Thread: Braided brake lines. improve braking?

As long as they are teflon lined braided yes. The rubber ones are (usually) just a cover. The improvement comes from the rigidity of the teflon backed bu by the braid stopping the pressure acting on the walls of the hose and expanding it rather than delivering the pressure to the caliper. There are reasonable rubber braids out there but for the comparative cost, plus you can;t see the rubber degradation and the lifespan is the same as std rubber anyway, just go for the right product to start with.

No I make and sell both if anything braided hoses are a pain in the ring gear

Originally Posted by 460cixy

No I make and sell both if anything braided hoses are a pain in the ring gear

Why?

There a pain because they can't be clamped off if need be and if tight bends are required they don't tend to last very long. Land cruiser and Nissan calliper hoses are a good example where rubber is better due to the short length and constant movement.
And the hose its self has a memory so its important the hose is made and fitted taking this In to account its often not meaning the hose is always trying to twist against its self. Seriously apart from **** factor there's no advantage over rubber

Originally Posted by 460cixy

There a pain because they can't be clamped off if need be and if tight bends are required they don't tend to last very long. Land cruiser and Nissan calliper hoses are a good example where rubber is better due to the short length and constant movement.
And the hose its self has a memory so its important the hose is made and fitted taking this In to account its often not meaning the hose is always trying to twist against its self. Seriously apart from **** factor there's no advantage over rubber

I must be a ****** then !

As Matt said, apart from the improved feel as they don't have the sidewall flex of rubber under pressure there isn't any real advantage on a road vehicle.
Having said that, there's a reason they are used in aircraft and race cars.

Braided hose will also rub through stuff unless it has the PVC overcoat, and they'll also potentially be rubbed through by things like the front radius arms.
I've seen a Land Rover radius arm rub through a top quality Goodridge hose and incur brake failure on the front system.
We used a vice grip pinch off tool to get home with that one, just need a bit more pressure to get it seal vs a rubber hose.

I've never clamped off a brake line in 35 years of maintaining my vehicles, so would never have forseen the inability to do so as a negative.

I replaced the rubber lines on my D1 with Goodridge lines - they have a much better feel, less spongy. I did make sure that they are set up not to rub anywhere. Given the age of the vehicle I might have felt the same result by fitting new rubber lines. But, with my experience of riding Italian motorcycles with rubber lines and with braided - the difference there is very noticeable. So, given my bias, and with the knowledge that I'd be asking the D1 to effectively stop while hauling a 3500kg+ load (this is the total on the weighbridge inc trailer full of concrete and dirt) like I did today, and many times before, I figure every bit helps. I also have slotted DBA rotors in front which I like too.

Braided brake lines do not improve your braking performance If your existing brake hoses are up to standard.

braided brake hoses just last longer than most rubber hoses before falling below standard.

IF installing braided lines makes your brakes feel better then your old lines had failed and should have been replaced and potentially since you bled the brakes during the install your brakes may have needed bleeding.

its like claiming fitting silicone hoses gave your engine more power. If it did then your other hoses had issues.

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

Braided brake lines do not improve your braking performance If your existing brake hoses are up to standard.

braided brake hoses just last longer than most rubber hoses before falling below standard.

IF installing braided lines makes your brakes feel better then your old lines had failed and should have been replaced and potentially since you bled the brakes during the install your brakes may have needed bleeding.

<snip>.

Yes it does Dave.

Aerospace or race spec stainless braided teflon hose deflects less under full pedal pressure than OE rubber hose.
Cheap teflon braided hose isn't worth a pinch of poop.

Fact.

72
SPEED-FLEX? HOSE
BRAKE SYSTEMS
www.earlsplumbing.com
Extruded
T
eflon
?
Stainless Steel Braid
HYDRAULIC SYSTEMS
Standard automotive flexible brake hoses are manufac-
tured from synthetic rubber and reinforced with multiple
layers of fabric braid. They were designed and devel-
oped for use with drum brake systems. When disc
brakes were developed for racing cars, line pressure
requirements increased considerably. With the larger
and heavier cars, like Ford's GT-40s, enough of the
available brake pedal travel was used up in expanding
the flexible brake hoses so that there was insufficient
pedal travel left for safe braking.
In the mid-1960s, Earl's pioneered the use of armored
flex hose of extruded teflon to solve this problem. The
stiffness of the teflon liner combined with the tightly woven high tensile stainless steel outer braid solved the pedal travel
problem. By
eliminating the line swell it also dramatically increased the firmness and feel of the brake pedal which allowed the drivers to
modulate
the brakes more efficiently. Improved abrasion resistance and increased temperature capacity are secondary advantages.

Having quoted that, the modern rubber hose has improved considerably to cope with ABS systems.

But there is braided hose and there is braided hose.

Some caution is neces-sary in the selection of armored teflon hose. The teflon
?
liner
is manufactured in two wall thicknesses, commercial (.030?)
and aircraft specifications (.040?), Earl's uses the thicker
and stronger wall. There are also hoses in the marketplace
manufactured in such a manner that the stainless braid is
loose on the teflon liner. These hoses offer good pressure
capacity but limited expansion resistance

From the earls race hose catalogue.

I agree with the turbo silicone hose comment.