Source: 2016 Q4 Beartracks, Jared Yates
Most builders get most of their parts by mail. We’ve all experienced the frustration of halting progress for the need of one more little piece of something. Here’s a guide to help consolidate a shopping list for the brake lines. If you have completed your brake lines and used a different list, add a comment to this article so that other builders can benefit from your knowledge. Comment also if you find this sort of guide helpful and would like to have one for other systems.
We’ll start the tour at the brake caliper and work up to the brake reservoir. Most calipers will have a 1/8 NPT female thread. Install an AN822-4D (1/4 flare -1/8 NPT elbow) at the caliper.


Attach a flexible line of around 12 inches to allow the caliper to move, and on the other end use an AN815-4D (1/4 Flare – 1/4 Flare nipple) to join it to an aluminum line, preferably 5052. Some builders leave a loop of hard aluminum line here, and it seems to last for a long time before it cracks. The movement of the caliper is small, so that is another option.



This 5052 line travels inside the gear leg up to the AN833-4D (bulkhead elbow, Flare-Flare) fitting at the top. Orient the fitting so that the AN924-4D (nut) is inside the gear leg. On the top of that fitting, install another flex line with an approximate length of 12 inches.


At the small aluminum bulkhead piece under the floor at Station B, install an AN832-4D (straight bulk-head Flare-Flare) with another AN924-4D and transition to another hard aluminum line.


Route this line under the pilot’s feet and up towards the firewall, to a parking brake valve if you will be using one. The Matco brand valve is in the picture to the right. It will require converting four 1/8 NPT female holes to four flared lines. These will likely be two AN822s and two AN816s.

If you’ll be skipping the parking brake valve (and its associated weight, parts count, bleeding complications, and leak potential), take the under-foot aluminum line to another AN815-4D (straight nipple Flare – Flare).

For the 4-place, route a flexible line to the output (bottom) of one of the corresponding master cylinders. Route another flexible line from the top of that same master cylinder to the bottom of the corresponding master cylinder on the other side of the cabin.
If you are using the Gerdes type master cylinders that most of us use, you’ll need to adapt their 1/8 NPT female ports to meet the flexible lines. Some folks may find the 45-degree AN832 elbows more convenient, especially for the bottom of the master cylinders. Straight AN816 fittings are also common here, as are 90-degree AN822 fittings, depending on the length of the flexible lines that connect everything up.

As a starting point for a dual brake setup, try two 90 degree fittings at the top of the pilot’s left and right cylinders, two 45 degree fittings at the bottom of those, two straight fittings at the top of the copilot’s cylinders, and two 45 degree fittings at the bottom of those. Your arrangement may vary, and this mostly applies just to the 4-place.
Route flexible lines from the top of the first two brake cylinders to the brake reservoir via an AN834-4D (bulkhead tee) to pass through the firewall.

If you use a Matco reservoir like the one on the left, it will also need an AN816 nipple, a short piece of 5052 line, and corresponding sleeves and nuts.
Here is the shopping list for the brake system as described above, assuming you’ll be using dual brakes and a park-ing brake valve:
AN822-4D (Flare – NPT 90 degree elbow): 6 (calipers x2, master cylinders x2, parking brake x2)
AN823-4D (Flare – NPT 45 degree elbow): 4 (master cylinders x4)
AN816-4D (Flare – NPT Nipple): 5 (master cylinder x2, parking brake x2, bottom of reservoir x1)
AN815-4D (Flare-Flare Nipple): 2 (caliper flex to leg hard line, 1 per side)
AN833-4D (bulkhead elbow, Flare – Flare): 2 (top of gear legs)
AN834-4D (bulkhead tee): 1 (firewall)
AN832-4D (bulkhead nipple Flare-Flare): 2 (station B)
AN924-4D (nut for bulkhead fittings): 5 (2 for the 833s, 2 for the 832s, and one for the 834)
AN819-4D (Sleeve) and AN818-4D (Nut): 21 each
Flexible lines: 10 (determine length for your own situation) (2 for the calipers, 2 for the gear legs, 6 for the master cylinders) Preassembled and pretested lines are available from places like pegasusautoracing.com.
If you’ll not be using the parking brake, eliminate the following:
AN816-4D x2, AN822-4D x2
And add:
AN815-4D x2