Thoughts on SS Brake Lines

[CaptainSquirts]

So I'll be replacing my brake fluid soon, original lines have over 100k miles on them. I am wondering if there is any benefit from switching to SS lines from the oem hard rubber/plastic lines. There are no issues with my original lines currently, except the mileage and being 11 years old. But since I'm flushing my brake fluid, should I just get the lines swapped since original have over 100k on them? Pro's i've read from researching looks to be better protection than oem(which oem are fine as is) , has a more firm pedal feel(which airing out/new fluid can give as well), and shouldn't have to replace ever. Only Con I can think of is just spending money on new SS lines.

Now I don't want to replace the lines just because omg JDM SS brake lines dank modz so dank . Only would want to replace if it's a worthwhile upgrade, especially since I still have original brake lines with lots of miles. Also my wife commented on how her car(nissan sentra) has a better initial brake bite feeling over my which sadly is true...

Thoughts?

[Loren]

From a performance perspective, try fresh fluid and a good bleed. See if you notice a difference. If nothing else, it's a data point, and you can at least say "a good bleed feels like this vs. however long it's been since the brakes have been bled".

A lot of the difference people feel between old brake lines and SS lines could be felt by just fitting NEW stock lines. But, the SS overbraid does keep the lines from flexing and expanding as much, so there is a LITTLE bit better feel with SS lines. If you've got other things to spend money on, I wouldn't fret over the brake lines on an 11-year-old car. Good fluid, bleed well, enjoy.

Initial brake bite can have a lot to do with the brake pads, as well. The Sentra may have pads that are designed to feel good in the environment that 99% of people use that car... but, after 2 hard stops, they're going to overheat and fade. Your car might have a more heat-tolerant pad that's not going to bite as well when its cold... but, will bite better when it's warm, and not be as prone to fading when they get hot. Just a hypothesis.

[Loren]

Oh, your car is also a LOT heavier than a Sentra, and has much larger and heavier wheels. That has a big effect on how brakes feel, as well.

[Native]

My only experience with ss lines is on a Miata: they didn't make a noticeable difference over rubber.
Also read carefully about them. They do age, they don't last forever. They're still rubber inside, but you can't see them swell or crack. As dank modz go, they do look tasty...I'd say go for it - because racecar.

[Tim_M]

IMO, not required for a few more years. I have a set and used several on different cars-all with lots of miles/years. Typically they are cheaper than OEM (ie from the dealer...Autozone is not the same).

If you do elect SS lines-makes sure you get quality DOT approved. The race models (if offered?) lack durability and could fail in the worst manner. I had an OEM fail-it was an internal collapse and wouldn't let the caliper pistons to fully retract-I can live with that (literally!)

I'd put the money toward some refreshed struts.

[CaptainSquirts]

Alright, I think the plan will be just to do the fluid and wait the lines out.

Btw anyone know of any methods to reduce brake squealing. Got ferdoro ds2500 pads and they just squeal pretty loud when braking at low speeds. I've used copper antiseize, didn't work. Then installed girodisc anti-noise shims with some disc brake quiet stuff applied and still same sqeal. All out of ideas at this point.

[aw614]

noisy brakepads are just race car noises

[CaptainSquirts]

At this point that might just be my resolve. Just race car things :/

[aw614]

do you mind switching pads between daily driving and events? that might be your best option.

[Loren]

Okay, okay... brake pads.

1. They might be fine. We live in FL. We get lots of wet days. If your rotors get more than a couple days of rust on them, you need to scrub that rust off (by braking) and then re-bed your pads just as you would new ones. In other words: The first thing to try is a good ol' Italian Tune Up. Get the brakes good and hot. Hot enough that you just start to smell them. Then let them cool evenly (generally by driving with minimal braking for a while), and rest overnight. This transfers some pad material to the rotor and gets your brakes working as intended.

2. I know nothing of your particular pads, but if they are designed for higher temperatures, they may not be up to operating temp at lower temperatures. Street pads operate well when cold, and have reasonable heat-tolerance for maybe 1-2 SERIOUS stops (like 70-20 a couple times). Because of that, they don't squeal when cold (if properly bedded), and they work as you expect them to. The more the heat range of a pad is slanted toward track use, the higher temps it can tolerate (lots of repeated fast stops with no pad fade), and the less they're going to work when they're cold.

3. Brake pads work in one of two ways: Abrasive (killing your rotors) or Ablative (sacrificing the pad material). By design, the system should be ablative. You bed the pads to transfer some pad material to the rotor, and under normal use, pad material adheres to pad material, gives you good pedal feel ("bite") and most of the wear is to the pad rather than the rotor. A more aggressive pad that works in a higher heat range won't be up to operating temp until sometime after the first brake application. That can be anything as subtle as "these pads squeal on the very first application when they're cold" to "these pads just plain don't get up to operating temp on the street, and ALWAYS squeal". Here's the deal... with an overly aggressive pad, that squeal is the brake pad operating in ABRASIVE mode, eating up your rotor. Try it with race pads after dark sometime. You can SEE the sparks flying off of your brake rotor.

Most of this info comes from a combination of personal experience and THIS ARTICLE, which is a very good read.

[CaptainSquirts]

I'll try the multiple heavy braking thing. I've always planned to do it but then I never really find a good road to do it on without having a bunch of random traffic. I always thought braking during autocross would be suffice but maybe that isn't the case.

[RedBRZ80]

SS lines are overkill for AutoX. But that said.. when I went BBK on the brz I went SS as well. Kinda piece of mind and cheap upgrades

[Tim_M]

I ran a set of Ferodo 2500's with no squealing.

Although @ 24,000 miles they looked like this:



Spent most of the time in UK and outside in the moist environment-we had a few occasions were they 'rusted' to the rotor such as after a car wash, etc. Nonetheless, special case and good pad. I switched to Hawk HPS after that-no issues with those.

Subaru uses shims both SS insert and plastic insulator between the pad backing and the pistons. Whether they are there for heat protection or noise-don't know, but I reinstall them. Did Mitsu's come with these? Are they missing from a previous brake change?

If the hard braking deal isn't helpful, I'd look at new rotors...or I seem to recall if you put a bevel on the leading and trailing edges of the pads...many pads come this way. May seem counter productive...

A shot of my BMW's OEM pad (new of course...):

[CaptainSquirts]

The evo actually comes with these half shims that go on top the full shim. Unfortunately I didn't put them on when I put the pads in and misplaced the rears but still have the fronts. Might need to look for those half shims for the rear if the pad break in doesn't work.

[Loren]

Although @ 24,000 miles they looked like this:

Gnarly!

[CaptainSquirts]

Found the rear half shims and installed them. I believe I lost about 80% of the squealing. Still have a slight slight one I believe from the fronts so I need to get those half shims installed on them.

[twistedwankel]

I got my brakes/ABS and clutch completely flushed and converted to Full Synthetic DOT3-4 fluid yesterday (high boiling point). The clutch slaves were nasty. Never thought about it not changing out like the brakes since uses the same reservoir - so now it works firmer than ever too. My original 2003 factory brake lines are fine. That would make them 14 years old w/ 84k miles. But since I don't road race I rarely ever use the brakes hard autocrossing other than the turn around and of course the finish. It took a rather impressive machine with adapters for one man to do it all properly and it took 2 quarts in an hour.