Switch to Stainless Braided from Rubber Brake hose?

[Thumper]

The steel braided brake lines that I used are made by Russell and are advertised as "street legal", which means that they are DOT approved. I looked at the lines with the wheels turned all the way to the left and then the right and the lines are never pulled tight. So serious stress is not an issue.

I do realize that publications are driven by advertising, but there also has to be a certain level of responsibility to not recommend unsafe modifications for the sake of a few advertising dollars. Do some magazines overlook this aspect in favor of fees? Probably, but I doubt that it's blatant, or they would loose readership in a hurry. I have read articles where they have notified readers of problems encountered after the fact, but they usually involve a notification from the manufacturer of a recall or potential hazard.

I have a friend that raced IMSA GT class for most of the 80's and early 90's and he has steel braided brake lines on his street cars. But in all fairness, due to the number of cars he owns personally, none of them log more than a few thousand miles in any given year.

Thanks mauivette for the post and link.

 

[VRGSVET]

This seems blown WAY out of proportion. At most of the big parts suppliers, the rubber hoses are around $50, and the SS hoses are around $70. They are both DOT approved (if you buy from a reputable merchant). And really, how often does either hose fail? The bottom line to me, is it worth $20 more to you to have SS? Just my 2 cents.

 

[Tom Bryant]

I think that SS lines are great when you have a need. Not for the street unless you want "THE LOOK" but where it will be worth the costs. My experience was on a Dragstrip where my pro-street chevy was going about 112 mph and the driveshaft snapped in the middle. The broken piece hit the track (Yes I did have a driveshaft safety loop) and bounced back up taking out the fuel lines, the rear end housing, puncturing the fuel cell. The front broken piece whipped around and broke the trans in half. Luckily I had installed a Stainless steel brake line to the rear junction block ( mainly for looks I thought) and although it was damaged it never came apart and I was able to brake safely. Is it worth it?? Well I never would have been able to stop the car in time without it and the ride into the sand trap would have really damaged the car so I say yes. If you want them then put them on. Who cares whether it is hype or not. If it makes you more comfortable knowing they are there then do it.

Randy

Randy has just hit the nail on the head here. Back when stainless steel braided lines first became popular in racing it was because the braided shielding offered superior protection against damage from debris flying up off of the track. Rubber hoses were often damaged by flying objects resulting in a loss of brakes. Of course it wasn't long before they were starting to show up on street driven cars. Probably more for looks origionally but the companies took advantage of it with their marketing campaigns.

Since I have never owned any I have no good or bad opinion on stainless. But considering that most passengers cars go from assembly line to crusher without ever having a brake line changed tells us that the OEM lines are very capable of giving long and dependable service. I replaced the fronts on the '81 last spring when I did the calipers just because. The origionals showed no signs if deterioration. As car nuts we give more thought to items like brake lines than the average driver and give our cars a higher degree of preventive maintenance. Nobody should ever install an OEM brake hose thinking that they are sacrificing safety because that is just not true. The likelyhood of having a brake hose failure without some outside force causing damage is practically zero barring extreme age or some very cheaply made part that doesn't meet D.O.T.specs.

It's nice to know that we have a choice though, depending on what we want out of our Corvettes. As for the Hydroboost topic, search in the C1,C2 forum. The manufacturer of Hydroboost is a CAC member and had a thread running on the developement of a unit for and installation in a midyear some time ago. Also the drilled/slotted rotor thing has been discussed recently in the C4 or C5 forum with some interesting info included.

Tom


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[groovyjay]

For a street car don't waste your money. Go with the rubber hoses. They collapse over time but will last a while. Never had a problem with them.

I would say they are in my top 10 for any car, especially for a car that sees speed over 150mph on regular basis. I'd called it a cheap life insurance...

 

[BOB SWEETING]

Hydroboost Systems

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