Better Brake Line Flaring

[maineSS]

I received the Lock Technology 3000B tool- it was missing 3 parts, and the flaring block was incorrectly machined on the 1/4" size- one side flared, the other not! No case, either. I'm sending it back, as it looks like an attempt to clear out leftover parts.

The rest of the tool is very heavy-duty, weighs about 8 lbs. I'll try another vendor.

[oprod]

Quality brake flaring tool

We'll I knew better to buy from harbor freight, so I went down to NAPA and bought a "service" grade tool. I noticed right off the bat I was having difficulty keeping the buttons straight when doing my initial flare. The screw and the 45 degree cone were machined too loose and wobbled out of position every time. I asked a mechanic to look over my technique thinking it was still me, he took out his Matco brake flare handed it to me and said show me what your doing. We'll I made several perfect flares. Needless to say I promptly took my napa tool back to the store and returned it. Bought a Matco and have not yet made a bad flare. I think the quality of the machine work even in this basic tool has made all the diffrence in making quality flares one after another. I suggest if your having a 70 percent rate or worse, get a better quality tool. Snap on or Matco for sure. It's becoming increasingly difficult to find quality made tools even from suppliers known to carry quality.

[W_A_Watson_II]

I bought a ATD 5481 Inline Flaring Kit and have been very happy with it compared to the bar type tool.

[Charles Talbert]

We had a $500 hydraulic tool, first one was bad, they replaced with a second new one, just as sorry as the first. Tooling quality has really gone south, I did the same thing you did, returned it and bought another. Ours now is an old style Imperial, no problems.