What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Brake line fitting. Potentional leakage ?

magiccarpet

Well Known Member
Patron
When I installed the fittings for the reservoir brake lines I encountered that the brass insert did not fully bottoms against the end of the plastic tube.
No matter how hard I pushed (right after it has rested long enough in boiling water) it sticks out by .053".
I am unsure if that is ok, or if I will face a leaking problem later on because of that.:confused:

I may add, that I didn't drill the tube with a #29 bit as the instruction says in chapter #5. The instruction where the brake lines are made do not call for any enlarging the tube diameter.

1r5jsz.jpg


Thank you very much for your opinion on that.
 
brake line fiting

Chris, why not try a little hot water to soften up the tubing? Should allow the insert to seat better.
Rick
#40956
Southampton, Ont
 
It's been a while, but I recall having difficulty at first. I think I pushed the nut and olive(that's what the little piece that sits inside the nut is called in Australia) well out of the way. Put the sleeve onto the mandrel of a blind rivet held in a vice. Warm the tube with a heat gun(carefully) you will feel it soften a little. Now quickly push the line onto the sleeve. Then open up the vice, and use the jaws to push the nut and olive into position. It worked for me. Hope my description makes sense to you.
My local hydraulic line expert pointed out that the inside sleeve is really not even necessary. The seal is achieved by the nut and olive. Back in the day working on trucks, we used the same fittings on air systems, and never used the internal sleeve.
Hope this helps
DaveH
120485
 
Last edited:
olives

Back in 1979 having recently arrived in the US, I went into a hydraulics parts store to buy some olives for some copper tubing. I ended up trying to draw what an olive looked like. Learned my first American word....sleeve. Martini may have come up too. In 2016 I consider myself bilingual.

What was that about separated by a common language?
 
I just re did mine, like above, install nut and feral, slide down tube, install insert as far as you can, heat with a gun or other heat source, push insert in by pushing hard against a wood work bench, be carful not to bend or kink the tube, then before it cools, grab the nut and pull the nut and feral down to about 1/16-1/8" ;-)
 
Tribute to VAF

Thank you very much everybody for all your good advice and for enlighten me in how sealant is achieved with these fittings.
I removed the lines, heated up the ends very gently and slightly tapped the brass insert. ...et voil? :)
Now I have the peace of mind regarding the brake lines and can go on...

... trying to remove tank sealant from my hands after having installed the upper FW :D
 
Back
Top