Just one tip - If you have the type which has the braiding on the outside, put a covering of clear heatshrink over them before fitting. Mr SVA reckons they are too abrasive without this covering and will probably fail you.
From what I've seen on here, no-one seems to use standard flexible hoses on the front... Is this because braided ones are a requirement for SVA,
or just we reckon they're better?
What about the back, what has anyone used there?
Cheers!
Stu
Standard rubber hoses are type-approved, last for ages, and easily available. They also tend to inflate slightly when pressure is applied, making the
pedal feel a bit soft.
Braided hoses are often not type-approved, can wear out quicker then rubber ones (mostly due to broken braid puncturing the inner teflon hose -
that's why they don't get approved) and rarely available off the shelf. Builders fit them because they don't inflate, making the pedal
feel very good.
The main difference is that commercial rubber hoses are designed to be fit-and-forget to a certain extent and to be left on a car for 50,000 miles,
whilst braided hoses need to be checked periodically.
David
In addition to David's points:
Rubber hoses can also be clamped while working on the brakes.
Braided, because they are ordered bespoke, don't require finding a donor with the right end fittings and the correct length.
Be careful what you order. As the braided hoses that use the screw together fittings with an olive inside have been failing SVA with some testers.
The swaged end ones are fine I believe.
See this thread: http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=44319
[edited to clarify that it's only some testers that seem to have been failing the built up braided hoses]
[Edited on 24/5/06 by iank]
quote:
Originally posted by Stuart Walker
From what I've seen on here, no-one seems to use standard flexible hoses on the front...
I've fitted braided because:
1) I can make them the EXACT length that they need to be
2) I can make them with EXACTLY the end fittings I need (i.e. swivel 3/8 UNF on the front to go to 3/8 unf>1/8 NPT adaptors on the calipers
3) They are, like the budgie...Cheap!!
4) They give better pedal feel
5) They look better
6) They "should" pass SVA (the olive type ones with a sleeve inside the olive are expressly "OK'd" within the manual, and the
Euroquip fittings sold by Rally Design are of that type)
Standard hoses are by far the most suitable for a road car.
It is true they are more elastic in the engineering sense of the word but not anything like as much as the saloon bar experts will have you believe.
Braided all the way for me (literally all the way from m/c to calipers)
Just one tip - If you have the type which has the braiding on the outside, put a covering of clear heatshrink over them before fitting. Mr SVA reckons
they are too abrasive without this covering and will probably fail you.
My only concern is that the front hoses are very exposed - I have assumed that the braided hoses are more likely to survive stones, etc. but I have no
evidence to support that theory, and ordinary hoses get just as much abuse, even under a wheel arch.
In the end, it's little more than bling. Mr Average Driver wouldn't notice the difference in pedal feel...
As for the outside braiding - I have read in several places that the braid makes a really good file when in contact with vital stuff like petrol hose,
cables, and so on.
David
[Edited on 24/5/06 by David Jenkins]
I've got landrover front hoses on mine....
landy hoses link
Tosh and piffle. I have Granada ones on mine, they perform perfectly well and cost £4 each when I fitted them 5 years ago. If I had Wilwoods and all the bling I would be tempted to swap them but otherwise they stay.
When i had my bike (KR-1S) i fitted braided hoses and the difference in feel was unbelivable! with a bike though your probably more likely to feel small differences with your hand more than a foot actuated lever...
quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
My only concern is that the front hoses are very exposed - I have assumed that the braided hoses are more likely to survive stones, etc. but I have no evidence to support that theory, and ordinary hoses get just as much abuse, even under a wheel arch.
In the end, it's little more than bling. Mr Average Driver wouldn't notice the difference in pedal feel...
As for the outside braiding - I have read in several places that the braid makes a really good file when in contact with vital stuff like petrol hose, cables, and so on.
David
[Edited on 24/5/06 by David Jenkins]
I was talking about Mr Average in a road car - a decent driver in a competition car wants every advantage he can get.
But, saying all that, I have braided hoses for every flexible connection on my Locost! 
David