[Sirrotica]

In 2009 I bought a 93 K3500 that the previous owner had just used premade NAPA steel lines with unions, because the dreaded rear line had rusted out.

He put the lines on so he could sell the truck, so they were brand new when I purchased it. In 4 years, the brand new lines were again rusted out. I replaced every line on the truck with Ni-Copp, and 10 years later all the lines are still intact. At my age, they'll outlast me .......LOL

Premium car manufacturers have been using Ni-Copp lines for a decade or so, even though they cost the manufacturer more to use them. It's really worth the extended lifetime of the lines to spend the extra money. I know my life, or someone in my family's life is worth the extra money, plus you'll never have to do the labor again because of rust, or corrosion from road salt.

[Lightfoot]

Per the detailed description on Oreilly's site: NiCopp " Bends 58 percent Easier than Steel Tubing ".
So the concensis is to go with that, and I agree it's well worth the extra cost.
That said, I wish I could find a part number with metric (10mm) fittings on it.
I rechecked the work I did three years ago, and found that I had to use an adapter for the flex hose end as well as the master cyl. So I presume all my flex hoses are 10mm on the female end. I 'gauged' the fitting with an open end wrench and it seems to confirm it. The master port is 12mm for sure.
I did find a part number for a 72" PVF line with 10mm bubble flare ends at Oreillys. So tempting, but I have to make so many bends.
If you guys say the flares are easier to make on the NiCopp, maybe I can just cut and flare them with a rental tool from Advance. I did also find a 72" NiCopp line for $22.99. The 51" line is $17.99, at both Oreilly and Advance. So that's $41 plus the union and adapters if nesassary.
I might get an 8" adaptor line with the SAE to 12mm ends just in case the 123" total runs short.

Thanks for the feedback and all the good info. The more ideas, the better my options get.
P.S. I'm doing all this work laying on the ground with the left side tires blocked up as high as I could jack them.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by Lightfoot

Per the detailed description on Oreilly's site: NiCopp " Bends 58 percent Easier than Steel Tubing ".
So the concensis is to go with that, and I agree it's well worth the extra cost.
That said, I wish I could find a part number with metric (10mm) fittings on it.
I rechecked the work I did three years ago, and found that I had to use an adapter for the flex hose end as well as the master cyl. So I presume all my flex hoses are 10mm on the female end. I 'gauged' the fitting with an open end wrench and it seems to confirm it. The master port is 12mm for sure.
I did find a part number for a 72" PVF line with 10mm bubble flare ends at Oreillys. So tempting, but I have to make so many bends.
If you guys say the flares are easier to make on the NiCopp, maybe I can just cut and flare them with a rental tool from Advance. I did also find a 72" NiCopp line for $22.99. The 51" line is $17.99, at both Oreilly and Advance. So that's $41 plus the union and adapters if nesassary.
I might get an 8" adaptor line with the SAE to 12mm ends just in case the 123" total runs short.

Thanks for the feedback and all the good info. The more ideas, the better my options get.
P.S. I'm doing all this work laying on the ground with the left side tires blocked up as high as I could jack them.

When I have odd fittings on the ends of the lines, even in US sized tubing, rather than going nuts trying to find the correct adapters, I cut the flares off of the ends of the old tubing and reuse the OEM fittings on the lines I make. It's soooo much easier than trying to hunt the correct adapters. With this in mind I do every thing I can do to save the OEM fittings including using a torch to get the fitting out if needbe. Heating the fitting up and quenching it quickly, will usually break the corrosion bond on the threads.

If you've ever flared copper tubing, it's simple to flare, Ni-Copp flares just as easy as copper tubing does. The nickle keeps the copper from work hardening from vibration, when copper work hardens it becomes brittle, and is suseptible to break. The people that came up with Ni-Copp did the automotive world a great service.

Amazon is usually the best pricing on Ni-Copp lines when buying a coil of it:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=nicopp+li...f=nb_sb_noss_1

[Lightfoot]

Thanks Brad. I do have the OEM fittings if I need them. The master one that takes a 14mm wrench is a little chewy from surface corrosion plus a little wrench slippage, even though I've always used a SnapOn Flank Drive open end on it. I can always touch it up with a file though.
The down stream end fitting came out clean thanks to sliding a box end over the old line (I cut it where the leak was) all the way up to the fitting.

I'm looking at the flaring tools on the websites now. The 29.99 one has nothing but bad reviews, lol.
I'm wondering if this one will do bubble flares like the factory made 'em?
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c...?q=51535&pos=1

[Sirrotica]

If you want one that will last you need to spend some money. Ridgid makes professional grade flaring tools, but your looking at $120:

https://www.supplyhouse.com/Ridgid-2...6ffa33e492f4d0

The dies won't get wallowed out in one or two uses like the chinese made ones do. Notice the bolt to put pressure on the dies so they don't deform, and slip.