[s-cars] Confirmed: Braided brake lines don't age well

[Theodore Chen]

--- Mike Claire <mike.claire at gmail.com> wrote:

> Teddy:  I understand, and I'm not concerned about imminent brake failure.
> I'm still driving the car 100 miles a day.  Haven't slowed down a bit :)
> 
> Although they're not coming off today, or this week, I don't think anybody
> on this list would let them stay on the car indefinitely.  These lines look
> like they ought to be condemned.

they look dirty, but the braided steel seems to be in decent shape.  
however, i'm just judging from the pictures.  it does look like the line
might be bent too sharply but i thought that was just the perspective
from which the photo was taken.

> The sheathing material was not up to the task for an all season daily
> driver.  They're yellowed and brittle.  It has lost all ability to flex, so
> the lines only flex where there are breaks, potentially pinching and kinking
> the braid.  It seems possible that it could restrict the flow.  Was I was
> naive to expect better?  Maybe.

flow restriction is unlikely unless the hose is kinked.  the braided steel
hose is pretty stiff.  there's a minimum bend radius (a few inches) that
must be observed.  if it is bent more than that, you should definitely
replace the hose.  if there's a kink, i'd be much more concerned about 
the integrity of the hose than the flow restriction.  there isn't much
flow in the brake system, which is why you can use -3 hose instead of having
to use -4 or -6.

the potential for concentrating bending in areas of missing sheathing is
a problem.  in that case, you might be better off removing the remaining
sheathing, and inspecting the lines for kinking.

if you have doubts about the hoses, replace them.  a lot cheaper and
a lot less work than crashing your car if a damaged hose comes apart.

-teddy



 
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