Thread: TD5 Braided Hoses?

Braided hose is good for wearing away things it touches..

And is much better suited for those with pants below their undies and baseball hats on backwards

Silicone hoses for turbo lines
Silicone hoses for overflow / non pressure lines
Rubber for the rest!

Heres the hint - Its a 2001 vehicle and now 10 years old...
It made it 10 years....
Change the hoses - ALL the hoses
Flush the system...
And forget about it all for another 10

Originally Posted by Tombie

Braided hose is good for wearing away things it touches..

And is much better suited for those with pants below their undies and baseball hats on backwards

Silicone hoses for turbo lines
Silicone hoses for overflow / non pressure lines
Rubber for the rest!

Heres the hint - Its a 2001 vehicle and now 10 years old...
It made it 10 years....
Change the hoses - ALL the hoses
Flush the system...
And forget about it all for another 10

Wow I better check my 2002 Defender
My Stage 1 at 31 years old still has the originals and they arent perished.
Must be the British Leyland quality lol

Nothing wrong with braided lines at all. They offer longevity over rubber hoses by having teflon inner tubing with an outer sheath of fine weave stainless steel. They are almost impervious to acidic or alkaline fluids including brake oil and come in a range of sizes.

There are a wide range of metric and A/F fittings available to suit just about any caliper, oil cooler, fuel tank etc etc....

They are used extensively throughout the Aviation industry as compulsory fitment and the better performance of the braided lines made them a natural transition to performance vehicles whether 2 of 4 wheeled.

Like many things there are compromises..

- The S/S braid will act like a low speed file if not secured properly and will eventually rub and wear through just about any body or chassis part. So they need to be properly secured - 'P' clips and grommets work fine where there is any 'slack'.

- They offer a far better pedal once bled up with none of the flex that you get from rubber hoses but, you need some time to get used to the 'wooden' feel of braided hoses. Once you get used to the very firm pedal and drive another car with rubber hoses - you'll think you've had a brake failure the first time you need to pull up quickly

I have an Aviation background and in another life, had an Aeroquip dealership and to this day, still use braided hoses for numerous applications whether I have them made or custom make them myself.

Try them - you won't go back

Beware though there are cheaper rubber lined braid available these days. Thicker walled so there can be issues unless you use exactly the same make of fittings. The brake lines must be RTA approved, Pirtek are the only manufacturer of custom length hoses with approval I know of. Else Goodridge from the US are OK. The condition for the brake lines seems to be that they must also have a clear plastic outer over the braid.

If you want to use decent fittings you can use rubber hose with the aeroquip type fittings as well.

Originally Posted by clubagreenie

The brake lines must be RTA approved, Pirtek are the only manufacturer of custom length hoses with approval I know of. Else Goodridge from the US are OK. The condition for the brake lines seems to be that they must also have a clear plastic outer over the braid.

If you want to use decent fittings you can use rubber hose with the aeroquip type fittings as well.

Quite a few companies and individuals with certification can make, pressure test and stamp/certify brake hoses now Clubagreenie. Ironically, I can make and certify a set to stop a 160 ton aircraft landing at 260KPH but cannot (Legally) make a set for my road registered Disco......Go figure eh?

I believe that the clear nylon outer sleeve on hoses nowdays are for abrasion resistance and look. It isn't compulsory as far as I am aware.

Good point about the rubber lined braided hoses though....I'll always recommend using teflon inner tube. Cheers

Only downside of teflon is when somoething lets go you need to replace everything.