hard lining air ride with copper.

ok i am planning on using copper lines for my bag set up.....has anyone here ever done it? did you solder fittings or use the shark bite fittings?(push to fit)
pros? cons? recommendations?

Reason people don't use copper for other lines is because it "work hardens" and will become brittle, crack, etc. Looks badass when you polish it up but goes dull very quickly. Maybe use something else?

Richard

in both of my other bagged trucks, the plastic DOT line was always my failure point.

i have never heard of copper lines being brittle. i am a pipe fitter for my city's water department and have copper lines 50+ trs old that have chlorinated water running through them. and still hold up fine? now i can understand cracking from vibration if they arent isolated with rubberized clamps. to prevent them from shaking? but it is something to look at for sure. i have access to free rolls of copper tubing is why i was thinking of it. only other tubing i can think of would be stainless?

as far as the dullness, i had planned on polishing them and then painting them with a clear coat after i get them bent to help prevent oxidation

Totally different applications - water system and your truck. But do whatcha like.

I think you'll also find the clear coat won't stick long term to polished copper. Wheel plating companies figured that one out already.

Richard

i wasnt arguing with you by any means....just dont understand them being brittle is all? i understand water and air are 2 different systems.

My truck is hard lined with copper. Just use the soft copper but don't use shark bites. I used the flare fittings and 3/8 line. Works fine for me oh and I just installed some push to connect slow downs and no leaks. Hope this helps

Never thought about copper... I did stainless 1/2 hard lines... all An fittings/.. only plastic line I have is 1/8 running to my gauges.. No leaks.. Solid and reliable.. No computer stuff either.. parker valves that are easily servicable.. no sensors, senders, or any extra fittings required.. and I can buy seal kits for the valves at our local parker store.. and you can get to everything.. even if it is sitting on the ground.. I'm with all those guys.. plastic lines are no bueno on a driver. everything through grommets etc...

I am going to make some covers for the valves.. as we get alot of snow..

Is there some advantage to copper over stainless? This stuff is easy to bend. but you gotta buy a good bender...

i had seen copper used many times before and i can get my hands on rolls of copper for free. plus the previous owner when building the frame for my truck used bullet casings to fill some of the unused holes on the frame itself. so i figured the brass and copper would look good. i just purchased the accuair setup with the e-level system from a member here on DS luckily it is the newer accuair valves that allow the use of NPT fitting instead of the original push to connect style. this truck will be a driver as well as the towpig for my brothers full custom race truck. so dependability is important to me....always had issues with plastic lines.

well hook me up with about 100 foot and ill try it out for you lol....but seriously Ekstensive uses cooper line on alot of their projects so its gotta be reliable for them to keep using it....i was thinking about stainless till i priced it

Arguing...naw...it ain't like that. Just saying if you're convinced then go for it, obviously others are doing it and having some kind of success. Also consider whether the people that have copper are driving their trucks a lot or just occasional/show and how you intend to use yours too.

I know that lots of people will not use copper for fuel line because of what I mentioned. However I guess if you insulate the crap out of it at every possible mounting point that would help a lot.

As far as the polishing and clearcoat thing, there's a wheel company out in California that does a lot of chrome exchange type work, they're actually the platers not just sending it out - I saw some of their work where they had just pulled a wheel out from the copper stage and man it looked so freaking sexy I commented that maybe that would be an option instead of chrome. They said no way, the finish goes bad very quickly, and clear coat won't hold.

Richard