Brake Line Replacement

[madcanuck]

After reading a few of the different threads, it appears that when replacing brake lines, copper appears to be the material of choice, this may sound naive, but why copper?

My understanding is that steel would flex less, is copper better against corrosion? One would think it would be the sacrificial material with all the steel around it. Does it conduct the heat better from the fluid?

Steel is much harder to shape, however, when using the right tools it's not so bad. Before I start putting all new steel lines on I would appreciate any feedback from the guru's out there

Thanks,

Tracy

[FridgeFreezer]

Copper is easier to shape / flare and doesn't rust. The most common material is actually cupro-nickel or cunifer which is a bit better than pure copper for some reason that escapes me.

[Les Henson]

I don't know that you can buy reels of steel pipe anyway - it usually comes pre-formed and a wee bit expensive. It would be difficult to bend steel pipe without kinking it and there's a possibility of it fracturing anyway. Cupro-nickel is flexible enough to be shaped by hand or with the correct tool, won't corrode, and approved as a replacement for the original steel pipes anyway.

Les.

[MudAllOverIt]

better than pure copper for some reason that escapes me.

Pure copper can go brittle though work hardening due to chassis vibration which can eventually result in cracking (does take a while, typically three years or so in road cars...). e.g. it wasn't uncommon for approx two/three year-old copper pipes to crack when undoing nuts etc.

The copper alloys mentioned don't suffer from this.

[madcanuck]

I don't know that you can buy reels of steel pipe anyway - it usually comes pre-formed and a wee bit expensive. It would be difficult to bend steel pipe without kinking it and there's a possibility of it fracturing anyway. Cupro-nickel is flexible enough to be shaped by hand or with the correct tool, won't corrode, and approved as a replacement for the original steel pipes anyway.

Les.

Thanks for the info, so the piping I bought is probably cupro-nickel, just thought it was steel alloy of some sort.

The steel pipe I was looking at using was aviation grade with all the swaging/forming bits, however, wouldn't make an easy fix if something breaks or cracks.

Tracy