I've now bought three different types of metric bubble flaring tools, and I can't get a flare that looks good at all even though I've practice dozens of times. The tool that I thought would work the best was from Cal Van, their 155 model. Do these tools routinely not work as advertised, or am I doing something drastically wrong? All the tools seem straight forward from the directions, but I can't make a flare I can trust. Does Volvo still have pre-made, pre-bent and flared lines for a '96 850, and what might that cost?

 

which line are you looking for? It looks like they are still available at the dealer sites - you can try searching on "brake pipe" for the hard lines