[urq] Re: Stainless Steel Braided Brake Lines

[Brett Dikeman]

AUDIJIM at aol.com wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I'm looking for a source for quality stainless steel braided brake lines for 
> my UrQuattro and my type 44. I've bought them before from GPR? maybe? and I 
> wasn't very happy with the quality of the product.

> I remember a thread about the 
> used of the non-DOT braided lines because they were of a better quality. 

DOT certification has NOTHING to do with quality.  Some "high quality"
lines don't pass DOT tests because of the style of the tests or because
the manufacturer doesn't want to pay DOT certification when their main
market is racers for whom DOT certification is irrelevant.  Some lines 
with inferior
components will pass DOT tests just fine.

Unless you have a VERY good reason (you race the car for money, you're 
an extremely experienced driver, you have a crew, you can afford to 
replace your lines regularly, and you need that extra tiny little edge), 
don't go with SS lines.

-they cannot be inspected for condition or damage because of the SS 
cover.  Teflon tubing is like glass- a scratch weakens it
-they suffer catastrophic failure when the plastic line ruptures or the
crimps fail, and crimp quality seems to be a huge problem.
-they are designed for racing applications with:
	-vehicles driven on clean track surfaces (jacketed lines help somewhat
here to keep dirt from between the braid and Teflon line)
	-replacement every racing season or better
-they are sometimes sized improperly and may be weakened or destroyed
when the car is put on a jack or lift. This happened to a friend with
lines on his S6.  Unlike the OEM, tuners or "guinea pig" customers just
install the line, say "yep, looks good!" and don't account for steering
angle or whether the car is on a jack, etc.
-they offer mostly a psychological improvement; most often the gains 
come from replacing stock lines which have softened with age, not from 
any radical difference in performance.

Someone who shall remain nameless posted "oh, you get quality lines from
Earl's, they have good fittings!"  To which Scott Downs replied with a
URL of a gallery from a track event, showing a line that failed sending 
a car into a
gravel pit.  He's posted it again in this thread.

When will people learn?  OEM lines last 10 years easy, they're dumb
@#!% easy to inspect and show plenty of warning when they're getting
old.  If anyone thinks SS lines do anything for them on the street or 
track, maybe they need to tighten the nut behind the wheel first.

Brett
-- 
"They that give up essential liberty to obtain temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Ben Franklin
http://www.users.cloud9.net/~brett/