Flare Nut Wrench Manufacturers
 

I need to R&R my brake lines. Takes a 14mm and a 17mm flare nut wrench. I've heard that you should buy good quality tools that fit well for this repair that won't round off the nuts. That sounds like it eliminates the Harbor Freight brand (they don't carry them, I checked).

I stopped by a Matco truck today. He had them on the truck, however the 17mm was about $32 and the 14mm was about $28. Ouch! They were very nice with almost a 15mm height high grip area. Felt much better than a Craftsman brand, better finish and heavier.

Has anyone had any success with a Craftsman or other brand for this purpose. I hate to spend $60 for a pair of wrenches I might not use too often. Snap-On is about the same price as Matco. Grainger has the Westward brand (China?) set of 8 SAE/Metric for $36.95. Grainger has a 5 piece Proto metric set for $75.95. Grainger also has the Blackhawk brand 8 piece SAE/Metric set for $62.95. I'd more likely spend $76 for the Proto set than the $60 for just 2 Matco's.

The 13mmx14mm Craftsman is $14.00 and the 15mmx17mm Craftsman is $14.50.

Any thoughts? Craftsman good enough for this repair?

Craftsman is fine for the typical DIY applications. You can buy a set of wrenches for about the same cost as two at the individual price. Craftsman is not as good as some of the "professional" brands, but if you are not using the tools daily, Craftsman is a pretty good compromise between quality and price.
Also, you can use a box end wrench on the hose fittings at the caliper end, so you don't really need a flare nut wrench there. It is the flare nuts on the solid lines that you want to be careful with.

There's a reason good mechanics buy Snap-on, Mac, Matco, etc. Well worth it in the long run for tools you use regularly. For home mechanics, Craftsman are fine except when it comes to something that absolutely must not flex (such as a flare nut wrench). You might be better off getting a set than just the two wrenches. You might also look into SK-Tools which builds quality tools for a little less than the bigger guys.

i've got some Craftsman flare nut wrenches I have been using for 20 yrs. No problems.
I just bought 2 complete sets of crows foot flare nut wrenches from Big Lots! You can't get any lower on the tool food chain than that. They seem to be pretty decent. In fact, they appear as good as Craftsman, perhaps better. Cost $10.99 for each set, Metric and SAE. Ask me in 20 yrs if I am satisfied.

I bought a set of craftsmen flare nut wrenches last year. for light duty stuff they're OK, but on tight stuff they splay out and jump the fitting head, luckily the thing spread so far that it didn't round the fitting head off. Next set is going to be snap on or hazet

---------Robert

Fyi
 

HEy,
In case nobody know's this. All the Cobalt tools sold at Lowe's are made by Snap on.

Don't know what kind of flare wrenches they have though.

Floppy

Another brand/source you might check:
 

Samstagsales.com sells many different German brands. One is Stahlville, about $20 ea. for the wrenches you mentioned. I have heard, personally, very good reports on this brand. Also, others here have recommended Samstag sales.

I love Big Lots! My dad bought me some needle nose pliers from there and they broke one of the first times I used them. They have some decent, cheap carpentry tools. I bought my friend a storage cart there for his shop. It's cheap and works well. I think Big Lots is a place where you might get real lucky on some tools and the other stuff, well....

Scott

I havn't seen any flare nut wrenches there, but the Cobalt ( or do they spell it with a K? ) tools I've bought so far are top quality. The high end screwdrivers are very good and the sockets and wrenches work great. They are handy when I only need a replacement socket or so .

---------Robert

KD and SK both make better than craftsman line wrenches. Available at many part stores and carry a lifetime warranty.

removing brake line fittings.
 

You are replacing the brake lines and not saving the old lines to use again. Where I live in nova scotia the rust is pathetic. Flare wrenches do not cut it. We just break the line next to the caliper or whatever and drive a tight fitting six point socket on to the fitting and get a much better grip to remove them. The mechanical shock of tapping the socket on seems to ease the rust grip a little as well. Makes a flare wrench seem almost like a toy. We almost always are forced to use heat as well unless we are going into a rubber brake hose that we are reusing. The new brakeline nuts can be tightened up suficiently with normal wrenches without damaging the head. So if only doing brake work once in a blue moon flare wrenches really offer no noticeable advantage except to lighten your wallet. Now on cars less than five years old I will normally use flare wrenches to remove the fitting. . :sun_smile Of course if reusing the brake line I will use a combination of heat and a flare wrench to keep the line and fitting intact during removal when possible. Here the brakeline also seems to rust to the fitting as well and just wants to turn with the fitting. This must be one of the rustiest areas of north america.

Craftsman open end wrenches are basically crap. They are stamped and the edges are sharp. Work all day with these and you will get a raw spot in the center of you palm. Their box end wrenches are ok but the open ones are worthless, esp. in you make your living turning wrenches.

Auto parts stores often sell tools that are make by major manufacturers and cost 2/3rds. of the name brand. My local sells Blackhawk which are made by Proto.

Barry is right about twisting off the lines. I live in S. Texas on the water and the rust is a big problem. I have had to twist off many brake lines. If the line is basically ok you can cut it back a ways and add a short piece of new tubbing using a coupling.

If you have drum brakes just twist off the line, remove the cylinder, and install a new one. If you have disk brakes twist off the line, grind off the stub of brake line left in the brake line nut, then tap the nut for a minute or so with a small hammer while spraying WD-40 or the like (not hard-you just want to vibrate the nut enough to break up the rust and cause the oil to down the threads). Put a socket of box end wrench over the nut and just rock is back and forth gently. Don't hurry it! Just rock it back and forth, spray some oil and go at it again. Once you get it to move just a little it will come out.

If your lines are that rusty and the nuts are frozen up God knows what is inside the calipers. It might be time to replace them. If so don't bother to remove the nut.

Good luck.

You're right! This is where the automotive industry collects field corrosion data. The winter maritime weather always hovers around 32°... wet... plenty of salt and road mist... perfect for corrosion!

Given that the average DYI'er is going to use these wrenches once or twice and maybe even three times in his life time, spending major bucks on them doesn't make much sense.

I bought a set of 14-15-16-17 flares at Auto Zone for $15. So far I've used them once. On the metal fule lines. I guess they'll still work o.k. if I have to remove the brake lines at some point.

Of course if it's a daily use thing, then that's another story.

Although Griot's Garage is usually horribly overpriced,
 

I have long coveted the special flare nut wrenches they offer -- they have a little hinged part which connects the two sides of the main wrench so as to form a box wrench when it is closed, preventing the flexing which often causes flare wrenches to slip just like open enders on the really stubbornly rusted fittings. Does anyone have any first hand experience with these?

I'm just an amateur (at present, anyway), but I need to use my flare wrenches several times a year, not just several times a lifetime. Maybe it's because I've got five kids between 22 and 34, along with a son-in-law and some soon-to-be daughters-in-law who expect me to heal everything from a '66 Mustang to a 2002 Audi AllRoad.

My other car is a '91 Ford F-150, a '95 SAAB 9000, a '90 SAAB 900, etc., etc., etc.