My local hydraulic shop is also a Brakequip distributor. I take them the old rubber hoses and they make exact fit braided stainless lines for ~$15 a hose in about an hour, including all the oem standoffs or clips.
Thats cheap insurance if you're already doing a comprehensive brake job on an old car.
I'm not sure I can feel a difference in the pedal effort. Most of the time people do brake hose upgrades in conjunction with new pads and freshly bled brakes...that probably contributes to the perception that stainless feels better.
ChasH
New Reader
9/29/17 10:13 p.m.
Anyone that has done sandblasting will know rubber is much more resistant to sharp objects than steel. I can think of no performance benefit in using SS lines as new rubber lines are just as resistant to bulging and SS is less resistant to damage from road debris. I've used SS lines in many applications, but only when there wasn't an off the shelf line rubber line readily available-and that would include 2 am in the morning and your team is leaving at 6 am for the race.
Wife and I have been autocrossing for 15 years. This summer I replaced the 14 year old rubber hoses on our S2k with DOT SS hoses. We may be more sensitive to changes than average, but we both noticed a reduction in pedal movement for a given amount of braking force. You still get the same amount of "whoa" for a given pressure on the pedal, but it doesn't move as much.
In reply to djsilver :
Do you honesttly think 14 y.o. OEM vs. new DOT SS is a valid comparison?
In reply to Ovid_and_Flem :
I do.
I've never done a comparison on anything with four wheels but I have replaced brand new rubber lines on motorcycles with braided steel and there's always been a perceptible improvement in braking feel and a measurable reduction in lever movement.
Now that this debate is conclusively settled, I'm gonna go find a "which oil is best?" thread to resurrect.
I think we are pretty much in agreement about a couple of points.
#1. old rubber hoses are noticeably worse than new hoses either oem rubber or SS braided.
#2. both rubber and SS will fail catastrophically given enough time and abuse.
most people seem to agree that the difference between new rubber and new SS is relatively small.
I wonder how long each hose lasts at peak performance before they start to degrade towards the 'old rubber' end of the scale.
