Check your fuel lines (brand x )

Friend , ran this car for a few years at local track .. found out , he has Twins on the way ..wife asked him to sell car .

It went to east coast somewhere and the fuel line burst at about 1/8 mile I believe , it got hurt bad .. but, driver ok

It was a Aluminum line , it split open

That is a bummer to see that vehicle damaged, looks like it is a nice car. Repairable without too much trouble hopefully.

I'm not a fan of aluminum fuel line.

Whoever built the first two drag pak vehicles used that stuff. When I drove 2008001 (first prototype Drag Pak, the same one
Garlits drove), I had trouble with it...it stumbled badly. Every injector was plugged with red anodizing that had come off the fuel line.
It came apart and got the turbo and all that, afterwards.

Cue a poster who has used it since 1972 and never had a problem in 3.......2.......1.......:

Not me, I hate the stuff. Cheap way out that seldom works well. Even quality hose has a lifespan and won't last forever in use with fuel. The next time I see "good" hose look like a lawn sprinkler when it's pressurized after sitting for a while, won't be the first.

I gave a whole roll away as refuse to run that crap. Between seeing results from it splitting and guys fighting fuel issues because of it kinking it’s been long gone.

I hate that aluminum crap and refuse to use it.

This is why we sell Safecraft fire extinguisher systems.
Fires suck!

I'm looking at plumbing my build for fuel. What are y'all s recommendations? Pro's and con's of each. We have an excellent example of why not use the aluminum line.

Safecraft system in my Dakota.

I ran alum line for about 1 1/2 years with zero issues but at that time
I was changing from ladder bars to a 4-link so I changed my chassis
and fuel system(basically build a new car but with the old body) I went
with the black cloth covered line(both supply and return).. I have the same
set up on my Rampage also

I use and like the black cloth covered AN line. I used Fragola for %90 of my fittings and all of the hose.

GUILTY as charged....

I’d horse traded and got the Duster about a year before we moved to AZ... My dad started racing it and “upgraded” things along the way. One was a new fuel system that included aluminum line from the pump to the regulator. So yes.... about 18 years now.

Since I’m hemorrhages $$$ from the wheelstand episode, maybe it’s time... the way my luck has been, better sooner than too later.

....I’m sure autozone has a roll of rubber line and some hose clamps I could score

I've used alum. 'fuel line' in the past.. but now I have only one good use for it

Guilty ran it for 26 yrs. Redoing the cuda but will be upgrading the entire system. It won't have aluminum this time. There are way more choices now vs early 80's and I'm not a poor college student any more.

I have a brand new coil of it still in the box from Mancini that came to me in a trade with a bunch of other stuff. It still sits there untouched. I have however used it in the past and haven't run into any problems, but it was always something in the back on my mind that I'd worry about.

I've used soft drawn aluminum tubing purchased at local hardware stores as well as the anodized inner and outer aluminum fuel line coils from Summit with no issues so far
I bought some steel thin wall hydraulic tubing for my new race car but I don't think I can bend it without messing it up so maybe I'll have to do something else for it

If I'm not mistaken, isnt the cloth covered line lighter than steel braided?

Yes it is. Easier to work w/ too.

what would the weight difference, say in a B-body, be between 1/2" steel line vs the same size in the cloth coated line ? a weight per foot would be a good enough comparison. TIA as always !

My -8 Aeroquip startlite with fittings is 3.6 ounces a foot. The hose is 1.3 ounces a foot.

I have an old 6” long (hose length not including the swivels ends) stainless braided line the is 3.9 ounces.

The black line in those pics is 1” and it weighs .1 ounces an inch.

Each fitting weighs 1.3 ounces. The biggest weight loss will be eliminating connection points.

Until I get under 170 pounds I refuse to weigh fuel lines and fittings. And I’m willing to bet big money that will never happen. 😂

I have used aluminum and never had a problem. But I never flare and hook aluminum line to any type of AN or any hard fittings. I have put small flares on it and then hooked it to braided fuel line or rubber fuel line over the years and use fuel line clamps. I have seen using hard fittings on aluminum line can cause the line to crack near the fittings. Ron

In the OP of that car.. it did not burst.. if its alum line the builder failed
to put enough clamps on it.. alum line shouldnt have movement or
vibration on it... if it did leak it was due to a crack in the line and/or
a crack at a fitting(where it was flared.. a line that has a double flair
is more susceptible to cracking right where the flare folds back on
itself)

I've run flared aluminum lines for years with no problems. As stated before, support with clamps is critical, but there is also a reinforcement collar that goes on them right behind the flare to keep the vibration off of the flared end itself. How many people actually use them? Pump and regulator must be fixed, meaning, not swinging on the end of a piece of angle bracket. Lines should be supported 6" from the fittings, not 6 feet away.

For the 1 1/2 years that I did run alum line I did use the collors

I have aluminum fuel line on my Dart. I have lots of mounting clamps (rubber insulated). Also where I connected my AN fittings I used the AN compression fittings that have a rubber bushing for sealing. I didn't flare any ends. Although I never gave any thought to flaring making a stress area prone to cracking, but it makes sense. I just wonder how long the rubber liner of the braided lines holds up to the gas??? How long do you run yours until you replace it?

There is no visible damage in my 20 year old lines. I sold most of the old stuff on ebay to offset the cost of the new stuff.

I've made and used a lot of soft drawn aluminum tubing for gas lines on my drag cars with no failures, yet.
I bought a Parker Hannafin,( I think the last name was correct when I bought it from my local hydraulic shop years ago) AN flaring tool kit with the proper 37 degree angle flaring tool, I do use the proper AN size aluminum sleeve and nut(female fitting) on the ends also with a single flare ONLY
I may have tried stainless once, JUST ONCE