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Starboard M

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Joined
Jun 16, 2020
Member Number
2051
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WA
I just cut and installed my first AN line and fittings, quickly realizing I need more of them in my life.

As it turns out, bolt cutters do not work all that well for cutting line, even the small 6 line I tried. I also realized that if Im running race car parts, I should not use steel combination wrenches on aluminum fittings.


So does anyone have any recommendations for hose cutters and wrenches? Or any to avoid?



Summit Racing has some house brand cutters for $45, and the reviews are either five stars, or one star saying they are cheap crap.
They also sell a couple other brands, mostly in the same price range. Is it worth the extra $20 to get the Vibrant version of the same thing?


Wrenches seem to be the same, but all slightly different. I dont think Ill be able to tell the difference between brands or versions, but Id love to get some ideas.


This will be used in a home garage, MAYBE used two or three times a year. Id like to buy a specialized tool, but also dont want to spend crazy money on something meant for a full time race shop.
Short term plans are fuel lines for two Jeeps and a couple transmission lines, so while nothing crazy I think its enough cutting to justify buying the "right" tools. So basically smaller -6 line for the most part.
 
Use a grinder to cut hydraulic hose. Or a metal cutting saw. Make sure you clean the hose well. I at least blow it out and rinse with brake clean.
Doesn't take much to damage a pump, motor or valve body.

Crimpers used to be free or real cheap if you bought a few grand if fittings and hose. Seemed like everytime we blew a hose though it'd end up being a less common fitting.

It's rare for be to run into aluminum fittings. The couple times, I treated them like normal fittings. Why would you need special wrenches?
Half the time I use an adjustable cause I don't feel like lugging 40lbs of wrenches or making 8 trips to the truck or in the shop for tools.
 
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I just use snap on flank drive wrenches or adjustables on an fittings. The aluminum wrenches suck ass but supposedly dont mar the anodizing. They dont work that well and I've bent the tangs on the smaller ones.

Cutting an line is easy enough with a cut off wheel or hacksaw.

The only specialty tools I would buy are for pushlok or nylon/ptfe lines.
 
I used to work at russell Performance. We used garden loppers to cut the hose and polished steel wrenches to assemble hose ends. Aluminum wrenches tend to scratch the hose ends easier. We only used the polished wrenches for AN fittings. If we were wrenching on something we had a separate set.

I was told the original reason for aluminum and AN wrenches was they were light and you could carry them to the start Finishline at a dragstrip in your pocket easily. It had nothing to do with Scratchin AN fittings.
 
this cutter works amazing i picked up a huge version of this at a garage sale for 20an

www.speedwaymotors.com

Speedway Heavy Duty Hose Cutter Tool

It's hard to make quick, clean cuts on hoses. These heavy duty cutters feature precision ground blades and the big 18-1/2" length makes cutting a breeze. This is a great cutter for hoses from AN-4 up to AN-16. Not recommended for stainless steel braided hose.
www.speedwaymotors.com www.speedwaymotors.com
 
We use mostly AL AN fittings in general aviation, and we always use Snap-On wrenches and rarely mar them. Any quality open end wrench seems to work well, in my experience. The ones we see that are mucked up, usually have been tightened by a non-mechanic with their Pittsburgh wrench and it doesn’t fit correctly.
 
I do a wrap and a half of masking tape to keep the braid from fraying, cut with a cut off wheel, I leave the bit of tape on the end so the frays don’t get all wadded up on the fitting. Then tighten then down them with crescent wrenches.
 
For An braided line. Wrap in electrical tape use a cutoffs wheel to cut the line. Put fitting in vise Spray line and fitting with wd40, assemble line by hand then use quality adjustable wrench/knipx with one layer of tape to assemble.
 
Wrapping them in tape makes a hot sticky mess. I switched to using a hose clamp.
 
Instead of using tape i was thinking of using heat shrink. I doubt i'll ever use ss braided line again though.
 
I bought the Summit hose cutter to do my first SS braided PS line.. worked great. I also bought the Koul tool, that worked great as well. I can see that with experience there's no need for the Koul tool but it really made it easy and I was a lot more confident about the hose being made right. I used regular Craftsman wrenches. I also bought two of each fitting I used just to have as spares in my truck's tool bag. Also bought similar sized plugs in case I found myself doing a trail-repair.
 
I've put together quite a few fittings.

I just wrap the cut area with tape (painters tape), cut with an angle grinder, and then blow it out. It's worked fine for me for a while. I'll usually slide the hose side female over the hose with the tape still on it (if it'll slip over), before taking the tape off...where most of your flaying will happen.

Honestly, the only "special" tool would be some AL or softer jaws for a vise. I use smaller adjustable wrenches when assembling, since it doesn't matter the side, I can get it snug to the fitting and not worry that the wrench is slightly off in size, or the fitting is slightly off the wrench size.

Use assembly lube (they may AN fitting lube). Tighten it up, and it's good to go. Just like hydro field serviceable fittings, it doesn't need to be bottomed out in order to seal/be physically secure.

I've done plenty of 6AN, 8AN, and even 16AN for my cooling. 16AN...well that's a whole different animal that is questionable by hand (though mine have held just fine now for several years).
 
total newb said:
Im still unclear on what hose were talking about cutting, ss braided? Hydro with internal braid? Rubber with fabric braid?
Click to expand...
I was using this stuff:
www.summitracing.com

Summit Racing SUM-230620 Summit Racing™ Stainless Steel Hose | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Summit Racing™ Stainless Steel Hose with qualifying orders of $109. Shop AN Hose at Summit Racing.
www.summitracing.com www.summitracing.com

My primary use right now is for fuel lines in the -6 size. Ill be doing some more fuel lines later, and tranny lines eventually.
Freerider15 said:
There's a screen name I haven't seen in a looong time :eek:

:beer:
Click to expand...
Cheers bud, hope youre doing well!






I watched a couple videos that suggested the grinder was ill advised for cutting due to getting crap in the line. Tend to agree which is why Im looking at some sort of scissor type cutting.

Also sounds like the scratching and general mayhem was just not having experience. And as Freerider mentioned, I am now seeing soft jaws in videos so I may have to pick those up and try the wrenches I have.
 
Starboard M said:
I was using this stuff:
www.summitracing.com

Summit Racing SUM-230620 Summit Racing™ Stainless Steel Hose | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Summit Racing™ Stainless Steel Hose with qualifying orders of $109. Shop AN Hose at Summit Racing.
www.summitracing.com www.summitracing.com

My primary use right now is for fuel lines in the -6 size. Ill be doing some more fuel lines later, and tranny lines eventually.

Cheers bud, hope youre doing well!






I watched a couple videos that suggested the grinder was ill advised for cutting due to getting crap in the line. Tend to agree which is why Im looking at some sort of scissor type cutting.

Also sounds like the scratching and general mayhem was just not having experience. And as Freerider mentioned, I am now seeing soft jaws in videos so I may have to pick those up and try the wrenches I have.
Click to expand...
I've done both, cutoff wheel in a grinder and scissor type cutter. Both work. The grinder you just have to wash out with brake clean and air. The scissor style may leave the end of the hose football shaped instead of round. This can make it somewhat more difficult to get the fitting on the hose. With either method I wrap the hose with masking tape before cutting to help keep the SS braid from fraying.
 
Starboard M said:
I was using this stuff:
www.summitracing.com

Summit Racing SUM-230620 Summit Racing™ Stainless Steel Hose | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Summit Racing™ Stainless Steel Hose with qualifying orders of $109. Shop AN Hose at Summit Racing.
www.summitracing.com www.summitracing.com

My primary use right now is for fuel lines in the -6 size. Ill be doing some more fuel lines later, and tranny lines eventually.

Cheers bud, hope youre doing well!






I watched a couple videos that suggested the grinder was ill advised for cutting due to getting crap in the line. Tend to agree which is why Im looking at some sort of scissor type cutting.

Also sounds like the scratching and general mayhem was just not having experience. And as Freerider mentioned, I am now seeing soft jaws in videos so I may have to pick those up and try the wrenches I have.
Click to expand...

You as well! :beer: What part of the states are you in now?

I've done both the cutting wheel and the scissor. The issue with the scissor was making the end not-round, which made getting things to work, more of a pita. As far as crap in the line, I simply just run water through it, and then blow it out/dry it with the compressor. I've yet to have a line with remotely any debris in it after that.
 
Admittedly the cutter tool (scissor-style) did create an extra step where I stuck a fitting part way in to round it out a bit because it did often become oval shaped but wasn't a big deal.
 
i would only use ss braid hose for brakes and those with plastic over cover.
nylon braided an hose is so much nicer.
been running Summit Racing Premium Braided Nylon Hose with e85/ethanoled pump gas for 10 years now and never had any leaks or issues

​

 
Starboard M said:
I was using this stuff:
www.summitracing.com

Summit Racing SUM-230620 Summit Racing™ Stainless Steel Hose | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Summit Racing™ Stainless Steel Hose with qualifying orders of $109. Shop AN Hose at Summit Racing.
www.summitracing.com www.summitracing.com

My primary use right now is for fuel lines in the -6 size. Ill be doing some more fuel lines later, and tranny lines eventually.

Cheers bud, hope youre doing well!






I watched a couple videos that suggested the grinder was ill advised for cutting due to getting crap in the line. Tend to agree which is why Im looking at some sort of scissor type cutting.

Also sounds like the scratching and general mayhem was just not having experience. And as Freerider mentioned, I am now seeing soft jaws in videos so I may have to pick those up and try the wrenches I have.
Click to expand...
Blow it out and douche with brake clean. The good hose places have a hose rinser they run it through.

Maybe low pressure line you'd easily cut, dunno. I normally use 3 or 4k psi.
 
Starboard M said:
I was using this stuff:
www.summitracing.com

Summit Racing SUM-230620 Summit Racing™ Stainless Steel Hose | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Summit Racing™ Stainless Steel Hose with qualifying orders of $109. Shop AN Hose at Summit Racing.
www.summitracing.com www.summitracing.com

My primary use right now is for fuel lines in the -6 size. Ill be doing some more fuel lines later, and tranny lines eventually.

Cheers bud, hope youre doing well!






I watched a couple videos that suggested the grinder was ill advised for cutting due to getting crap in the line. Tend to agree which is why Im looking at some sort of scissor type cutting.

Also sounds like the scratching and general mayhem was just not having experience. And as Freerider mentioned, I am now seeing soft jaws in videos so I may have to pick those up and try the wrenches I have.
Click to expand...

1000's of hydraulic lines a day are cut on chop saws.

Here's the way some hose shops do it, I guarantee not every hose shop is doing it this way. We don't have one at work, I give my hoses a quick blow with some air and brake clean.

 
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