I was wondering what people preferred on a braided brake lines..

I recently ran across "Russell Braided Brake Lines" and wondering if they were any good.. Price seems to be good..

Please post your comments.. i did the forum search and I didn't find any info about russell braided lines.

Thanks!

 

More than you ever wanted to know..........

I think all the automotive hose and braiding is all about the same. Much of the aftermarket stuff is really crappy, and suitable for cosmetic use only. I can't comment on the Russell stuff since I've never seen it up close, but based on their prices alone it cannot be really high quality.

The "banjo" fitting on all of them is adequate but really pretty cheesy, and they tend to pull the hose when you tighten them down, which is not good. No hose is designed for torsional overloads.

You can have custom lines made for you that have end fittings that are specially swaged on and will not allow the line to twist. The actual hose, hose ends and stainless steel braid are much higher quality and the ends are made from Ni-Cad steel, the strongest. This type of line is standard in aircraft and is know as "666 Teflon" hose. It can handle pressure up to 1500 psi. It is covered with Type 300 wire braid, which is far superior to the off the shelf stuff they use for automotive braid. It's made by Aeroquip.

For street application steel braided line is way overkill, since you are not dealing with high temperatures, abrasion or constant flexing like you would in a race situation. I intend to replace mine this winter with OEM since they are getting old (10 years) and I don't trust them any longer.

If I was racing I would buy the absolute best quality available. I had a friend drive his $200,000 race Porsche through a concrete barrier at the end of a straight at 140 mph because his stock brake line split. (He lived but is messed up).

My guess is the custom high quality lines would be significantly more expensive than the Russell or OEM, but when it comes to harware, you always get what you pay for.

If you go the custom route make sure they are EXACTLY the same length as the stock ones from end to end. If they are too short they can fail rapidly, and too long will lead to premature failure from axial overload.

 

I have not installed them yet but I can say that the hoses I bought from Mazda Competition (now Mazdaspeed) are in fact Goodrich hoses. Reason enough to race: I got them dirt cheap.

If the Russell you refer to is the same company that makes Russell hose fittings, I know there are better alternatives. As for the Goodrich I can't say until I install them, but Mazda Competition tends to have extremely reliable parts.

 

I just installed my Goodrich hoses from MazdaComp this weekend and it was a piece of cake. They fit exactly like factory, though without the "tail" on the rear banjos to keep them from turning when tightening. A little care is all it takes though.

I hear often of people having to file holes to make the hex shaped keepers fit but the Goodrich fit exactly like factory. The keepers are not in fact hexes; one side is round so they only fit one way. Do the lines that have slight fitment issues have true hexes here and therefore the need to file the holders?