I made a boo boo cost me $1.59

[Los_Control]

I'm a little confused on this one. Auto parts stores are simply phasing out brake lines. Or any metal line like fuel or vacuum.

 

I can understand this if they offered a replacement like nicop. ... But they offer nothing .... Go kick rocks they say!

I have a parts + & a carquest in town..... I just can not understand why they are cutting out metal lines without a replacement.

My mistake was buying 5/16" to finish the rear .... I forgot I needed 1/4" .... I bought 3 sticks of 1/4" for $1.59.

I insisted the clerk made a mistake &  he insisted it was correct.

Once it is gone they will not replace it. .... I just wonder what the future is for metal lines that all cars use.

 

[plymouthcranbrook]

I suspect the number of folks working on their own cars who actually replace the brake lines themselves is small and getting smaller.  The main lines on our 2012 Kia Soul rusted out last year and rather than fix it myself I let the dealer do it.  Cost wise not too bad and having done that kind if work several times in my life I did not miss the opportunity at all.  I imagine not enough people doing it means the high turnover folks running today’s franchises don’t think it’s worth the space that they can used for more profitable flashy items.

[Dan Hiebert]

That's intriguing, probably not in a good way.  The local Ford / Toyota house up here is right next to the NAPA, or vice versa, since the local NAPA relocated a few years ago primarily to be right next to the Ford / Toyota dealer.  You can easily guess correctly where the dealer gets their parts when the repair doesn't call for Ford / Toyota specific parts, and they work on anything.  When they built the NAPA, they installed a drive / walkway between the Ford / Toyota shop and the NAPA.  One item on the State inspection in Maine is brake lines, just about every vehicle up here will at some point require that the metal brake lines be replaced due to corrosion if it stays on the road more than ten years without rust protection.  The dealer and the local shops all get their brake lines from NAPA, O'Reilly, or Advanced.  It'll be interesting to see where they get the lines if the parts houses quit stocking them.   

[kencombs]

I suspect that lack is a function of two things,  neither parts+ nor Carquest meet my definition of a parts store, right up (down) there with Autozone and theny our location. Texas is not known as a state with lots of rusty cars/trucks.  Neither is OK, my state, either.  Locally Oreilly's and Napa both have them or can get them from the regional warehouse same day of ordered before noon, next AM otherwise.  Autozone and Carquest have no stock.  AZ can't even order them and Carquest is a couple of days out.

 

That said, I always order from the net, always cheaper.  That may be the third reason as that is the go to for more and more people, for lots of things.

[Sniper]

My local NAPA is pretty good about getting what I need, not real good with prices though, but the expertise of the countermen sometimes makes it worth the added cost.  They still have the books, lol.  I use Autozone, which is between me and NAPA, to recycle oil, buy cheap brake parts cleaner and the like.  O'Rielly's is a good drive away from me but they could get the shorter tie rod sleeve I needed to correct Rusty Hope's severe toe in issue for pretty cheap.  Had a thick layer of dust on it and I told the parts girl "This one must have been on the shelf for awhile".

 

Not even sure if we have a Car Quest.

[nonstop]

I learned to order parts from Napa on the site and use my AAA discount.  Normally it takes off about 10-15 percent, sometimes it might be more.

[Los_Control]

15 hours ago, kencombs said:

I suspect that lack is a function of two things,  neither parts+ nor Carquest meet my definition of a parts store,

I will have to agree with you to some extent ... Napa or Autozone is a little more then 1 hour round trip. Not out of the question but not convenient either.

 

My local parts+ is privately owned by 2 people for decades. The store is combined with the best automotive repair shop in the area. Always busy & mechanics have a door right to the parts store. This store is very profitable.

 

The carquest store is actually Heady auto parts been in business, same building for over 75 years ... They just use the CarQuest franchise today.

This store has all the contracts with the city vehicles, The school bus barn, The county vehicles. EMS, Fire department, I know they have a 3 year contract with the company repaving Interstate 20 in this area. ..... Very profitable business.

 

The next issue is our area is oil fields & farm/ranch .... Not uncommon for Charlie to come down & open parts+ at 2:00 AM in his under wear & a robe to sell a part during harvest time.

 

I just do not understand why the regional stores do not supply the lines or at least a replacement such as copper/nickel?

Can you imagine how many stores & business rely on these regional warehouses? 

 

[Sniper]

44 minutes ago, Los_Control said:

just do not understand why the regional stores do not supply the lines or at least a replacement such as copper/nickel?

Can you imagine how many stores & business rely on these regional warehouses? 

 

Because you live in Ag/oil patch territory where people actually work on their own stuff and corporate lives in the the big city where the riff raff maintain the boss' stuff.

[Tooljunkie]

On 10/5/2022 at 4:25 PM, Los_Control said:

I'm a little confused on this one. Auto parts stores are simply phasing out brake lines. Or any metal line like fuel or vacuum.

 

I can understand this if they offered a replacement like nicop. ... But they offer nothing .... Go kick rocks they say!

I have a parts + & a carquest in town..... I just can not understand why they are cutting out metal lines without a replacement.

My mistake was buying 5/16" to finish the rear .... I forgot I needed 1/4" .... I bought 3 sticks of 1/4" for $1.59.

I insisted the clerk made a mistake &  he insisted it was correct.

Once it is gone they will not replace it. .... I just wonder what the future is for metal lines that all cars use.

 

I would assume they will only sell bulk line. I have not heard of this here in canada, possibly a chain store policy? Seems odd,i go through lots of line in a year. 
i buy nickel/copper online, usually comes with an assortment of fittings. There is steel/copper coated as well, but the nicop is way easier to work with. 

[Ulu]

I bought a complete kit of brake lines for my Volkswagen/fake Jaguar, and the cost was very reasonable at $35.

 

They were already cut to size and made up. But some of them will be too short, so I bought a $15 roll of brake line that cost me $42.

 

At least I will have all the fittings from the Shorty lines I am going to cut up.

 

But yeah, prices are gonna start getting high. Napa won’t stock the stuff and you will have to order it.

[Los_Control]

I guess I'm just baffled from the (non) issue? We can jump online & order what we want. I think the nicop is a better product.

 

I think there is a market here, while is common we call them brake lines, they have many other uses such as hydraulic clutches, fuel, transmission .... I can understand phasing them out with a better product like nicop ..... just to drop them with no replacement .... go kick rocks & order from our competition .... just baffles me & makes no sense.

 

 

[Bob Ritter]

On 11/5/2022 at 1:40 PM, Los_Control said:

I guess I'm just baffled from the (non) issue? We can jump online & order what we want. I think the nicop is a better product.

 

I think there is a market here, while is common we call them brake lines, they have many other uses such as hydraulic clutches, fuel, transmission .... I can understand phasing them out with a better product like nicop ..... just to drop them with no replacement .... go kick rocks & order from our competition .... just baffles me & makes no sense.

 

 

I found the brake and gas line material on line, it comes in a roll and is easy to bend and it's steel with aluminized coating on it. The hard part for me was learning how to do the double flares. I think the cost was about $30.00. If you have problems locating the tubing let me know and I will go through my  receipts.

[Dodgeb4ya]

I always have kept 25' rolls of all sizes of brake/fuel line on hand.

Never have had an issue getting it at the local "good" NAPA.

I will talk to them next time in about this issue mentioned.

[Bob Ritter]

On 12/7/2022 at 5:52 PM, Bob Ritter said:

I found the brake and gas line material on line, it comes in a roll and is easy to bend and it's steel with aluminized coating on it. The hard part for me was learning how to do the double flares. I think the cost was about $30.00. If you have problems locating the tubing let me know and I will go through my  receipts.

Summit racing has the tubing and you can order it with fittings or without, I used the old fitting and it work out great. If you decide to do the flaring be sure to use a little oil on the flaring tool.

[Sniper]

Rock Auto sells it too, shop around, take shipping into account

 

https://www.rockauto.com/en/tools/brake+&+wheel+hub,brake+line,brake+line,1820

[Los_Control]

On 12/10/2022 at 1:40 AM, Dodgeb4ya said:

I will talk to them next time in about this issue mentioned.

I have a personal issue with napa .... 6-7 years ago while visiting my Uncle in WA state, I went to napa to buy a tire inflater.

Just a cheap photo from Lowes hardware to show what I was looking at ..... Napa listed it on the shelf for over $80 .... I felt it was worth $45 tops, it was high quality.

When you pick it up & take it to the counter to pay for it .... then they decide what discount to give you. I got it for my price only because my Uncle was a friend of theirs.

Not saying they ripped me off, just saying they keep the door open for it ..... I try to avoid them if I can.

On 12/12/2022 at 2:02 PM, Bob Ritter said:

If you decide to do the flaring be sure to use a little oil on the flaring tool.

Thats a good tip, I have some more lines to make up & will remember that while making them.

 

Buying the superior nicop online is no problem.

I just find it odd the local stores are discontinuing steel lines without introducing the new replacement nicop lines.

I wonder if it is because they are new & stores do not want liability for them????

I dunno, seems they would offer them as a replacement if removing the old product.