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Making Braided Brake Lines
johnny chimpo - 26/2/14 at 09:19 PM

Hi all, I am planning to make up my own braided brake lines from -3 stainless braided Teflon hose and use goodridge ends however I have never attempted to make a braided brake line before and can't seem to find any guides online.

Can anyone point me in the direction of a good how to guide or even give me some tips on how's best to go about it.

Are any special tools required to make up the lines?

Also any recommendations of component suppliers would be good (even just to compare prices against where I am planning to buy from).

Sorry for all the questions, but as usual thanks in advance for any help or direction.

G


r1_pete - 26/2/14 at 09:28 PM

Before you buy the components check with Russbost on here, great service good product and the price makes it questionable whether making your own is worth it.


snapper - 26/2/14 at 09:55 PM

Brake line should be swaged on
Russ does this
Very well


trikerneil - 26/2/14 at 10:09 PM

I made all the brake lines for my Trike.

Have a look HERE for a guide.

HTH

Neil


teegray19 - 26/2/14 at 10:24 PM

i personally found it really easy, your better off buying quite a few brass olives until you get the hang of it.

i bought the below, and was really happy how it turned out. (the second picture on the ebay listing for the banjo shows you how they go together) i used a 7/16 spanner and a hex hey through the banjo with a rubber pipe on the outside to not damage the inside of the banjo.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=141192756888

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141031757212?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

i already had the stainless line from the original set up but its pretty cheap!


The Black Flash - 26/2/14 at 10:54 PM

quote:
Originally posted by r1_pete
Before you buy the components check with Russbost on here, great service good product and the price makes it questionable whether making your own is worth it.


This. I can't imagine that by the time you'd bought the tools and materials you could do it any cheaper, and almost certainly not better or as quickly.


paulf - 26/2/14 at 11:27 PM

I bought the parts and hose from Rally design and dont remember it being very expensive, it is easy to assemble but the hard part is cutting the braid neatly to avoid frayed edges as they have to be clamped under the nut.
Paul


unijacko67 - 27/2/14 at 12:05 AM

I made mine and a good tip is to wrap the braided hose with masking tape before cutting, cut in the middle of your tape with ultra thin disc cutter so the end of your next pipe is easy to work and get the outer nut on. blow all the crap out of the pipes before fitting like.


jwhatley - 27/2/14 at 07:33 AM

Rally design hose is something like £4.50 a metre. Euroquip 600 fittings are about £3-4 each plus a few other fitting parts. It's not that expensive plus you can make yours exactly to size on the car then.

I changed all my lines over to braided and cut/made them myself. Very straight forward, like has already been said put tape over the end and then cut in the middle. The olive goes inside the braid then the nut comes over the top to clamp it all together and hold the braid in place.


matt_gsxr - 27/2/14 at 09:23 AM

The braided brake hoses are easy to make. Just follow the instructions.

Check first that they are still legal, as you occasionally (as above) find people saying that they have to be swaged on. I think the conclusion of those discussions in the past is that you need connectors that internally support the hose. The rallydesign host and connectors worked well for me.

Big braided hose (I.E. -8, -10) is a bloody nightmare (literally and metaphorically).

Matt


johnny chimpo - 27/2/14 at 09:46 AM

Cheers for all the useful help guys, think I will give it a to as it will be easier to make the lines to suit the car when it's nfront of me rather than measuring out and getting someone else to make them. Although I may give russbost a call if I fail terribly!

Thanks also for the heads up about the bigger size lines. If the brakes are a success my next challenge is making up -6 braided brake lines.

Cheers...


russbost - 27/2/14 at 09:59 AM

Ok I have a vested interest here, but just thought I ought to straighten out a few points!

First to clarify the self assembly type are perfectly acceptable at IVA, but they may require proof (ie a receipt) that you have the inner olives & that you know how to correctly assemble the hoses

If you use the unions listed above from Venhill I think you'll find your hoses will come out dearer than buying complete hoses from me!

If you can buy unions at the price suggested above of £3 - 4 (however that will be plus shipping!) & brake hose from Rally design is £4.50/metre +Vat, so actually £5.40, but of course there's shipping to go on top, so you can probably near double that! You probably MIGHT make your hoses for around £13 - £15ea, however to the best of my knowledge all of the self assembly type unions are only mild steel with cadmium plating & they WILL go rusty - yes even if you never drive it in the rain, also that is only plain stainless braided hose, ours have a clear or coloured plastic outer sleeve, the second you get any road dirt into braided hose it will NEVER look clean again, no matter how much cleaning you do; ours? just wipe with a damp cloth - clean & shiny like new! You also won't have wasted around 2 hours of your life puncturing your fingers with the braid, bleeding all over your shirt, car & carpet (& therefore being beaten to death by the missus) & generally cursing why you ever started the job!

There simply isn't any comparison, you might as well compare apples with oranges! if your hoses are under 400mm tip to tip (typical locost is around this figure, some over some under) I charge £14.95 per hose, £2.95 to ship a pair, £4.95 to ship 4 (special LCB price - 1st class, 2nd is even cheaper!), if they are 0.4 - 0.9m then it's £17.90 per hose (tho' if they are only just over the 400mm mark then talk to me nicely & we can negotiate a price somewhere in the middle!) all fittings & hose are stainless steel so no chemical reactions to worry about, they are guaranteed for life against corrosion or any manufacturing fault & you can have the outer sleeve in any one of about 16 colours at no extra cost.

As long as you measure correctly allowing for lock to lock & suspension bump/droop (a requirement in either case!) then the hoses will be made to your lengths to fit your car perfectly - gentlemen, I rest my case!


rdodger - 27/2/14 at 02:30 PM

I can't believe that anyone would make their own when Russ makes the so cheap and properly with ss fittings.

I ordered one for my clutch, arrived next day and fitted perfectly.


russbost - 27/2/14 at 03:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by rdodger
I can't believe that anyone would make their own when Russ makes them so cheap and properly with ss fittings.

I ordered one for my clutch, arrived next day and fitted perfectly.


Ok, your fiver's on its way!!


rdodger - 27/2/14 at 04:04 PM

Wow! Thanks Russ. The service just gets better and better.

You will end up paying me for my next order


sdh2903 - 27/2/14 at 06:20 PM

quote:
Originally posted by rdodger
I can't believe that anyone would make their own when Russ makes the so cheap and properly with ss fittings.

I ordered one for my clutch, arrived next day and fitted perfectly.


+1, I just don't think something as important as brake lines should be messed with, especially as stated there is a professional option available for the same price (and excellent service) from Russ.

Just my 2p worth mate, russ my fiver is to be posted to..................


jwhatley - 27/2/14 at 09:01 PM

Not saying there an inferior product. And they are probably of a great quality, no doubting them.

I'd still much rather make them myself, there hardly difficult to make.

How about fuel lines? Diff bolts?? How about chassis mount points? Are the not important?


sdh2903 - 27/2/14 at 09:28 PM

quote:
Originally posted by jwhatley
Not saying there an inferior product. And they are probably of a great quality, no doubting them.

I'd still much rather make them myself, there hardly difficult to make.

How about fuel lines? Diff bolts?? How about chassis mount points? Are the not important?


At least when your fuel lines have burst and caught fire, diff has fallen out and chassis welds cracked you'll still be able to stop

I still any day of the week prefer a proper swaged joint to a compression joint with an olive. Especially as previously stated, you are getting a protected braid, stainless fittings in any config you want for pretty much the same price as doing yourself. All IMHO of course.