Brake Line Rusted Through: Should I Bend It Myself or Have a Parts Store bend it?

[OVERKILL700HP]

It's one of the brake lines that is coming out of the ABS module.
The center one I believe.
I have no experience with pipe bending.
Does anyone have any suggestions on which route I should take concerning having the line made or try bending it myself.
All help appreciated.
The vehicle is a 94 XLT.

 

[DMan446]

I would suggest having it formed at a shop. Trying to bend it yourself makes it just kink. They have the equipment to bend it without kinks or restriction the fluid flow through the tube.

 

[Robb]

Bend it yourself. Find yourself various items of various diameters, and just start bending the pipe around them. I have redone the hardlines on 3 different vehicles using nothing but items found around the house.

 

[DeRocha]

Bend it yourself...I just did that exact same thing to my '93. I needed to replace the rear brake line from the ABS controller to the rear axle. See Rear Brake line Thread I had Zero experience working with hard brake lines and other members gave me the thumbs up that anyone can do it (they were right). I had purchased a tube bender $10 and it works great, but I really only needed my hands to bend the tube. The Brake line was under a $1 per foot so it is really inexpensive. I would get a few extra lengths of line (3/16") and return the unused stuff when you're done.

 

[glfredrick]

I agree with the guys saying bend it yourself. The stuff bends with your fingers, just don't bend it so sharply that it kinks. Those little $10 hand benders work OK if you need a tighter curve, or you can probably get a better one from one of those parts stores tool use deals.

I regularly make custom lines for my off-road stuff, for instance, the rubber lines from a Wrangler or an XJ (Wranglers are longer by 2") work almost perfect on 1st gen front ends to get long travel if they are mounted behind the spring instead of in front of it like the factory does. That of course means that the hard lines in front need to be re-bent to match a rearward brake line position. No problem, just get a couple lengths of tube and bend away...