[DeTomaso] Brake hoses

Tue Jun 24 02:56:06 EDT 2008

I may add that the biggest difference comes if having a manual
braking system. In this case a small master cylinder is used
in order to get a larger lever ratio, which also makes for longer
pedal travel if the hose balloons.
Goran

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <MikeLDrew at aol.com>
To: <JDeRyke at aol.com>; <asajay at asajay.com>; <detomaso at realbig.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 4:03 AM
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Brake  hoses

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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