I put a set of braided S.S. front brake lines on my '09 Fit 4-5 years ago. Yesterday I made a really hard stop, and suddenly the pedal goes to the floor. Oh ----, not good...fortunately I didn't hit anything, and it happened close to home. Upon inspection the right front braided line had burst and sprayed brake fluid everywhere. I'm having both of them replaced at my local shop with OEM rubber flex hoses. Total about $290 parts and labor with tire rotation and adjust rear brakes

Frayed braided line burst

EBC pads and rotors in good shape

Burst line sprayed brake fluid inside wheel well

 

Had them failed on my 05 Accord also. Mine failed in the fitting where it is connected to the brake caliper. The fitting rusted enough so fluid could go out.

Never again for me. I'll stay with OE or similar rubber hoses.

 

Mine lasted about 4 yrs. It failed where it bolts to the bracket. It moved and the braiding got frayed. I was lucky it didn't cause an accident. Getting standard hoses put on this morning.

 

You need to run better quality parts. It's all about the Earl's. Never run that cheap no-name ebay stuff.


https://www.earls.com.au/product-cat...d-accessories/

 

I've had problems with Russell and Goodridge lines. The Goodridge failed.

 

You live in the rust belt. I would guess that is your biggest issue.

Plus without pics and a legit story to back it up I don't really believe it. Those brands make quality race car graded parts. No reason for them to fail at all on a lightweight Honda Fit. Stainless steel lines just don't go bad for no reason.

 

Where do you order Earl's parts here in the states? I like those speed bleeders.

 

Happened on my 05 6-6 Accord, not on the Fit. I raced the car quite a few times before having the line fail on me. At least it was a slow leak failure, so no accident happened.

But for me, no SS brake lines anymore!

 

These were Goodrich brand lines, not some Chinese knockoff trash. I wouldn't trust one of the most critical systems on my car to that kind of item. From the appearance of the damaged hose, it flexed in it's mounting bracket from steering and chafed and cut the soft inner Teflon hose lining. It then ruptured under heavy braking pressure. Teflon will soften at high temperatures. The SS braid is simply there to keep it from expanding under pressure.

 

Don't know if my lines are braided or not. They're original to my '09 Fit with 125,000 kms on it.

About 5 weeks ago I left home and at the first traffic light the brake pedal sank to the floor. Garage checked and flushed and could find nothing wrong. All was well until this morning, when I fired it out of the garage and had to use the emergency brake to stop before the street. Brake fluid everywhere. There goes the tax refund!

 

Real SS brake lines like pro race cars use look like 3/8 lines when on the car they are multi layer and
the inner line is not teflon, it another polymer inside a layer of rubber, then stainless then another layer
of rubber and an outer layer of stainless with a clear cover over that so it doesn't wear as quick if it starts
rubbing on something. As far as I know non of the heavy hoses are DOT legal but they are an Aircraft
rated line. Nothing wrong with the Goodrich or Earls stuff you just need to inspect it occasionally,
First clue if your shopping the Aircraft certified hose is about 700 bucks for 4 lines not counting fittings
One trick is you can order UV dye to put in hydraulic fluid and just scan your brake lines with a UV flashlight.

Factory rubber lines are generally considered a 4 year or less service item so the rubber ones won't
save you from the same problems I've had two stock lines fail that were < 2 years old. Yet I've
had other cars that had the originals their whole operating life, 20 years or more..

Good Luck!

 

I totally agree, much of the stuff on ebay/tractor suppy/harbor freight is junk.

 

I have custom Russel lines all around.
They are bare SS braided lines but as I live in New England I purchased some clear shrink tuning for strain and corrosion resistance.

I did have a rear line blow out New Hampshire Motor Speedway on an HPDE day but that was due to hitting a cone which dislodged the rear line (broke zip ties) cause it to rub on the wheel until it ate through the SS and PTFE.

Super sketchy feeling heading into a hairpin turn with a tire wall directly in front of me when you peddle goes straight to the floor. Luckily there was a gap in the wall for such adventures.

 

You should never have zip ties holding your brake lines in place. There is a reason they are bolted down from Honda.

 

Thanks for the armchair advice but, you’re wrong The factory lines clipped into a plastic clip you press the line into, I add the zip ties in addition to the factory clips

There is no way without welding tabs ect to “bolt” anything.

In addition to that there was damage to components that were “ bolted down from Honda.”

You hit a cone at 120mph your going to break stuff zip tied or bolted.

Try it sometime!

 

The stock brake lines are bolted in place with a 10mm bolt. And in a stock location they will never rub. Unless you have the wrong offset and sized wheels.

Nice try though.