[DeTomaso] Brake hoses

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/23/08 14 10 27, JDeRyke at aol.com writes:


> Plain rubber hose works on plain street cars- for a while. Then ozone 
> attacks
> and the hoses begin to crack like over-age tires. Performance cars need
> better hoses.
> 
>>>True.   More importantly, rubber hoses will expand or balloon under 
braking.   It's not that much of an issue with an ordinarly-driven street car (all 
street cars come with rubber hoses from the factory), but for a car being 
driven in a spirited manner, non-expanding brake hoses are an excellent thing, 
delivering far superior brake pedal feel and consistent performance.


>  IMHO what's needed is real aeroquip hoses that have teflon inners
> with braided stainless outside as a protective sleeve. Many cheap hoses are
> braided stainless over plain rubber, which gains nothing except a pretty
> appearance.
> 
>>>You can search high and low, and you will not find any rubber brake hoses 
with braided steel liners.   Oil lines, water lines, yes.   But brake hoses?   
No.


>  Some others are teflon inside, as well, but Aeroquip is for sure and is
> rated to 3000 psi. Std power brakes will develop around 1500 psi in a panic 
> stop.
> Some braided-stainless hoses are dash-4 while in   performance cars, dash-3
> (smaller) gives slightly faster response because of the smaller volume of 
> fluid
> being moved around. And some otherwise good brake hoses use swedged fittings
> rather than the rebuildable Areoquip type hose ends. Swedged fittings have b
> een
> known to fail right out of the box so do some testing with the car up on
> jackstands before driving the car.
> 
>>>For this reason I am reticent about manufacturing my own brake hoses.   
Some brave souls will buy bulk hose and fittings, and will whack the hose to 
length and affix the ends.   I prefer to have them built professionally, and just 
open a package and bolt them onto the car.

> >I also recommend using stainless fittings to hook things up rather than 
> the
> lightweight blue or black aluminum ones. 6061-aluminum fittings save about 2
> lbs in an entire car but have no capacity to absorb hits with road debris or 
> (in
> the rear) being stepped on while climbing in & out to work on the top of the
> engine. Instead of bending as stainless does, they crack. If you don't
> pre-flight your Pantera before each spirited drive, it's risky to use 
> aluminum brake
> fittings.
> 
>>>An interesting comment--I've never seen anything but steel used in this 
application.   I can't imagine anybody using aluminum on a 1500-2000 psi 
application?   Although looking at the Earl's website, I see they do also offer 
aluminum fittings.   Interesting.


>  If real lightness is your desire, braided-kevlar brake hoses are
> quite a bit lighter than stainless but not nearly as bling-bling to the eye.
> 
>>>I know Earl's offers braided kevlar hoses generally, but I don't think 
they offer them for brake applications (at least, I can't find any on their 
website).   Earl's brake hose now comes covered with a nylon sheath, to keep the 
lines from scratching the finish if they rub against the suspension etc.

> When mounting braided-steel hoses, be sure the hoses are routed away from 
> the
> wheels. The stainless braid is hard enough to re-machine Campy mags or even
> aluminum aftermarket rims.
> 
>>>And when that happens, it's ugly. :<(   Not only can it wreck the wheel, 
it can wear through the line.   Run the suspension through its travel while 
eyeballing the line, with the wheel centered, turned in and turned out.   You 
might have scads of clearance in one position, and negative clearance in another.

Yet another reason to just buy pre-made lines, as they will come from the 
vendor in the correct length and with the correct fittings on the end.   You will 
have to specify which calipers you have, as the Girling (stock) Calipers have 
different threads etc. than the various US-made aftermarket calipers.

Remove and replace one line at a time.   Pay attention to the length; your 
kit will probably come with two shorter and two longer lines; the long ones go 
in the rear.

Cheers!

Mike



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