the drivers side would be easy to do cause the line is so short I would just replace it!

thanks everyone!!

clay

[iTurbo]

I redid all the brake lines on my Shelby Lancer a few months ago. I was just going to install the S/S braided flexible line kit, but the fittings on my hard lines were rusted and twisted right off.

I went to NAPA and used their pre-made sections of brake lines with double flare fittings and redid the hard lines for the whole car. I was able to do the hard line going from the prop valve to the driver side front with only one short section, but the other lines going to the pass front and rears needed lines that were longer than what was available at NAPA. I ended up buying some double-flare unions and used 2-3 sections of premade brake line to do the longer sections. Seems to be working great.

[Xtrempickup]

i love compression unions, when they are where you can't see them, anything will pass

[iTurbo]

I used double flare unions, not compression fittings.

[Clay]

the only compression fittings I would trust in my brake system is either a true Swagelok, or similar style. I know they work, and they work very well.

[Boogieman142]

i would never use compression fittings, it squishes the lines a bit and they are known to blow out.

[Clay]

Swagelok fittings are industrial hydraulic fittings. Standard fittings are designed to handle 5000+ psi pretty easily, but they are not a standard compression fitting.