mikegarrison

No, that's not correct.

"Stainless steel" lines are teflon tubes. The teflon is an excellent material because it resists expansion even at very high pressures and it is non-reactive with all sorts of hydraulic fluid. But it has a flaw -- it can be easily cut or kinked. The stainless steel weave is put over the teflon tube to protect it from kinking or cutting.

In many SS lines, a clear plastic is then put over the stainless steel in order to keep small particles from getting through the weave and poking a hole in the teflon.

As for the OEM lines, I haven't cut one open so I'm not sure what they are. They appear to be some sort of reinforced rubber. They may or may not have a teflon or similar liner inside.

The weakness of most of these lines is the hose fittings on the end. If they are crimped on (as required by the DOT) then they are generally pretty reliable in rubber but tend to cause fatigue failure in the stainless steel lines. The exact details of the construction are important, but quite a few stainless steel lines are much more prone to hose end fatigue failures than the OEM.

Also, as with all aftermarket parts, the OEM parts are designed by a huge company with engineering resources far greater than any aftermarket vendor. For this reason, OEM parts are almost always more reliable than aftermarket parts, although this sometimes comes at the price of performance. This is especially likely in terms of things like the details of the banjo bolt designs (metal thicknesses, tolerances, radii, heat treatment and material selection, QA, etc.).

Basically, it's more likely that an OEM part which is designed to survive without maintenance for the lifetime of a street car is more reliable than an aftermarket part which is designed for performance and is expected to be regular inspected and perhaps regularly replaced.

ruexp67

I LOVE Road America, it is probably my favorite track in the US. However, it scares the hell out of me. It is incredibly high speed with lots of walls and trees. I don't think there has been a season at RA without some kind of serious incident.

If you run it well, you will enjoy it endlessly, but there is VERY little margin for error there, and the cost of a mistake is usually high.

For a "serious" incident, this is relatively light for RA, as the driver did not need to be taken by helicopter to the nearest trauma center, and the car was not totalled.

I don't think I will run RA without proper safety equipment (not just minimum HPDE equipment, but cage, harnesses, seats, hans, etc.) And even at that I think 7/10 is more than enough for me there.

In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy RA as a spectator for ALMS.

ruexp67

I don't know for sure, but I doubt HIGHLY that Honda designed the brake lines and fittings themselves. It is far more likely that they source their brake lines from a large company that makes OEM brakelines for various different car makers. It wouldn't surprise me if that same company makes and sells SS lines to the aftermarket.

alejo

sounds to me like you're both saying the same thing, the "huge company" is a delphi type place - probably nissin or showa...

Clark

Alejo,

I can't believe you didn't take the opportunity to pimp your soft top that's for sale. I almost didn't see the link, and, well, I'm sorta in the market for a new top

How gigantic a pain do you think it would be to ship to Chicago? Any guess on shipping costs?

alejo

lol - I wouldn't vulture over you like that just after an accident, I'd wait a few days for that

I'd guess the shipping to be about $100 - the giant pain is actually installing it - that's why I'm offering to help with the install locally. PM me if interested.

Asura

Wrong.

The OEM lines are not easily destroyed. Just look at how thick they are compared to a SS line.

Wrong again.

SS lines can also fail.

The Reverend

I concur with Asura.

The benefit of a SS line is that it "balloons" less under pressure, not that it's safer. I've never heard of a legit rubber line failure before this and I've personally been in cars where SS lines have failed. They get pinholes in them from friction/pinching between the ss braiding and the rubber line inside.

FF2Skip

Is that a little tight or the proper line?

Clark

Hehe, you'll have to get that answer from somebody who's run LS more than I have (one time). I was semi-consistently running that line until I was black-flagged and told to stop kicking dirt on the track. It felt really smooth that way, as the car is unweighted from cresting the hill and so the runble strips didn't upset the car at all, and the outside tires seemed to get good grip with the little extra camber by that white line there.

It's not like I was pulling a Zanardi or anythign