Steel Braided Brake Lines
Brett Dikeman
quattro at frank.mercea.net
Thu Nov 1 17:04:28 PDT 2007
On Nov 1, 2007, at 7:36 PM, John Larson wrote:
> Never heard of the problem? I've personally seen it twice, and
> there's
> a guy on the 20v list ( or maybe this one) who had it happen to him
> under heavy braking from speed on the race track. Not pretty. The
> ONLY
> failure mode for SS braided teflon brake hoses is sudden, total, and
> absolute loss of braking, and regular replacement is recommended (like
> every 2-4 years). OE type lines last 15-30, even 30 years, and the
> failure mode is more apt to involve internal swelling, holding the
> brakes on. Your choice: bling or safety?
Couple of comments:
-OEM lines should be replaced every 5 years or so, maybe 10. They
won't last much more than 10-15 before they're of questionable
safety. They do, however, give plenty of warning they're aging- they
crack, swell, turn mushy, etc.
-The guy who blew a line was an S-car owner, but both Scott Downs and
I have cited it several times on the 200q20v list, and Scott has
photos on his site of the incident. I don't *think* anyone on the
200q20v list has blown a line, not sure.
Adding to the informal "evidence" was Art Mayhew's observation one
year at an annual NEQ meeting that he'd had a number of customers
blow SS lines, but not a single customer, far back as he could
remember, lose a stock brake line (Art owns a used Audi dealership in
NY.) The discussion was broached because I was urging the President
to consider restrictions on them of some sort.
If you use them for the intended application, that's fine. The
difference in maintenance/teardowns, mileage and exposure to dirt/
grit is very different between the street and the track...though
rallying' is another matter of course :-) This is why some racing
brakes are completely unsuitable for the street.
Like most 'racing' bits, SS lines are designed for performance, not
longevity or ease of maintenance (or tolerance of lack of said
maintenance.) Racing harnesses are another great example- they have
a very finite lifetime because "stock" belts have a lot more UV
stabilizers than racing harnesses.
Brett
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