Hot Rods Brake flaring tool

Has anyone used the new $200 flaring tool that claims to be able to do lots???????

 

The eastwood one? Works great.

 

I can't honestly justify the 200 bucks for a flaring tool when the one my grandfather gave me almost 50 years ago still does the job. HRP

 

I have the mastercool hydraulic flaring tool set. I bought for when I was working in a dealership but its home now. It works very well. Makes nice flares with less effort. If you make a lot of lines and do a lot of flaring its worth the money. if its a seldom used tool, not worth the money.

 

Not sure what your looking for, but I've been really happy with a fairly heavy duty flairing tool I got from Classic Performance Products. It's around $70 as I recall and it's handled all my needs - from 3/16" brake to 3/8" fuel lines (steel) without a problem.

 

X2.... LW

 

I bought one of those and it only worked good a couple times. Now it won't grip any kind of tubing I put in it.

 

I got the eastwood 1 as well. I am from down under and for the money it was definitely worth it.

Mtw fdu.

 

I have it (not for Eastwood, but the company they get them from), so far I really like mine.

 

2nd vote for the Master Tool Hydraulic one. Super awesome every time.

I am not a "tool guy" but this is worth every expensive cent it was.

 

ditto on the master cool tool , plus I bought the A/N flaring kit to make stainless and aluminum tube flares , paid for itself when I converted to stainless brake lines ( have to use anealed stainless to double flair properly )

 

The original poster doesn't specify which one exactly he is refering to , but I like my Master Cool hydraulic kit too.

 

for $200 what does it do?
maybe i dont do brake lines enough but what extra stuff does it do? why 200?
i havent seen one that expensive, even the good kits that do several sizes

 

For 200 bucks it should make the flare for you by remote control.
I've built several cars with the good old red plastic box double flaring tool kit made off shore someplace. I see where lots of guys have trouble with them but I think it is "operator error" and not the tool' I swear I've never had a problem the one that I use and it has to be 30 years old. I don't need to brag about how much I spent on a tool as long as it does the job.

 

I'm with you Tommy, my flaring tool is over 50 years old and has served me well and yeah I have made a couple of mistakes when double flaring tubing but very few. HRP.

 

I think the $200 tool can do stainless, is that the deal?

 

bought the eastwood tool last year. finally fed up with the cheapie tools. very happy. Does seem like I do a set of lines every year at least, so it will be worth the $ to get a good flare first time, every time.

I also hate using hose for fuel line unless necessary.

 

I bought the universal hydraulic master set. Love it Have done two complete vehicles this year with it.
Brake, fuel and trans lines.

 

got mine from Ridged. don't recall how much I paid but I'm sure it was well under $100.00. works 20 times better than the harbor freight cheapies, I don't really see how you could make better flares with any different model that costs more.

 

no matter how much it costs, none of them have a little voice to remind you to put a fitting on before flaring. been making lines for over 30 years and every now and then i still forget.

 

I've got the Eastwood one to.... and I hate it......
The reason I hate it is it works really well, and now I've been doing brake and fuel lines for people I know, and people my kid knows...
The Eastwood one is worth the money. Doing complete custom lines for (2) cars, brake and fuel, I've messed up maybe (2) flares total, and one of those was on an SS line where the flare split on me....
Love this tool....... Tom

 

the old reliable flare tool works well, no question about it but the hydraulic flare tool makes it easier and quicker. its a personal choice to spend the extra cash or not.

 

I'm another one who has used the standard flairing tool for many years and I have been known to forget to put the fitting on too... Jesus, I feel stupid when I do that.

 

no matter how much it costs, none of them have a little voice to remind you to put a fitting on before flaring. been making lines for over 30 years and every now and then i still forget.

I believe that is known as operator error

 

I think the key phrase is " been using for 30/50 years". If I had access to a regular flaring tool that old it would probably work fine. After buying several tools I ended up with the $200 dollar one. It does all kinds of flares....even the new quick connect type for fuel lines and also the o-ring type for later model power steering hoses. The problem I was having was getting the others to grip the tubing so it wouldn't just push it through. I even tried different types of tubing. I tried contacting the manufacturers also and they couldn't tell me why it was doing it. Only way I could make them work was to clamp them in a vise.

 

I bet that it's bent

 

Good tools are worth stepping up to, if you have an end purpose in mind. Personally, I would like to see pictures of the tool in question, as I am always doing brake lines. My present kit came off the Snap On truck and works well, even if I often need to replace the nipples for double flaring. I am sure that any tool worth its salt is built with wear parts that can be replaced, hence my desire to 'see' what y'all are talking about. Anyone with pictures? Also what kinds of tools do you use for bending tubing?

 

If it's like the one I have it is nothing like a normal flaring tool. I really like mine, it is much faster than normal flaring and does a much better job.

 

I have had a KD brand flaring kit for 30 years, works well. I did buy a $20 flaring kit for a roadside fix and getting a 4th flare out of that POS was a stretch. The eastwood kit looks similar to Sykes- Pykavant set but I doubt eastwood could stand up to daily use.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sykes-Picka...UK_Measuring_Tools_Levels&hash=item2c4e72487d

 

Im sure the simple bar type is....but if it was a quality tool it wouldn't have bent. I bought another bar type and after one flare the teeth that grip the tubing were almost smooth. That one went in the trash.The $70 CPP one isn't a bar type and it only worked a couple times also. I also rented one from the local auto parts store chain......it was worn out and wouldn't even do one flare....so I had them order a new one for me to buy......brand new out of the box and it wouldn't grip the tubing. That's when I ordered the $200 master cool hydraulic one. It won't grip the green tubing the auto parts chains sell either but I haven't tried it with regular steel tubing yet.