Thread: Braided brake line failure???

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I came across a thread that braided brake lines were no good on a street vehicle. This was due to them breaking and needing to be replaced yearly. Any of you guys with braided brake lines have issues , I don't? I am sure they do brake but IMO the major cause of them braking would be poor installation.

Are you talking about the lines from the frame to a non-fixed caliper or drum? They shouldn't break unless they are put in a bind, aren't long enough (and bind), or catch something going down the road.

The non motional brake lines should be steel or stainless, etc and not braided.

Kitz

As with many things, the consumer likes to blame the manufacturer instead of taking the blame himself for an improper installation.... But also, there are companies out there selling some real trash these days!!!! I've installed some that have been on cars for 10-15 years and still work fine. One set still hauls the car down from about 100 9.90 passes every year..... I'd guess that 95% of the failures are from installation errors....

Last year I replaced the flex lines on my 64 C 10, and yes, they were original: the rubber coating was cracked, but they didn't leak.

Originally Posted by firebird77clone

Last year I replaced the flex lines on my 64 C 10, and yes, they were original: the rubber coating was cracked, but they didn't leak.

I would hope to change my braided lines before the next 30 yrs....

I have had stainless braided brake lines on my 48 Ford for over 25 years and never had a leak.

I've run stainless brake lines on various pro street cars I've had, along with custom & factory motorcycles, since the late 70's & have yet to have a failure.

I've also used the rubber lined stainless on my fuel lines with the same results.

DO NOT use standard rubber lined stainless hose on any brake system - they are spongy & could fail do to line pressure. Teflon lined braided stainless IS the way to go.

I've also seen DOT approved black plastic "type" lines being used on some custom bikes.....I've not tried it yet....so I can not render a coment.

Regs

Most of the SS braided brake lines are not DOT certified. This means that anyone can make them up and install on a car. This is not to say that they are bad, but that they are the infamous "for off-road use only" pieces. I had these on my project car until I found some that had DOT certification Russell/Edelbrock. While I'm not a bid fan of this mfr, at least they do have the cert for my NY State inspection. I did discuss this with a supplier and his response was that it was in the neighborhood of $30,000 for the certification process and to have a positive monetary payback he would have to raise his prices to be non-competitive PLUS sell many thousands of lines.