Steel Braided Brake Lines

[Brett Dikeman]

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