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flexible brake lines
hellier0437 - 31/7/08 at 12:27 PM

Just wondering whether anyone knows where to get the cheapest flexible brake lines for cortina hubs and escort rear axle?
any help much appreciated.

Mr Whippy - 31/7/08 at 12:32 PM

tbh I'd rather recommend you spend a little more and get some good quality ones rather than bargain basement things made in some Chinamans loft. Being made of rubber cheap ones will rot very quickly and go pop.

MK do good braded ones, well worth the money.

Bluemoon - 31/7/08 at 12:43 PM

^^^ as above, if you need cheap, then normal branded rubber brake lines should do the job, just pop into you local motor factors...

02GF74 - 31/7/08 at 01:42 PM

2 things you don't skimp on are brakes and steering.

braided stainless hoses, front and rear will not cost more than £ 30.

despite the credit crunch and the economy heading for the abyss, is it really worth skimping thrity measly quid that may save your neck?????

Bluemoon - 31/7/08 at 03:25 PM

Theres nothing wrong with rubber hoses, just get good ones.. Production cars use em after all..

Dan

indykid - 31/7/08 at 05:43 PM

drop a u2u to russbost on here. he does stainless braided lines for £15 a pair to your own spec: colour, length and ends.

i think you'd struggle to buy 4 rubber brake lines for that tbh and will probably be more than worth it if you ever come to sell the car.

tom

britishtrident - 31/7/08 at 06:03 PM

Normal Roubber covered fabric braid lines have a major advantage in that you can clamp them off with hose nips -- saves a heck of a lot of mess & brake bleeding.

Mark Allanson - 31/7/08 at 09:46 PM

quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Normal Roubber covered fabric braid lines have a major advantage in that you can clamp them off with hose nips -- saves a heck of a lot of mess & brake bleeding.


A very minor disadvantage when you consider the superb brake feel you get with braided hoses, it is difficult to describe to those who have not felt the difference.

britishtrident - 2/8/08 at 08:54 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allanson
quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Normal Roubber covered fabric braid lines have a major advantage in that you can clamp them off with hose nips -- saves a heck of a lot of mess & brake bleeding.


A very minor disadvantage when you consider the superb brake feel you get with braided hoses, it is difficult to describe to those who have not felt the difference.


Pull the other one --

Back in the days when the roads were full of 100e Fords and Austin A35s the first generation of cars such as the Hillman Super Minx came out with disc brakes and self-adjusting rear drums came out, no servo just pedal pressure to stop. The brake pedal was solid -- zero free movement no matter how hard you pressed on it.

On a Locost type car the hydrualic pressure is 50% of what was on those cars so elastic expansion in the lines causing spongeyness just won't be problem.

Most of any excess pedal springyness in home built cars is down to the pedal box and its mountings flexing, very few builders understand just how ridgid it has to be.

The test is simple build up the brake system but before bleeding it cap off the master cylinder connections with bleed nipples, give it a quick bleed and try the pedal. If thre is any excess movement it the structure of the pedal box flexing.

Next connect a rubber flex hose on -- cap the end off and give it quick bleed, if properly bled you will feel no extra movement.

One of the reasons I don't like braided lines on road cars is the only defective brand new flex brake hoses I have ever encountered were braided lines -- one had a deffective connection (the hole was not drilled through) and the second was badly assembled and leaked. I have ever bought only 3 sets of braided lines compared to thousands of the normal road car type that went through my hands without a single failure in the conventional type.

For a road going car braided lines are just bling.



[Edited on 2/8/08 by britishtrident]

[Edited on 2/8/08 by britishtrident]

[Edited on 2/8/08 by britishtrident]

Mark Allanson - 2/8/08 at 10:29 AM

BT, you cant believe everything you read on the internet.

I have had rubber and braided hoses on my car, and there is a very real difference with the braided hoses - I would recommend them to anyone. There is no bling element for me, as mine are covered with spiral wrap for protection.

Perhaps you could put up some photos of the hoses on your Locost?