Interesting Brake idea...

A buddy of mine just rebuilt his calipers, installed front and rear bearings and new brake pads. After he re-assembled everything and bled the brakes, he took the car for test spin only to discover that a rotor needs replacing. Since the caliper has to come off, that means rebleeding the brakes and putting up with the associated time and mess.

His idea was to replace the rubber line AND the soild line leading to the caliper with one Stainless Steel Braided line. This would not only give the benefit of better brakes (I've read the threads and have also used the braided lines and LOVE them) but also a way of moving the caliper out of the way while remaining connected. Personally, I think the idea is great because it severs a couple of desirable needs, but I also wanted your learned advise as to any potential pitfalls.

BTW: I dont think lenght of the line has much to do with anything, my 1990 Range Rover uses the SS lines and the fronts are almost 16 inches long...

[This message has been edited by VIPRKLR (edited 12-08-2000).]

Hmmh. I don't think I understand this.

Usually, the flex rubber hoses are there to exactly provide this capability: For exchanging a rotor or so, you just have to remove the pads, unbolt the complete calliper, and move it out of the way. No opening of the system nor re-filling. Just make sure you don't spill brake fluid out of the reservoir.

Furthermore, the rubber hoses are there to provide flexibility, allowing a proper moving of the steering and suspension relative to the chassis.

????

Jens

------------------

Jens hit it right on the head.
you don't need to disconnect, rebleed, etc. to replace the brake disc, so why bother??
Your friend's plan has only downside, with no upside.

[This message has been edited by Jim T (edited 12-08-2000).]

Replaced my rotors last weekend. Just unbolted the calipered and move 'em over. AS far as braided lines, there are contrary opinions. I prefer the OEM just because you can see (swelling) if they are going bad. The braided, I hear, just wear out internally without any visual indication. I have also heard the brake peddle is not really improved. Just may be hype and a little protection from flying debree.

-------------------
Paul
78SC Targa

I may be wrong, but VIPER may be referring to an application like the rear caliper setup on most early 911's-where the rubber lines are at the susupension pivot point, but transition to hard lines that run along the control arm and thread directly into the calipers-making caliper removal a bit of pain. I considered replacing that section of hard line with stainless flex line on my 912 project, but decided to go with all new hard lines that mimic the factory setup and stainless flex lines where the old rubber ones were-it seemed the most logical thing to do (not to mention the cheapest.)

------------------
Clay Mcguill www.geocities.com/the912guy

Clay Mcguill 1
Other posts 0

Clay got it! This is not an attempt to replace pads, but to be able to move the caliper away from the wheel/hub assembly in order to do future bearing, rotor work without worring about rebleeding the brakes because of the need to disconnect the caliper.

[This message has been edited by VIPRKLR (edited 12-08-2000).]

Viper, great Idea on the brake lines, I never thought of doing that.
I did manage to move my rear brake caliper out of the way without disconnecting the hard lines. I just took my time and moved the caliper gently forward out of the way enough to slip the rotor off, then put it back in place with the bolts until I got the rotors back, nicely resurfaced , and then moved them away again to put the rotors back on. I was really dreading doing the rear brakes because of this, but there seemed to be enough play, no kinking of lines etc.
Craig

hmm, must be something different over the years (you didn't specify the year of the car you are talking about), I've replaced front and rear rotors on SCs and Carreras and did not have to disconnect the brake lines.

Viper,

I had complained about this in that thread of Porsche complaints a few days back. Anyhow, I had another idea for you to chew on. The hard lines and flexible lines meet at a bracket which is attached to the strut on the front, and the arm on the rear. To get this apart, you have to separate the flex line from the hard line as the bracket is just a metal piece with a hole thru it. What if you were to cut this bracket so that the hole becomes "U" shape so that the flex/hard line junction can slide out of here to free the caliper. Not totally sure if this would work, or if you can even understand what I'm describing. But it would keep it in the original setup and allow easy caliper movement (aside from the one initial time where you remove it all to cut the bracket) for bearing service, and rotor removal. Let me know.
Nick.

------------------
__________
Nick Shumaker
1982 911SC Coupe

I think this might be a bad idea for the following reason. Porsche designed the brake circuit for certain pressure bias. By adding additional length of flexible lines you will change the dynamics of the pressure that reaches the pistons. I know the stainless lines flex less but there is still some flex there that you cannot see, because the internals are rubber. By doing this you are entering untested territory and may be making a big mistake.

Is all this an attempt not to rebleed brakes?
It would seem easier to do this then all the prior suggestions. How many times do you need to take off your calipers? Most likely not as often as bleeding your brakes. I do mine once a year. I do understand where your coming from. I did my wife's Volvo wagon and just swung the caliper out of the way on the attached rubber hose when I replaced rotors. With power bleeders, I've seen guys do all 4 wheels in 10 minutes at the track. I have a feeling Porsche feels those stiff metal tubing in needed leading in to the caliper. Not an area I want to experiment with.

------------------
8 9 9 1 1, The last of the line.

I bleed my brakes every other month or so. If you stick an air fitting into an old brake fluid cap and use compressed air its a snap. I also recall that I can change my rotors without removing the calipers, but I have had the brakes apart so often I can't remember for sure.

I hope my new 930 brakes need less maintenance after a day of thrashing at the track.