Stainless Steel Brake lines vs longer OEM style replacements

I'm buying a set of AP expo springs and have been told I need to do something with the rear brake lines. My first thought was get some nice SS ones. However, I really didn't know alot about them so I started reading up. I did NOT like what I read.

1) Hard to inspect for wear
2) need to be REPLACED every 18-24 months
3) primary issues are cheap(ly fitted) fittings that allow dirt to get between the metal outer and the Teflon tube inner
4) commonly fail on sport sedan applications.

So, I got to thinking. Given where the lines are in my truck, I'm pretty sure if I took something bad enough to damage/destroy my OEM lines from between the top of the axle and the undercarriage of the truck, that it would still damage the SS lines too. I like to wheel. I am not a hard core rock crawler, desert runner or baja racer. I am left thinking that the sensible choice would be to get longer OEM style brake lines instead of the SS ones. Am I missing something?

(and yes I searched first. All I found were comments on installation and very few on the tech aspect of benefits)

 

I always found improvement in motorcycles and atvs when I switched to SS lines. I don't know if you can find stock extended length lines, but we all know those work very well and hold up with normal use. Might as well go with the proven method. Car brakes are a little more important than my dirt bikes.

 

Wasn't aware of them needing to be swapped every 2 years.......where did u find the info at?

Just curious, because nobody ever gave me a heads up when I bought and had em installed 3yrs ago.....or, 4yrs ago.

 

I don't know if it's ever really a necessary item rather than a nice to have. A lot of people claim better pedal feel/stiffer brakes since the stainless shouldn't expand as much though I don't think a stock brake line that's still serviceable is going to expand that much since they are engineering for the application. I personally didn't notice a huge difference but for $100 with the Goodridge group buy on here I figured why not.

As far as the replacement on SS I couldn't tell you yes or no but even rubber lines need replacing at a certain point. Maybe flushing the fluid a little more often to keep less moisture in the lines would help but I'm not sure, never seen anything about a replacement interval like that.

I was also wondering about this.

 

I've never heard of the SS lines needing to be replaced except from a random failure.

I've had my rear SS line for about 4 years now. Never had an issue.

As long as you flush your brakes every 30K like recommended you will be fine.

Out of the thousands of people I know running them I have never heard any downfalls to them. Most are DOT rated (ours are).

 

There wasn't a lot of info it there on them except on car forums. Read one huge post from a NSX guy who posted about a failure. Another Honda guy posted that his wife had a failure, with sporadic mentions of failures on scion, Miata, VW, Porsche, and a variety of other forums. Except for the Honda guy it was all failures at the fittings or the connections. The Honda guy was a line rupture.

The prescribed remedy is periodic replacement at a shorter service interval than the OEM part. I'd rather not have a random failure with my daughter in the truck, or when I need them on a trail.

Perhaps I'm over thinking this.

 

dude really? your talking like your on the highway with a plug in the sidewall good god bleed that beautifull ss line and roll proud! change those pads on a regular basis ya

 

For others wondering, I checked around for anyone that makes OEM style brake lines in different lengths and was unable to find ANYONE. Factory makes them and ships them. So, instead of trial and error, I just ordered the SS ones.

 

ur gunna be fine....enjoy the truck, and enjoy all the mods, no matter how small some may be.

 

^^^^ I agree with this 100%.

One of the reasons SS lines are honestly better than factory rubber lines is that the SS lines do not expand under pressure. ANY expansion under pressure means that more fluid is needed to maintain the same amount of braking force. This means more pedal. Now granted, we are talking a small amount, but it is there none the less.

 

Hmm... When I did my regear I just used vice grips to pinch off the rubber brake lines and that worked just fine. I would think if they were steel braided inside this would have ruined them...

 

I always warn against pinching off any brake line when doing repairs. You can cause internal damage to the rubber, and premature failure. Not that it happens every time mind you, but it is a risk.

 

Yeah I especially don't recommend using vice grips to do that. We had a guy blow out a wheel cylinder on the trail and used a c-clamp to pinch it off so he still had brakes once. They aren't so jagged at least.

For me I will likely be going to longer brake lines anyone so longevity isn't a huge issue for me.

 

Srry for this revival, but if you want a longer stock style line for the rear you can just double them up.. since it has one female end and one male it is really simple to do and will give you tons of room for travel.

 

Its actually 2 female ends. Also at that point you might as well buy SS lines. Not sure how much stock lines are but I doubt you will be saving much money. Also extended lines are only 2-4 inches longer so doubling would be an excessive length.

 

oh yeah 2nd gen, you're right..