ok what's the deal oh the braided brake lines could one of you 914 experts tell me the way to go on this??? i like the look of them but i don't want to have problems.

Per The Cap'n, failure can be catastrophic, they have to be inspected every year.

Braking pedal feel is improved, then again putting new rubber lines improves the feel also compared to thirty years old ones.

You'll see it's quite a debate. Searching the archives will give you plenty of info.

Mihai

I put aero-quip braided brake lines on my 914-6 26 years ago and have never had a problem. I also had them on both my 914 race cars and a few of my other 914 street cars and never had one problem with them. I'm not sure about now but a few years ago they were not DOT approved. So you may want to look into that.

i think the biggest issue with them is that you can't see (think visual inspection) if they're old/brittle inside and about to fail.
with the hard rubber lines, you can easily see what condition they're in.

i still have rubber lines, and my brake pedal feels just fine.

braided brake lines are just for the "bling" factor, IMHO ...
Andy

there *are* DOT-rated braided-steel hoses available.

the Teflon doesn't get brittle, but it may be more susceptible to kinking, and it's also possible for the braid to abrade the lining. there *have* been cases of sudden catastrophic failures which are vanishlingly rare in rubber OEM lines.

professional race cars and nearly all aircraft use braided steel lines - and undergo careful inspection by professionals before and after each event and not less than once a year.

they are *probably* of questionable value in a pure-street car. they are almost certainly of questionable value in an AX car unless you're knocking on the door of class wins and need that last 1%. they should probably be replaced every 2-3 years just like OEM rubber lines.

i use them, but i don't recommend them - it's an individual call.

Rubber or metal, they're still a cast-iron bitch to replace. The rear ones, at least. I know you can reach through the water drain holes, but it's still a pain to get the two wrenches on those damn fittings!!! Easier with the engine out, but...

--DD

Easier, by far, to change the rubber lines every 20 (or 10) years than the SS braided ones every year! The Cap'n

I never knew there was a problem with steel brake lines. Why would you have to change them every year and rubber ones only every 10 years? I would think that the steel braided lines would be much longer lasting.

The aero-quip braided brake lines on my 914-6 are 26 years old. It also still has the original master cylinder. I must tell you that I've been using Silicone brake fluid for the entire 26 years. I guess this kind of proves the value of using silicone fluid.

By the way, I plan on changing the brake lines soon and will be using the stock rubber lines instead of the braided lines. I'm also going to change out the master cylinder. Only because of their age. However I will continue to use silicone fluid.

ok thanks!! now what is this silicone fluid?? and why??

DOT 5 is silicone

DOT 3 is like regular
DOT 4 is like regular with extra stuff....for racing and higher boiling point than 3

There is a DOT 5.1 that isn't Silicone but has boiling point way up there....expensive though.

"sammy" did a nice write up earlier with big words....

QUOTE (jgiroux67 @ May 2 2005, 05:50 PM)

I never knew there was a problem with steel brake lines. Why would you have to change them every year and rubber ones only every 10 years? I would think that the steel braided lines would be much longer lasting.

Well, they're NOT steel. They're teflon with a braided stainless steel cover. The "better" ones have a pliable costing over the SS to help reduce the possibility of damage to (or by) the SS cover. The big problem is in the way the ends are attached to the teflon/SS part. That's where they most often fail. I can honestly tell you that far less than one percent of the cars I've serviced in the last 32 years of P-car wrenching for money have had them, yet I've seen ONE rubber brake line fail at the join between the hose and the end, and FOUR SS braided lines fail there. Think about it, and do the math. It is generally suggested by racer suppliers that the lines be inspected before/after every race, and replaced every 1 or 2 years. And those cars see what, a few dozen to a couple of hundred miles a year? I've gone on day trips that were longer than a race car goes in 2 years .............. Finally, the failure mode of OLD rubber (OE) brake hoses is cracking outer skin, swelling internally causing a failure to release and/or a pulling to one side. The failure mode of SS braided teflon lines is sudden, absolute, and total loss of braking. You pick........ Looking good (a matter of opinion) or living long ........................................... The Cap'n

I have went through this debate a few weeks ago and decided on OEM rubber, which are on order at Pelican. My car is simply being used as a weekend crusier and am looking for minimal maintenance requirements.