Earls stainless steel braided brake lines

[lagged]

well ive had these on my car for about 2 years i estimate i put just under 10000 miles on them.

yesterday went to change my front wheel bearings, and what do you know one of the lines is leaking very badly. good thing it was discovered that way and not while the car was in use.

10000 miles is unacceptable for the lifetime of brake lines, i will be calling suprastore (where i bought them... ugh) and then earls to try to get a refund. problem is this was about 2 years ago and i have no receipts however i believe that earls should refund my money for selling me a defective product that could have cost me my life.

 

[silver88turbo]

My SS front brake lines started leaking too!! I dont remember what brand but they have even less miles on them than yours. The rears look fine though. Is this a common problem? Anybody else have any experiences like this?

And where can I get a good set that wont kill me?

 

[figgie]

:wtf: :icon_eek:

you guys are kidding right?

SS braided line are a WEAR ITEM. Meaning that they require FREQUENT inspection to make sure they are ok. If not, toss and replace. The nature of the ss braided line.

 

[Ckanderson]

And where can I get a good set that wont kill me?

stock.

 

[figgie]

10000 miles is unacceptable for the lifetime of brake lines, i will be calling suprastore (where i bought them... ugh) and then earls to try to get a refund. problem is this was about 2 years ago and i have no receipts however i believe that earls should refund my money for selling me a defective product that could have cost me my life.

good luck as you will need it.
Did you read the Earls instruction? If no why not? If you did, did you understand the part of frequent inspections. Any sign of leak need to have the lines replaced.

Earl, Aeroquip, Goodrich, russel etc will NOT refund money much less give you the time of day for something which ALL these companies state is a WEAR item unlike the stock lines.

Read my previous post on here on SS braided line being a wear item.

 

[silver88turbo]

Mine had no instructions and I was completely unaware that they are a wear item. Thanks for the clarification figgie. Back to stock I go....

 

[figgie]

http://www.aeroquip.com/pages/techinfo.html

Q: What is the life expectancy of a hose assembly, and how often should it be changed?
A: There are too many variables to accurately predict the life span of a hose. The best way to prevent hose failure in service is to routinely inspect your hoses for signs of wear or fatigue.

this right there means that it IS infact a wear item. the stock are wear items also though.

Please tell me you guys didn't think the ss hose would last indefinetly???

 

[lagged]

that is not what i said at all, and obviously the leak was spotted due to a routine inspection of the lines. i was merely stating that less than 10000 miles to me is not acceptable. ive been inspecting the lines every so often and keep up on the maintanance of my car, however if earls had said that they wont last more than 10000 miles i would have never put them on my car in the first place.

"these are a wear item" ok
"these wont last more than 10000 miles..." not ok

 

[cnewingham]

guess it is best to stay with the stock lines then eh. Good info. and yes we all know hoses are wear items but appearently SS wear quicker then the stockers from the info givin here.

 

[lagged]

come on figgie you are respected because you give out good information, but you contradict your self TWICE in this thread. you state that the stock brake lines are not wear items, then you state that they are in fact wear items. we all know that brake lines are something that should be inspected frequently. whether they have a long life expecantcy or not, something that determines your ability to save your own life should be a top priority.

further more you neglected to fully read my initial post! that, or i did not make my self clear.

the leak was discovered during routine inspection while doing another repair.

if earls put on the box that these came in that they would not last more than 10000 miles, no one except racing teams would be using them.

long story short, i want a refund.

 

[figgie]

only reason i "contradicted" mytself because i wasn't clear in what part is the wear item and what part is not.

As for the EARL lines. That is good that you got that leak while inpsecting them. Though i thought Earl had a "shrink tube" like covering on them? Or is that the BFGoodrich lines??

 

[lagged]

they dont, at least not the ones i have. possibly new lines they make have a shrink tube around them?

though i havent thoroughly inspected the failed lines yet (too busy driving the car for once!) the leak LOOKS to be where the braided line meets the fitting.

whether they give me a refund or not, they lasted me less than 10000 miles and IMO are a waste of money for their added benefit, for a daily driver anyway.

if nothing else, for everyone with these lines, be sure to do what i did and INSPECT them regularly.

 

[IJ.]

The Goodridge lines are coated.

 

[gixxer750]

I believe the goodridge lines have a lifetime warranty. I have a set on my car, and they have been in place for about 15000 miles now

 

[Asterix]

My first set of Earl's lines had over 100,000 miles and over 9 years on them before I replaced them. I didn't have to, since they looked fine. I was putting new calipers on, and figured I may as well.

I'll bet it was either an installation error, somewhere along the line you kinked it, or something else damaged the line. These hoses are really picky about being kinked.

Properly installed and cared for lines will last longer than the car.

Asterix

 

[lagged]

not quite, these lines were installed by ME exactly as they should have been. it was only one line that was leaking. i am led to believe that it was defective.

 

[3p141592654]

Dirt gets between the SS mesh and the soft tube inside and with enough flexing will eventually pierce the line. Its unlikely to be a defect, just bad luck. I wouldn't use them in wet/snowy climates. By the way, my Goodrich lines do not have an outer cover, but I do know that you can get them with them.

 

[suprageezer]

If any of these aftermarket brake lines have a teflon liner, which I believe they all do. Teflon is a hard plastic that is highly chemical resistant. the Major down side to teflon is it's what they call a migratory plastic, in other words the constant flexing causes it to break FAR sooner than the stock rubber brakes line. It's like a peice of copper wire, you bend it x amounts of times and it breaks. I for one will stick to the Stock brakes lines due to liability.
Geezer
Here's some good reading
http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Performance/brakelines.htm

 

[silver88turbo]

http://www.aeroquip.com/pages/techinfo.html

Please tell me you guys didn't think the ss hose would last indefinetly???

Did anyone say that?

Mine have less than 10,000 miles on em...

 

[Silent Smith]

How many miles was that again? Sorry was it ten thousand or was it 10000.

Guy you say it how many times in this one thread. Your modifying a car, modified parts do not carry a warrenty like a new car warrenty. Non Coated SS lines are not DOT approved because of this, do some research before you buy next time. Most SS lines come coated now to prevent or slow there wear. They're leaking at the ends, could be or could be fluid trapped inbetween the braid and the inner line getting out there or the the angle was too extreme for it.

Parts wear out, simple as that.

You got 2 years out of the product, your not satisfied we understand. Saying where it was purchased is an attempt to tarnish their reputation?