The damn things never come loose even with the right flare nut tools. I tried PB blaster and everything. The flare nut wrench would not grip it and it started to round it off but I did not push it to the point of damaged.

Then bought some crowes foot flare wrench's for use with a ratchet, same damn thing. OMG I am so @#$%ing pissed I cant stand it, this is all that stood in my way of dropping the K-member.

Tried vice grips, this has worked for me before but not this time. When I do this I get it super tight as to not round anything off.

Ended up heating the 14mm crowes foot wrench and squeezing it with a vice to make it grip the flare nut tighter, it was tight enough now that I had to hammer it on the nut. After busting knuckles I finally broke the confounded thing loose after an hour and life is good again.

Someone please tell me the easier way to crack these ignorant things loose without damaging them for next time. This has happened many times. If the things must be brass why can they not put a bigger hex head on them. Done ranting now.

 

I think many of us have been there before, I started to strip mine and now I'm gonna just take it to the shop to be done for ~$30

 

pb blaster works good... i know its not the best thing but i just use a torch when i can't get something loose

 

Snap-On Flank Drive Plus wrenches are the best. Spendy though. Ive never stripped out anything after buying them though.

 

this may sound ghetto but it works great.... put some visegrips on the nut and smack it with a hammer. gets em loose 99% of the time, and unless you go crazy with the visegrips, the nuts will still look nearly new.

 

The key is getting the vise grips on right and tight.
Once done they usually come off pretty easy but I have bunged up a few in the past.
Bending new lines is not that hard in my opinion just a pain that you have too.

 

Did you use a actual line wrench? They have an extra "edge" that one more flat on the nut for better surface contact. I have nerver sriped a flair nut using one.

 

It was a flair nut wrench, it had extra edges to wrap around the nut. It just did not fit snug enough to get maximum surface contact which is obviously needed. By heating and squeezing the wrench I made it fit more snug.

 

Was it a metric flare nut wrench? The nuts are metric.

Mine were very stubborn, too.

The trick with stuck flare nuts is like what was already mentioned. If you can get a wrench tight enough on it, lean the wrench so it is tight against the nut flats, then give it a firm pop to break the nut free. It will either work or the nut will start to round off. Sometimes there is little you can do about it.
In the past, I have used a special vice-grips that has a funny, three sided jaw that will actually grip the nut flats and not maul it too badly.

Modifying your wrench was not a bad idea, either.

 

I ended up adding a set of Craftsman pliers to my tool kit. You know, the black ones that look like they come from Transformers? They act like pliers and vice grips at the same time. They come in a set of 2--one big and one smaller--for about $30.

 

you didnt have the right tool.

if it's loose then that's not the right size. that's why they never seem to work right...or whatever. it's not the right size.

14mm is not 9/16, and 10mm is not 3/8....and so on ...

 

YEah, the cheap ones will open right up on ya... but the good Snap-On ones are great..


I vote for Vice Grips and a Propane or MAPP torch. Heat the Caliper, or whatever, up around the nut just enough. Clamp the vice grips on there first, tho. ...... Caliper isn't aluminum is it??.. WHat's the melting point of AL??...

That should do it. Worse comes to worse.... just cut the thing off and you can work on the caliper on the bench w/ a torch. Just get a flare kit to rapair the line. It souldn't bee that much off.. maybe an inch or so.

 

i suppose the tool has alot to do with it
i have a set of flare nut wrenches (metric and sae) and i always check which wrench will fit best, an even the best fitting wrench has rounded out some nuts, but this is a set of "great neck" tools, not snap-on

vise grips, sure, never had a problem using vice grips

my biggest problem is once you round out the brake line, where the hell do you get a replacement fitting? not all the fittings are typical fittings you get at autozone or anything

 

My complaint is the cost. $20 for one.

 

I dropped my k-member w/ out having to do the lines. Any reason why you did?