This product is far better than I had hoped. It puts the autozone OEM brake flaring tool to shame. It allowed me to make my first excellent bubble flare and did it on my first try. I also have the sense that I could do as good a job for hundreds of additional flares using this tool, although I hope that I won't need to. Doing brake jobs on my cars is one of my least favorite tasks - right up there with muffler work. With this tool and a 25 foot roll of 3/16" coated brake tube, I almost look forward to my next brake job or at least don't dread it so much.
The thing that I particularly like is the fact that the flaring bits screw into the press so that they don't tip to one side and a nice even flare is practically guaranteed. The bits also look to be much more sturdy than other systems that I have tried. I think that it would be very difficult to break the bits, in sharp contrast to the OEM product that I rented. Even at free, that product was way too expensive in terms of time and aggravation.
The other thing that I like is that the pipe press clamps firmly but does not distort the brake pipe, again in sharp contrast to the OEM product that I tried. In my hands, at least, the OEM system made a real hatchet job of my brake pipe.
It is a little odd in that the sizes of this system are metric rather than inch fractions but I checked and the 4.75 mm is almost exactly the same as 3/16". I assume that the other sizes are also inch fraction equivalents, although I personally have never had to deal with anything other than 3/16" brake tube.
I couldn't be happier with this product. It feels like a truly professional product at an amateur price. OTC really hit one out of the park with their 4504 Stinger ISO Bubble Flaring Tool Kit .
| Manufacturer | OTC |
|---|---|
| Brand | OTC |
| Model | ISO BUBBLE FLARING TOOL KIT |
| Item Weight | 0.043 ounces |
| Product Dimensions | 9.9 x 6.1 x 2.3 inches |
| Country of Origin | Taiwan |
| Item model number | 4504 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Manufacturer Part Number | 4504 |
| OEM Part Number | 4504 |
