AN fitting help

[CityHick]

Does anybody have any helpful suggestions for assembling AN fittings onto braided stainless lines? I bought a bunch of -3an line to run to my lockers, with the required adapters and I'm having nothing but problems trying to assemble this hose. I have assembled larger AN fittings before with no trouble, but this small stuff is driving me nuts.

To get a smooth cut I wrap the end with tape, tightly, then cut it with my dremel tool. The cuts are perfect and there is no fraying until I try to put the hose end on, and it never fails, a couple strands end up poking out and I find myself starting over. I've tried lubing the fittings and hose with light oil which seems to help initially, but I'm losing my patience... this isn't supposed to be this difficult!

Any helpful hints are appreciated.

-Tony

[Dusty]

Re: AN fitting help

The smaller hose sizes are just a serious bitch. I use the same method as you, just keep trying. One thing I have discovered is that different brands of hose are different degrees of easiness to work with. The cheaper hose like from Summit seems to fray easier and is harder to get the hose ends on. Higher quality hose from Earl's or Aeroquip seems to be easier to work with. But I think anything that small is going to be a major PITA.

Dusty

[CityHick]

Re: AN fitting help

Thanks Dusty...
Last night as I was laying sleepless in bed it dawned on me that I was being a dumbass. When I placed my order, I ordered some -4an to run from the tank to my ARB manifold and skipped ordering the -3an hose as I hadn't yet taken measurements. So being the rocket scientist that I was last night, I was trying to assemble -3an fittings onto -4an hose. Obviously that does not work! Today when I got home from work I confirmed my midnight revelation and the fittings went right on.

And on a related side note... I am using Earl's speed-flex hose which is teflon hose with a stainless braid. I must say I am a fan of the teflon AN hose! It assembles WAY easier than the more typical braided rubber AN hose and is rated for super high pressure to boot.

In my defense, its been a very long week and I have not been sleeping as much as I should...

I will post up detailed pictures of what I'm doing once the system starts to take shape more. I am missing a few parts but once they arrive my system should come together pretty quickly.

Hope this helps somebody learn from my mistakes one day!

[TBS-POPS]

Re: AN fitting help

Just make shure you are blowing out the hose with air before installing them.

[CityHick]

Re: AN fitting help

Yep Yep!
Plus they are air hoses...