How to Flair “Army-Navy”-Type Brake Fittings

MotorTrend

AN—or “Army-Navy”—fittings are a particularly robust type of 37-degree

Transcript

00:00 (drill whirring)

00:02 Hi, I'm Douglas Glad from Hot Rod,

00:04 and today we're going to build some AN brake line fittings.

00:07 (upbeat music)

00:09 So AN brake line fittings, why do you care?

00:15 Most cars come with what's called a coupling nut,

00:19 and that actually crushes the brake line

00:22 against the inverted flare fitting inside,

00:23 you know, whatever it is, brake caliper or master cylinder.

00:27 Problem is, the harder you tighten this,

00:30 the more likely it is to twist the tube itself.

00:33 AN brake line fittings, don't do that.

00:35 For brake line jobs, I use stainless steel brake line.

00:38 This is 3/16ths.

00:39 You want to use stainless steel because it doesn't corrode,

00:41 it's stronger, takes more pressure.

00:43 You don't want to be using aluminum line on your brakes.

00:46 So the first thing you do is you figure out

00:48 what your length's going to be,

00:49 and then you can use one of these little tiny cutters.

00:52 So the tubing cutter, basically,

00:53 you just twist the thing and tighten it at the same time

00:58 until it cuts through the pipe.

01:00 After you cut your line,

01:04 it's going to be kind of a mess at the end.

01:05 So what you need to do is chamfer the end

01:07 with a grinding wheel or a hand file,

01:10 and then take a deburring tool and deburr the end.

01:13 So this is the brake line we're going to build.

01:21 This is a good time to add the nuts and the sleeve

01:26 because once you start bending,

01:28 you're not going to be able to get these on.

01:30 The next step is to create a 37-degree double flare.

01:34 So I use this flaring tool.

01:37 It's got 37-degree 3/16ths block.

01:41 3/16ths is another word for dash three.

01:44 Then it has a die head with all the different dies

01:47 to create whatever kind of flare you want.

01:50 So next you want to square the brake line in the die.

01:54 So I usually use a little bit of anti-seize on the end of it.

01:57 And then you turn the die head

02:04 and you square the brake line

02:10 and you're ready to make your bubble flare.

02:12 Now the brake line is square in the block.

02:16 All you have to do is select the first operation,

02:19 which is a bubble flare,

02:20 which is the first half of a double flare

02:24 and pull the handle.

02:25 Okay, so this is a bubble flare.

02:33 It is the first half of a double flare.

02:36 So the next step is put it back in the block

02:40 and spin this around to the next step

02:45 and pull it again and make a double flare.

02:47 (upbeat music)

02:50 So after you make your 37-degree double flare fitting,

02:57 you slide the sleeve over it and the nut

02:59 and you're ready to attach it.

03:01 So that's it.

03:06 A-in lines don't require any thread sealer or thread tape.

03:08 All you do is tighten them up and go.

03:10 Thanks for watching.

03:11 (upbeat music)

03:14 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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