NAC: Stainless brake lines on a street car?

[Taka Mizutani]

Gee Brett-
Now you've made personal attacks officially on the list.

You're nitpicking a point (that I don't remember making, but anyway) when
you're
talking about an obviously poorly-constructed line.

Furthermore, properly-constructed, non-DOT compliant (non-crimped-end) SS or
Kevlar lines (Aeroquip, Earl's, etc.) are the best type of alternative line
out there-
much stiffer than rubber, less line flex, abrasion resistance and easily
rebuilt.

I've seen both stock rotors and lines fail, on several different makes and
models of
cars and I'm not a professional mechanic. It happens. I agree that
aftermarket drilled
rotors are not appropriate for much of anything and I still wonder why
Ferrari, Porsche
and some other companies continue to use drilled rotors on street cars when
the
race cars don't even have them.

I've also seen a lot more drilled rotors crack than plain rotors.

If you can't replace the rotors and lines on a regular basis due to cost,
laziness, whatever,
you shouldn't run them. If you can't do that, don't buy racy stuff. If
you're going to be a poser
and buy stuff just because it looks cool, then you'll pay the price.

I replaced my SS lines biannually, the last time with the coated lines from
ECS.

Taka


On 6/24/06, Brett Dikeman <quattro at frank.mercea.net> wrote:
>
>
> On Jun 24, 2006, at 5:49 PM, Mark R wrote:
>
> > I'm a Stoptech dealer.... but beyond that, I've been installing SS
> > brake
> > lines for a LONG time.  I've NEVER personally seen a line failure,
> > except
> > when new, due to bad crimping (Neuspeed, not Stoptech, for the
> > record).
>
>
> http://www.quattro123.com/WG3MVC-423F.JPG
> http://www.quattro123.com/WG3MVC-426F.JPG
> http://www.quattro123.com/WG3MVC-425F.JPG
> http://www.quattro123.com/WG3MVC-417F.JPG
> http://www.quattro123.com/WG3MVC-418F.JPG
>
> (from http://www.quattro123.com/MPTSNeqWatkinsGlenAug2003.htm)
>
> Funny how Scott brought these images to the list's attention after
> Taka said Earls lines are the best :-)
>
>
> Oh, and a year or two ago, a student lost a wheel when one of his
> drilled rotors cracked and exploded.  Ripped the caliper off the
> strut (cutting the brake line, so no brakes), shattered the wheel,
> and shredded the tire.  The student said it sounded like someone set
> off a grenade in his wheel well.  Looked like it, too.  Funny how
> I've never seen stock brake lines or stock rotors fail, huh?
> Fascinating.
>
> There is NO way to inspect an SS line, unlike regular stock lines.
> Improvement in pedal feel compared to NEW stock lines is minimal and
> pointless.  SS lines are for the track/racing, stock is for the street.
>
> Oh, all that aside- never heard anything but good stuff about
> Stoptechs save the pads can sometimes be tough to remove if they've
> been in for a while and rusted up.  I've rode with Mark and the set
> he has on his Z06 are amazing.  From what I'm told, both pad and
> rotor availability is quite good, with a lot of pad/rotor companies
> stocking stoptech applications.
>
> Brett