John Faughn

I've been looking at trying to find a source for the aluminised steel line to make the lines myself , but haven't found a supplier yet , any body know of ?

RCW

I purchase stainless tubing from these guys: http://www.coleparmer.com/catalog/pr...bing&ovtac=PPC

I would suspect they also have coated steel available, but do not know that as a fact.

John Faughn

Wouldn't that be too stiff to bend with hand tools for cooling line use ? I did not see anything longer than 36".

joefarmer

Why not use stainless braided rubber or teflon lines made by Aeroquip or Russell? When I priced out -8AN stainless braided lines the cost was ~$130. -6AN is $110. That includes the adapters for the trans and everything needed.

brnadon.

RCW

I special order 101" stock, and use a high pressure oil/water system to bend SS. I do not know that I would try to bend 303 SS with an external spring and any handtools. I would think it would likely crack.

Most hydraulic shops have standard coated steel tube stock in any size you wish. They generally can bend it and fit it any way you wish. The shops near marine centers also have SS tubing and the equipment to bend it any way you want.

I am not particularly keen on wire wrapped hose, except for short runs where movement is needed. It is a most often polycarbonate or PolyTetraFluoroEthylene (teflon) hose with a steel wrapping, and the plastic eventually dries and fails right at the swage union where it is stressed.

GSP

I dont like braided stainless steel line for anything but a show race car. Its not good for service on a regular vehicle unless you want to check for leaks all the time and replace hose.

I had it on a race boat. Some the lines start to leak/sweat through the stainless smesh. You can not see the condition of the rubber covered by the stainless steel . Also the wall thickness of the inside rubber hose is thin. The lines might look "cool" but the rubber inside could be bad. On top of that the anodiesed fittings arent that strong and break. They are light wieght for a race car and thats it.

Regular oem translines are more reliable and should last for the life of the truck

Rick

John Faughn

I agree that using the hose is not a good idea for the reasons mentioned , but I was looking to save $$$ not spend more when I asked the ? also want to be able to patch , had a hole becouse it rubbed against the crank breather and I put a fuel hose for now and would like to use the same kind of line to use compression fittings , but cann't find the line yet [1/2 " OD ] , I looking at using copper tubing becouse it will bend with hand tools and has the same OD for the compression fittings. Just fustrated that here I am again with an uncomin product that can not be worked with , I glad I am not out on the road.

BigBlue

I've been running -8 lines with AN fittings on my fuel system now for 2 or 3 years and I haven't had any problems.

GSP

JohnFaughn, You might try and find a Hydrolic hose supply. There is a place near me called Topline.

They make and repair and supply any kind off hose, hydrolic, fittings, coupleings.

John Faughn

Thanks , I went to my local hyd. hose shop also , but there line was thick wall - to hard to work with hand tools and is steel -rust, so I am still looking at aluminised , galvanisd, but cann't find so now I'm thinking about using copper tubing , same OD , easy to work with hand tools and cheap .

jon96ctd

i don't know what you guys are talking about with the stainless braided hoses leaking?! those hoses with AN fittings are EVERYWHERE on the turbine engine ag aircraft we work on. there's around 60-70 turbines in our area that we service and we don't have any problems with the stainless braided hoses leaking, and we make them for hydraulic systems and fuel systems. there's lots of pressure and an endless amount of vibration. if you put it together wrong it'll leak or secure it in a way that makes it chafe. it is possible to chafe through a stainless braided hose.

i'd recommend not using copper. did you try napa? if they don't have it someone there should know where you could find it. we use stainless tubing with a hand bender and it works fine.

John Faughn

The napas parking lot is where I used the fuel hose with clamps for a patch to get home , two reasons that I do not want to use the braded or any hose is that requires lots of holders vs. metal lines and the other is the lines can be done a lot cheaper . Hay Jon why not use copper ? I'm one of those guys that want to understand why or why not , with out understanding you cannot make good choises.

jon96ctd

i understand not wanting to use braided hose for the cost and mounting points needed, that's understandable, just wondering why guys were saying they're no good cause they leak.

i wouldn't use copper for two reasons...corrosion and breaking. the corrosion wouldn't be a really big issue unless you drive on salted/snowy roads but wouldn't last as long as coated steel. since the copper is relatively soft it's more prone to cracking right at the fitting from vibration stress. we replace a LOT of copper lines that are used for guages and accessory type stuff on the airframe(none on engine ever) because they're broken or cracked/leaking.

i know for sure that napa has coated steel tubing in a few different diameters up to 5 feet long for not very much. i did that when i made my own brake lines for my '56 chevy. just cut one or both flared ends off and form it however you want with a hand bender. you can borrow flaring tools from autozone/kragen/schucks/checker whatever it's called in your region.

John Faughn

I may need to find a new napa becouse they say they do not have 1/2"OD line , when it comes to the tools I've got almost everything that snap on sells for tubing , the rest is about $80,000 short becouse of getting ripped off , so no more wrenching for a living , can not aford to replace.

jon96ctd

you got that much in tools ripped off!?!? did you have any of it engraved? ebay and pawn shops. that sucks! i'm an aircraft mechanic and i'd be pretty devastated to lose my tools! sorry to hear that. how long ago was that? my dad's whole family lives in the minneapolis/st paul area and are into sled racing and building stuff, i'll seriously let you know if they know anyone that showed up with a bunch of snap-on stuff.