[A4] Brakes & Rotors Update

[Richard Hurt]

Robert,
  Great information!  I never realized the strengths and weaknesses of both
standard & stainless lines.

I don't think I'm up for installing them this time, too much $$$ right
before the holiday, but when I do I'll come to you guys for help.  I'm kinda
nervous about bleeding the brakes on a modern, ABS equipped, traction
control system vehicle.  Any tips?  Can you just do the standard "start with
the wheel furthest from the MC"?  Or do you need a auto-bleeder?

On a slightly different note, I think my MC has gotten a little blow-by.  My
petal was slowly going down to the floor before I took my brakes off.  Now,
my _hope_ is that my brakes were SOOO bad that it had this effect on the
petal but I'm not holding my breath.  :/

Later...
  Richard

On 11/25/06, Robert A. King <gt40 at mail.ev1.net> wrote:
>
> At 04:19 PM 11/25/2006, you wrote:
> >I really can't wait to get it back on the road and see how much better it
> >is!  :)
> >
> >I don't really want to break the seal on the brake lines and installing
> >stainless lines would do that.
>
> Huh?  Are you worried about screwing something up?  No worries -- all
> you'll need to do after installing the lines is bleed the brakes.
>
>
> >   I've also heard that the stainless lines
> >actually wear out faster because of the braiding.  Anyone have any
> >experience with them?
>
> Heh -- yep.  I've been building and using braided stainless lines for
> over 10 years.  Brake lines don't "wear out".  Rubber lines WILL
> deteriorate over time (ozone and UV light break down the rubber
> jacket.)  Not so with braided stainless steel hoses.  Rubber hoses
> will also wear if something (anything?) rubs against them.  I've lost
> hoses on my race car because of this.
>
> Stainless steel hoses are made of a Teflon tube wrapped by a jacket
> made of stainless steel wire.  Teflon is not subject to deterioration
> over time and will not deteriorate substantially over time.  The
> stainless steel wire is VERY tough.  If anything rubs against it,
> chances are very good that the wire will wear slower than whatever
> rubs against it.  It makes for a fairly good file or saw!
>
> About the only thing that can damage a stainless steel hose is
> physical damage to the hose.  The Teflon hose will kink if bent too
> sharply.  If kinked, it WILL cold-flow, leaving two weak spots in the
> hose, which WILL fail at some point.  If the hose gets kinked, or if
> you THINK it's been kinked, its junk.  Kinking is most often seen
> right at the hose end, usually then some moron hangs the caliper from
> the brake hose.  The Teflon can also be damaged inside the hose end
> if its pulled on hard enough.  Again, this happens when the
> aforementioned moron hangs the caliper from the hose.
>
> On the street, barring physical damage, a quality stainless steel
> hose should be pretty much immortal.  I ran my stainless street hoses
> for about 10 years.  On the race track, I change them out yearly.
>
> Once again, If I even suspect that a hose has been damaged, the hose is
> junk.
>
>
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