dwe8922

What do you guys think of SS vs rubber brake lines? I've hear good and bad for both, and ended up getting factory rubber lines for the 993. Also, what's a good replacement timeline for them? I also talked to girodisc about titanium shims between the pads and caliper as an insulator and protector of the rubber boots; has anyone tried them?

mdrums

Interested in the shims. Do they make them for a 997S? I know I have to take the anti-squeal shims out when I put in new Pagid Yellows because the Pagids are so thick.

Gary R.

Stock rubber, replace every 2-3 years on a race car or if they show any signs of expansion or cracking.

kabel_Boxster

Rubber lines were designed to last a "long" time, how often do you hear about the brake lines on a daily driver needing to be replaced?

So, I am of the opinion that SS line vs an oem rubber line are so minute that unless your car has every other performance enhancing part on it (where the cumulative effect makes it worth it) your not going to notice a significant improvement, and it just becomes bling.

Willard Bridgham 3

Rubber is cut easily by track debris, ss is not.
I think safety trumps performance for brake line material.

sparks259

iirc, another reason for ss brake lines, besides the cutting issue, is that they supposedly do not "balloon" as much under braking pressure.

tkerrmd

I think this reason may be "urban legend"

Bill Verburg

It's 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. You can make a good arguement for either. I like ss for a track car that's maintained and inspected weekly, rubber for a street car.

If you use modern track oriented pads like Pagid RS 14/15/19/29 they all incorpoarate ceramic heat barriers that are far more efficient than Ti add ons

mark kibort

I just love the testimonials that with SS lines, the pedal feels better!

rubber lines are JUST like a balloon, right? i wonder how much physical, ballooning you would need to have for the pedal to " feel" different? I bet it would be detectable visually!

mk

dwe8922

When I was looking into this when I replaced them on the 993, I was told that the cup cars ran rubber brake lines, and that SS didn't really give an advantage as to the "ballooning" that I was hearing about.

I am running a Raybestos race compound pad similar to the pagid yellow. I'll check on them as to whether they have an insulating barrier.

John H

Maybe the rubber ones I had on my old SC were really bad, but I did notice a huge difference in initial bite and feel. Couldn't say for sure about good rubber vs. stainless steel or how much of all that is dampened by power assist and/or ABS.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

I'd concur with Bill,.......

Non-ABS cars get a better brake pedal feel with SS lines but I don't notice much, if any difference on ABS-equipped cars.

SS lines are NOT all the same and there are now a bunch of them (made off-shore) that I wouldn't install on anything. For me, its Goodridge DOT-spec SS or stock rubber ones.

KOAN

I used the stock rubber, and had no issues. Try cutting one to see how easily they can be cut by road debris (NOT). When I changed to SS on a different car, I could tell no difference. Ballooning? Unlikely. look at one and you'll know what I mean. I would change them every 3-4 years, because when the rubber ages, the inner channel does narrow a bit. However, this would happen with the SS ones as well.

smlporsche

I installed the Goodridge SS lines when I built my race car and love the hard feel of the pedal.

BTW, I have never been happy with the very mushy brakes on my '04 Denali. Brought it into the dealer and they said everything was within spec. Had them do a fluid change and no noticeable difference.
Last week I just orderred the Goodridge lines and picked up the SUV from my mechanic not 2 hours ago and there is a HUGE difference in the pedal feel.

Call it what you want balloning etc but the fact is they are harder now and the pedal travel has been reduced by about 2 inches.

I can understand not wanting to spend the additional $ but I have never heard anyone who had SS lines go back to rubber OEM ones. But I'm living proof of the opposite (x2)

chrisp

I was told SS fails from the inside out and Rubber fails from the outside in. Bottom line is you can see rubber failing and catch it. SS you [supposedly] cannot. My guess is Porsche would use SS if it was better. Ok maybe even Porsche takes shortcuts...what does Ferrari use? What does a Porsche factory Cup car come with?