Yellow Bullet Forums banner

Life span of Braided SS lines???

1K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  jrork 
#1 ·
Hey guys. While looking over my stock of new and used SS Braided lines and fittings for a little project my son and I have, I noticed at least one piece that the internal rubber hose had weathered and become brittle enough that if I bent it, I could hear the rubber cracking. Put it in some water and applied air to it and sure enough, leaking thru the braid.


So, I’m curious if there’s a rule of thumb on the lifespan of lines. Sure would hate to have a line start leaking goe unnoticed.
  • Life span for water lines?
  • Life span for gas lines?
  • Life span for oil lines?
  • How often do you change lines out?
Any thoughts and experiences you would care to share would be very much appreciated…..john
 
#3 ·
The teflon lined braided stuff on my car is 11 yrs old now. Fuel and trans cooler lines and brake flex lines are still fine.
 
#6 ·
I never thought about the lifespan of braided hose. I went to fire up my car and turned on the pump with the hood open and fuel was spraying everwhere. The hose to the rear bowl came apart inside the braid. It was 20 years old. Oops. If that happened while going down the track???. I was stupid and lucky.
 
#7 ·
Hey guys......This question has come up alot on here.

And the answer is....................................

There is no magic #.

There are several factors that contribute to the decline of the hose. Heat, bend radius, fluid, UV, time are all factors. One of the worst things that you can do to ANY piece of hose is run fuel through it consistantly, and then let it sit. The newer synthetics over the last couple of years are better, but for all intensive purposes, fuel is a very dry fluid. There is little lubricating factor to it. Heat is another one that will break down a hose faster.

Being around this business for the last 30 yrs (yes since I was 4 or 5) I have seen hoses last for 3 months, and Ive seen them last for 15 years. If you want a better chance of them lasting longer, then go to teflon. But in doing that, you limit yourself to fitting availability.

If you have anymore questions feel free to pm me, email me (joel@ormebrothers.com), call me at the shop or post them here.

Joel
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top