Brake lines - rubber vs braided

[ephect]

found this and thought i'd share it

may save you a few $$ if u really dont need to upgrade ur brake lines, unless ur goin for the super cool look

feel free to post up comments or findings of your own..

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The most widely publicised advantage of braided stainless steel brake lines over conventional rubber hoses is reduced bulging when heavy brake force is applied. David Malkin of Maltech (one of Australia’s largest braided brake line manufacturers) says this results in improved brake response and pedal feel and can reduce stopping distances.

Unfortunately, we have yet to see any documented evidence to support these claims – so we asked Maltech to compare the distortion and bulging of rubber brake hoses and braided stainless hoses using their pressure test machine.

This out-of-car test involves installing the ends of each hose to a dedicated brake pressure test machine. The machine uses a mix of corrosion inhibitor and water to pressurise the inside of the hoses and, typically, the operator uses the machine to identify leaks. However, for our purposes, we used a pair of digital calipers to measure the outer diameter (OD) of the hoses in static and pressurised condition. The bigger the difference, the more the hose expands under pressure.

Note that these tests were conducted with the brake hoses pressurised to 3500 psi, which is considerably more than you’ll generate in a car – David says you might generate 1500 psi pressure in a hard brake application. This means the hoses will expand more in our tests than in a real-world application.

So how did the hoses compare?

Well, the first hose we tested was an old and worn rubber hose (which appears to be the original part from a ’65 Ford Mustang). In static conditions, this hose had an OD of 10.76mm and, when pressurised, it expanded to 11.02mm. An increase of 2.4 percent.

Next, we tested a brand new rubber hose. The new hose had a 10.47mm OD which expanded to 10.65mm when pressurised. An increase of 1.7 percent.

The final test was a new braided steel brake line. In static conditions, the braided line had an OD of 6.45mm and expanded to 6.49mm when pressurised. An increase of less than 1 percent.

So what can we conclude from this?

Well, yes, a braided steel brake line does give less expansion under pressure than a rubber hose - but the margin is extremely small. And keep in mind that these tests were conducted at more than double the pressure you might generate in a real-world situation. So the difference between braided steel and rubber brake hoses is extremely, extremely small...

[calais_304]

cheers for that, i was considering braided lines but after reading that i may as well stick to the norms.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Braided lines = marketing ploy, to suck in the ricers. Looks good...ergo..must go fast.

[ephect]

haha yea they do look good.. but unless there cracked n brittle, its really not worth it.

was quite lucky to come across it, been doin a heap of reading and researching n come across it, n wanted to share the love

[grigor]

They missed the point.
Old hoses may grow slightly under pressure, but they definately suffer from hardening of the arteries.
The bore in old hoses gets smaller with age.
I've had old cars that the drum brakes would not come off as the hose was so restrictive, the return springs couldn't force the fluid back. Even worse with calipers as there's no return springs, so the brakes hang.
As genuine rubber hoses are very expensive, I go for stainless braided in any vehicle over 10 years old. (clutch too)

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Isn't the braided part just for reinforcement? The hose itself is still rubber, blows your theory right there.

[immortality]

i guess it's also a case of most people fitting braided hoses are replacing old tired rubber hoses. wonder if you would notice a marked improvement in pedal feel if you just fitted new rubber hoses? there must be more then a few people on this forum who have fitted braided brakelines to there rides, maybe we need some of there comments on ifthey noticed any improvements if any in pedal feel or from people that have replaced ther old ones with standard rubber lines etc

[V85000i]

also rubber expands more when it is hot, it is more subject to bulging, did they heat them up in the test?

[grigor]

Isn't the braided part just for reinforcement? The hose itself is still rubber, blows your theory right there.

It's a public forum, if you don't experienced appreciate advice, your loss.

No my braided lines are PTFE with stainless braiding, and my priorities aren't for bling.
As someone asked, the pedal becomes solid, no springy feel.

[defa]

what is PTFE

[Randy1]

PTFE is a type of Teflon(R.T.M), good temperature prop's and very good resistance against most chemicals.Also very clean and will not perish. also very soft if there is a lot of pure ptfe in the materials mix.

[ephect]

also rubber expands more when it is hot, it is more subject to bulging, did they heat them up in the test?

I dont believe they did heat them up, so i cant comment on that side but under pressure they do heat up, but yes not anywhere near real world operating temps.

i can see its uses, n depending on the cost of new replacement rubber hose, if its a lil bit extra, y not go down the braided path if u need to replace ur lines

heres a lil more, was at the bottom of the page..

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Maltech supplies AutoBahn and various other auto parts outlets with their street-legal braided line kits. Most popular vehicles are catered for and, if you can’t find lines to suit, Maltech can construct a set. Simply send them the original brake lines and brackets or, if you live in the Geelong area, you can call out Maltech for an on-site job.

The jury is still out on the advantages of braided steel lines but they might be worth a look if your existing brake hoses are looking tired.

Footnote: Unfortunately we were unable to make a driving comparison of new rubber brake hoses versus new braided brake hoses.

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[POVRTY]

if i bought them it would only be 4 "BLING". you could pull my purple beast up with 4 drum breaks!!