Jim bailey - 928 International

Mark Anderson's race car has braided stainless lines , my very brown 1980 daily driver has stainless lines , the widebody project racer has stainless lines . The people who make our stainless lines have been in business many , many years . One would think their product liability losses would have bankrupted them long ago !

Bernie

Hmmmmm,
Me too Jim????
I can honestly say that this is the first time I have ever heard anyone recommend against using SS lines. I always thought that people didn't use them because of the costs.
Hell, even my Fiero has braided lines so what gives????
Can anyone give some specific details on what exactly has happened to these failing lines?

Mike LaBranche

I'd really like to find a way to run true steel lines to the calipers. The braided are a close second. They make a _huge_ difference on a motorcycle but the line is moving stictly up and down over 120ish mm of travel. Don't know the amount of travel on the front of a 928. I just don't see catastrophic failure as a likely outcome. Gradual, sure. But the difference between braided line and rubber is substantial and you should feel it going away. And for those of us that manage to spend their life underneath one of these beasts, inspection intervals seem to take care of themselves. I've got a set I've been meaning to put on the 84. You can never have too much brakes.

Steve Cattaneo

Braided steel line is not something new it has been used in the aviation industry for years and it has that special seal of approval; FAA approved. My town’s police department dropped off one of their cars, a 1999 crown Vic.

The transmission was slipping in 2nd and no 4th, the ck engine light was on, I plug the scan tool in, and it had a 02 sensor code, a 0 reading from the sensor. Thought it could be unplugged, opened the hood and something shinny caught my attention. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />

<img src="http://www.mastertechtransmission.com/post/line.jpg" alt=" - " /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />

Ed Ruiz

Years ago (I forget hwo many) there was a rash of defective SS brake lines. The lines themselves held up fine, but in some cases the teflon inners cracked and in others the crimped ends leaked. Anyway, SS brake lines got a bad reputation for a while after that. Many shops avoided them like the plague, while others kept using them. Many of those that did recommeded replacing them after two years or so. I don't know if they still hold to that schedule.

BTW, I installed them on the 86.5, but have not (yet) installed them on the GT.

tdelarm

Bernie!,
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica"> Can anyone give some specific details on what exactly has happened to these failing lines?
</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Evidently not! <img border="0" alt="[ouch]" title="" src="graemlins/c.gif" /> But...then again, I do my best work after midnight too! <img border="0" alt="[icon107]" title="" src="graemlins/icon107.gif" />

PeteS

I've talked to one person that had a braided stainless brake line fail on a 928. It was a catastrophic failure of the line. It basically broke at the crimped end. Luckily this didn't happen at a high speed and hard braking. Apparently the problem that at least some of the braided lines have or had is due to the flexing and movement that occurs. As Ed mentioned, it has to do with the teflon inner portion of the lines. Braided lines have been used on all sorts of stuff, but it doesn't all recieve the constant flexing that a brake line does, especially right near the end where it's crimped. I know that there were braided lines being sold that were not DOT approved. I guess there are now braided lines with kevlar, so maybe that's a result of the problems that occured with the teflon. As for people not using them because of cost, the braided stainless lines for a 928 can be bought for less than the rubber ones. If the braided lines were that reliable and superior, why would Porsche still be using rubber ones? Don't they have six or eight piston calipers, with ceramic brake components, available on some of their new cars now? They're still using rubber brake lines on those aren't they? I don't know, is there any automobile manufacturer making cars that come with braided brake lines?

tdelarm

Hey all

Been emailing Marc Thomas @ Devek and with his blessing...I'm posting his answer to my question below.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">The failure mode is almost always at the hoe/fitting intersection. Various
companies has introduced a spring that surrounds the joint or runs parallel
to the joint, that acts a strain relief, however, they do not work!

Running on a racer is ok, as brake lines are checks often. Note that the
factory does not use stainless brake lines on their factory built race cars!

Marc Thomas
</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">I actually had plans on replacing factory rubber brake lines with the SS but I think based on Marc's information and just the overall "not sure" factor I'll pass on that idea for now.

Anyway...post other infor as you find it.

Cheers
<img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />

Fletcher

OK, I have to jump in with my copper coins. DOT braided lines should be fine. Like anything else some might fail but I have never heard of a DOT braided line failure. The increased pedal feel etc..is well worth it and they are easy to inspect from time to time. My 84 needed help and now with the drilled rotors, braided DOT's, and Ferodo pads it stops like it should. Want to talk about safety issues, the motorcycle industry is filled with SS lined bikes,many come stock on bikes (buell for example). If they were truly inferior the liability alone would dictate another choice would it not? Like many products there are probably manufacturers who build shoddy lines. Mine are packaged as Precise Lines and I purchased them from Troutman, no complaints...

d richard

I've had ss lines on my '94 bmw for about 3 years-- no problems so far. The pedal feel improvement was very noticeable. I also have ss lines on my '44 but haven't driven it as much as the beemer(daily driver). Just my 2 cents.

OPTIMO

Turner Motorsports - the winner of this year's SWC, also sells Precise Lines. Granted, I don't know if Bill Auberlen uses them on his E46, but regardless, I trust stuff from Turner for the most part.

As a matter of fact, I just ordered a set for my E46 because I noticed a bit of wear on my rear brake lines, where it looks like they might have rubbed the endlink under aggressive cornering.

Vilhuer

We have annual vehicle inspection up here much like German TUV & AU and UK MOT. Now these guys hate these lines. Reason is that water might get between hose layers, freese in wintertime, press against and block the line. Also it's more difficult to see potential places of leaks during inspection. They are only allowed because part is approved by DOT, TUV or other instance that approves parts for road use. Local law doesn't say more specificly what is legal and what's not. As it would cost too much to test every part we use same standards as everyone else in EU. And EU wouldn't like if we had our own rules anyway.

Regards,

Erkka
1992 928 GTS with original brake lines
Oak Green Metallic 22L
Classic Gray MX

928Collector

11/16" outside diameter = 17.5mm 7/16" inside diameter = 11.11 mm

Can anyone help where i can get this braided hose?

I tried 3/4 outside diameter braided hose but that won't go thru the body of the car into the wheel well where this hose continues on. i bet the hole into the wheel well is 11/16 or 17.5mm and not 3/4''

Also i tried a 1/2" hose fitting/connector but its too tight. Unless i'm doing something wrong the inside diameter is precisely 7/16."

any help on where i can get the right size hose would be much appreciated as i checked the usual 928 parts providers and amazon and cannot find the Outside diameter/Inside diameter mix.

Mrmerlin

try searching for Cohline metric hose

olmann

I buy the correct sizes from Belmetric. They also have a ton of the proper fasteners and fittings for our cars.