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

[Theodore Chen]

--- Vincent Frégeac <s.sikss at gmail.com> wrote:
> I can't tell about the rubber hose as it was on the car when I bought it so
> I don't know how it was treated. Probably the way most mechs treat brake
> hoses: badly.
> 
> But I installed the braided steel hose myself and the rear caliper where the
> hose blew off was left untouched during the 3 years. Now, it can be that
> 100Kmiles of bumps and potholes as we have in Quebec is close to the
> lifespan of these hoses.
> 
> What really scared me was that the hose blew off with no warning signs like
> leaks or torn braiding. The line was dirty but intact and just blew off
> approx. 1 inch from the caliper end. No need to say I changed all four in
> the following days.

the hose itself just separated completely?  i take it you mean 1 inch
from where the hose went into the fitting?  was it a swaged fitting or
was it a reusable hose end?

it sounds like the hose may have fatigued after 100k miles and broken.
if that's the case, it's definitely a good idea to change the hose as
a maintenance item.  perhaps i'll set 50k miles as my change interval
for the hoses.  my cost for changing all the hoses is less than changing
the oil anyway (just more of a hassle).

-teddy



 
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