Joseph Andres

iTrader: (6)

Are they worth $100 in Lingenfelter? Notice any difference? I have a 1988 GTA with the crappy rear disc set up. Will they help and improve pedal feel?

------------------
1988 GTA 5.7L TPI Auto
355 ci. block,TPIS ZZ-9 Camshaft, SLP Headers, Borla Cat Back, B&M Holeshot 2400 Stall Converter, 3.73 Richmond Gears

"Why ride a stang when birds can fly?"

http://www.geocities.com/thegta

JamesC

iTrader: (5)

I put Earl's braided on my 85 IROC, which has rear discs. I like the feel.

JamesC

------------------

99Hawk120

I dunno. I just put them on my 84 which is up on the stands. I'll let you know when it comes back down. Still going to be a while (stupid flywheel).

Stuart Moss

Baer Brakes, who is a reputable company specializing in high performance automotive brakes says "no". See their web site for an explaination.

In short, they stated that when people switch to the braided brake lines, any improvements probably come because the brakes lines will have to be bleeded when removing/installing the lines.

I wonder if high performance cars (e.g. Corvette, Viper, etc.) come with braided lines. If not, then that would be an indication that the lines they use are adequate.

Kyle F

Just because a stock Viper or Corvette comes with rubber lines doesn't mean that the braided ones aren't better, it just means the rubber is cheaper. Rememeber these cars are still somewhat mass produced. Question about the Ferraris or Lambos.

I don't have them on my car, but my friend has them on his VW Golf GTI. He loves them. Maybe they dont help braking distance at all, and they shouldn't. The make the pedal feel better because there is not the loss of pressure in empanding the lines, rather it all goes into making the piston come out of the claiper. Should bot change the braking ability of the car, just reduce pedal travel, and provide beeter feel to the driver, also slightly reduce brake fade.

------------------
89 Trans Am Turbo 3.8L All stock 43,000 miles #1053 of 1555

Past Thirdgen:
86 Trans Am w/ built 355TPI with SLP goodies and too much other stuff to List. One sweet *** car, wish I would have had a good enough Job to pay insurance on three cars so I could keep it, but for a 89 Turbo Trans Am w/ Low miles, I think I made the right choice!

Stuart Moss

You're correct, just because a high-dollar vehicle has or does not have braided brake lines is not proof that they are good or bad. But it can be an indication of their usefulness. But I don’t agree that if the Corvette or Viper do not use braided brake lines, the reason would be to keep costs down as you stated. Afterall, the difference is not that great between the two types if there is a significant performance benefit.

If a vehicle that costs >$100K does not have them, I doubt the reason is because the engineers were trying to keep the costs of the vehicle down. If lower cost (<$50K) high performance cars do not have them, is it because they really do not offer any significant performance benefit, or is it to save a few (<$50?) dollars to the cost of the car? Or some other reason?

If braided lines are included, then maybe there is some validity to their benefits.

As I originally posted, it would be interesting to know if these types of vehicles have the braided lines.

In the Baer catalog, it states "...although braided hoses do provide protection from external temperature soak and greater resistance to abrasion, any perception of a firmer pedal comes from the fact that completing the installation of hoses requires the bleeding of the brakes."

Proof? Of course not. I brought up that point for consideration only.

As an aside, Baer shows stainless steel Teflon braided hose lines in the photographs in their catalog and includes them standard with their kits. Since that seems to go against their belief that braided brakes lines do not offer a performance upgrade, I wonder why they are included in their kits. Maybe they are better for non-performance reasons – more durable, longer lasting, looks more like a performance part, instill customer confidence…who knows?

They also stated that cross drilled and slotted rotors are essentially for cosmetic reasons, but have a performance edge when pad outgassing occurs (which essentially never occurs on the street). If you agree with that, they why would some auto manufactures equip their cars with slotted or cross drilled rotors? Afterall, that would be an additional expense to the customer that does not offer a performance benefit on the street. Perhaps it is to make the car look better to the customer and hence sell more cars.

Brake lines are generally not seen by a typical customer buying a car. If they were, I could understand having them in place of rubber lines – they look better and I would imagine that that would help sell the car.

Does anyone know if braided brake lines are offered on any production car? If so, which one?

Does anyone have any personal experience between braided and rubber brake lines? Are you sure that the brake line was properly bled for both types, especially the rubber hose?

[This message has been edited by Stuart Moss (edited May 10, 2001).]

GregWestphal

iTrader: (1)

Braided S/S brake hoses are much more resistant to bursting due to the extreme heat they encounter while road-racing. Ford had a problem with the newer Mustangs (I think just the Cobras) a few years ago with some guys bursting a brake hose during "open-track" events (sort-of like a high-performance driving school). I think their recommended solution was to install braided brake hoses on those cars. Baer includes them on their kits since most of their customers road-race their cars.

------------------
Greg Westphal
'87 IROC 305TPI/A4