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Appreciation post: watched a rusted brake line turn into a 45 minute job instead of 4 hours
Honestly, I fought with a brake line on a 2005 Silverado last week in my shop down on Elm Street. The thing was rusted solid, like the fitting was welded to the caliper. I soaked it in PB Blaster for two days and still had to heat it with a torch to break it loose. I was ready to cut the whole line and make a new one from scratch. Then someone told me to try a flaring tool and a nickel copper line instead of steel. Ngl, the nickel copper bent by hand and flared in 5 minutes total. The difference was night and day. Has anyone else switched to nickel copper and seen a huge change in how fast you finish brake jobs?
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graydavis15d ago
Respectfully, I see it different... that nickel copper stuff is soft and prone to cracking if you look at it wrong, especially on a truck that sees salt and mud every winter. I've had two lines split on me within a year of installing them, one on a Ford van and one on a Ram 2500. The factory steel lines on those same trucks lasted over a decade before rusting through. A little extra time fighting rust upfront beats coming back to a pissed off customer with brake fluid all over their driveway.
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jake_torres6811d ago
Three years of salt belt winters on my F150 with nickel copper lines and I already see pitting near the fittings. Its not worth the gamble on a daily driver in my opinion.
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