OTC 4504 Stinger Bubble Flaring Review

I've started practicing making bubble shaped highlights and it's very difficult to get good highlights with this tool. I used to do a lot of double inverted flashes and never had a problem so I figured it was almost the same type of tool that it would take me a few tries to get used to it and then I could make new lines. No, every flash went wrong in its own way. Most of them were crooked, some were oval and some were curled on me. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a professional…

I have to make a lot of steel brake lines for work. While the dual/reverse flare works where the bubble/ISO flare originally used and I haven't had any issues with leakage, I've never felt comfortable with it. So I bought this tool and saved a lot of money compared to the tool cart. He did what he had to do and formed the perfect flare on the first try. It gets a little cleaner if you put brake fluid on the end of the line as a lubricant. NEVER USE OIL OR LUBRICANTS. In the braking system, oil…

What can I say. It worked. I did 14 lifts with only one issue from not tightening the wing nut enough to keep the line from slipping. When I did everything there was not a single leak. I made 7 replacement lines at the factory and routed them exactly as they came from the factory. I used 3/16" polymer coated cord (dark green material). OD Deburrer I used a chamfer tool to make a chamfer on the ID, then I oiled the included die and proceeded to create the torch. Bench grinder, just this one Once

I actually tried this tool after practicing with over a dozen flashes before trying it on a real line I had installed in my car and each flash worked. comes out terrible. I followed the instructions exactly, but to no avail. I also asked for feedback on the MB forums and got some technical advice which I also tried to no avail. I used nearly three feet of test lead from the torch, then cut the failed torch off to the point where my workspace looked like a Pez dispenser had exploded. By the way,

Perhaps I was naïve to expect that just because it was made in America and got generally good reviews it would be a decent instrument. I should have paid more attention to the 3 star ratings and below because I agree with them all on the quality of this flare tool - not good. I think it's more in line with the quality you would expect from a cheap Chinese tool from Harbor Freight. I was really wondering if this could be a Chinese fake and not the genuine OTC item. I suspect the reason some…

This product is a lot better than I was hoping for. This puts the Autozone OEM brake flare tool to shame. This allowed me to do my first big bubble burst and I did it on the first try. I also feel like I could just as easily make hundreds of extra flashes with this tool, although I hope I don't have to. Working on the brakes on my cars is one of my least favorite jobs - right where the muffler work is. With this tool and a 25-foot spool of 3/16-inch coated brake hoses, I'm almost looking…