[V8] Re: steel brake lines....

Nate Stuart newt at motorgeek.com
Tue May 10 10:23:35 EDT 2005


I think everyone is missing the point. We all know SS lines work, and do 
provide a solid pedal. Thats not in question. It's the lifespan thats the 
concern. And the fact that a SS line can and will look perfectly good until 
the day is seperates from the fittings, or splits internally.

I'll bet my last jellybean any racing crew (WRC especially!) worth their 
salt is replacing every brake line before every event. Are you?

-Nate
'89 90v8ttq
http://www.motorgeek.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Coleman, David" <David.Coleman at blackrock.com>
To: <z1sales at z1auto.com>; <rmwoodbury at downeast.net>; <v8 at audifans.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2005 8:50 AM
Subject: RE: [V8] Re: steel brake lines....


I have SS lines on my car and expect to keep them.  I've been known to ask a 
lot of my brakes at times, and a brake line's reaction to high heat (or 
temperature fluctuation) is a concern of mine. Also, and perhaps more 
importantly for the group as a whole (especially those on the gravel roads 
of rural Maine), a friend of mine once cut open a rubber brake line while 
yahooing it up on a gravel road in his Rabbit back in the day.

Granted, the line might have been lower quality anyway, and it was probably 
a fluke, but it happened.  I'd bet my last jellybean that the WRC guys use 
SS lines.

-DaveC.
Almost tasting the overhauled V8...


> -----Original Message-----
> From: v8-bounces at audifans.com
> [mailto:v8-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of z1sales at z1auto.com
> Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2005 8:19 AM
> To: rmwoodbury at downeast.net; v8 at audifans.com
> Subject: re: [V8] Re: steel brake lines....
>
> FWIW I am using the stainless lines on my V8 and they have
> worked out very well. I have also never had to replace a set
> of stainless lines, be it on my race cars or street cars,
> ever. We did it as a "while we are in there" over the winter.
>
> Performance wise, there is absolutely a firmer pedal with the
> stainless lines on the V8 vs the stock rubber ones
>
> Adam
> Z1 Performance
> www.z1auto.com
> 631-863-3820
> 631-863-3821 Fax
>
> ----------------------------------------
>  From: "Roger M. Woodbury" <rmwoodbury at downeast.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2005 7:37 AM
> To: v8 at audifans.com
> Subject: [V8] Re: steel brake lines....
>
> The question of whether or not to use stainless steel brake
> lines comes up from time to time on a lot of these lists. A
> similar thread has just ended on the Porsche 928 list. The
> conclusion from some "hard core" racer types...those with
> track prepared and track use only 928s...was that stainless
> lines were fine for track use but served no purpose on the street.
> In point of fact, the comments mostly indicated that
> stainless lines needed replacement before every race season,
> which would seem to make them undesirable for a street car,
> needing to have brake lines service the car for fifty or
> sixty thousand miles.
>
> I mostly don't pay a lot of attention to the topic of brake
> lines, higher rate shock absorbers, specialty springs and
> neat, gizzie wheels. For my next V8, the only real
> modification that I will be at all interested in will be
> bigger brakes and sixteen inch wheels, IF the wheels are even
> necessary.
> The reason is that the majority of my driving involves
> relatively rough, two lane rural roads, and with big wheels
> and very low profile tires, it would be a race to see whether
> the driving conditions killed the car first, or me.
>
> After thorough testing of the brake theory with my soon to be
> daily driver 200 20Valve Avant, I might even consider keeping
> the next V8 with stock wheels size, and UFO brakes, assuming
> that I can find all the parts to make the conversion when
> that time rolls around. My Avant had practically new UFOs
> that were put on by the PO, and that was a chief attraction,
> as I had never had a car with UFOs before. I think that UFO
> failure is chiefly due to the nature of US urban driving
> conditions, which are different than when Audi decided to use
> UFOs in certain of their high speed cars.
>
> My theory is that the kind of driving that I normally do is
> more like what Audi had envisioned when they produced cars
> with UFOs. The only real basis for this theory, in case you
> are wondering if I have been smoking something funny, is that
> in 1985 when my wife-at-the-time and I bought a new 5000 S
> Avant for her use, we went through a set of rotors in about
> 15,000 miles.
> Audi replaced the rotors under warranty, and did so again at
> 30,000 miles.
> The explanation was that the car's rotors were intended for
> high speed highway use, and the predominantly intown use of
> the car was eating brake rotors and pads. Those rotors
> weren't UFOs, but seem to indicate what Audi may have thought
> was "proper" use of their vehicle.
>
> As far as brake lines are concerned, it is my experience that
> anytime after about fifty thousand miles, all the brake
> lines, rubber suspension bushings, drive shaft bushings and
> bearings are all subject to replacement, and certainly by
> 100,000 miles they are all used up. I have only had one or
> two brake lines actually fail in my driving experience, but
> one thing seems
> certain: a brake line will ALWAYS fail due to age and
> deterioration at around oh-dark-thirty when you are thirty
> five miles from the nearest public telephone or street light,
> and where there is NO cell phone service. It will also be
> either raining or snowing very hard.
>
> It is sort of a rule, I think.
>
> Roger
>
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