Failed Stainless Steel Brake Line

A few days ago I had a teen driver suddenly flip a U-turn from the shoulder right in front of me. He saw I was going to plow into his little rice tuner at window level drivers side and stopped broadside in my lane.

I hit the brakes hard and was able to veer around him but was forced to jump into the on-coming traffic lane. There was a another car coming my way for a straight on collision so I jumped back in my lane and caught up to traffic that was stopped. I hit the brakes again and they went straight to the floor so there I go again veering onto the sidewalk and peoples front yards with no brakes. At that point I went for the e-brake and was able to stop without injuring anyone.

From there I went limp mode home a few miles with just e-brake and low gear. I pulled the wheel and found the brake line had burst! (see pics)





* Update

My Crown Performance brake lines arrived, they are stout and well made. By the looks of the driver's side line it was close to failure also.





Here is a size comparison for reference.
Stock Front = 11-3/8
Wheeler’s Front = 11-3/8
Crown Front = 14-3/4 (+3)

Stock Passenger Rear = 19-1/8
Stock Driver Rear = 20-1/8
Wheeler’s Rear = 21-5/8 (+2)
Crown Rear = 21-3/4 (+3)



RJM

 

How old was that brake line?

 

That’s some serious defensive driving skill right there. Nice job.

What brand of brake lines?

 

They were the Wheelers Offroad performance brake lines. Guys if you are running these brake lines please check them for cracks or premature wear. RJM

 

Looks like mine....from wheelers

 

They were about 5 years old. I dont wheel too much besides occasional logging roads. I decided to replace them with Crowns kevlar reinforced brake lines. Hopefully they hold up better than these ones.

RJM

 

Thanks for the heads up!

 

Send a pic to wheelers, curious to what they think. Glad you didn’t smash anyone or yourself.

 

Wonder who makes them for Wheeler's?

 

I’m guessing a potentially defective line would be hard to spot visually.

 

That's an Issue for sure, I've had Goodridge SS brake lines on my truck for 7 years and no issues. Going to do an inspection pronto.

 

Great. that’s what I’m running lol

 

I have wheelers bookmarked, but thanks for the heads up. Crowns saved for reference as well now.

 

Goodrich are the go to ss lines

 

I only use crown for this reason!

 

Damn scary. Glad you're OK man.

 

Good job avoiding an accident.

 

I don't understand the point of spending extra money on stainless lines.

Even high-end expensive performance cars seem to still come with rubber lines.
But maybe I'm wrong. I feel like sport bikes might come with SS lines. If that's the case, maybe it's just a matter of quality brand vs non-quality.

 

First the brake line is not stainless. It is a plastic or synthetic rubber tube reinforced with a stainless steel braid covering.

From the image:


It is obvious that the cause of the failure is the flexing at the rupture where the strain relief collar meets the hose. It was already weak at that point due to flexing.

That is my opinion anyway.

 

To be honest the main reason is bling. Quality ones like Goodrich do firm up braking feel by limiting swelling under hard braking but they rarely encounter such a situation. No, sport bikes don’t come with them as they would be useless on such a light vehicle.