How to install Techna-Fit Stainless Steel Brake Lines

[Deer Killer]

Update: Got a craftsman vacuum bleeder. Bled twice. Brand new clear fluid everytime. The vacuum setup sucks because it draws in air from around the bleeder threads so you can't see if you really have bubbles, though I should have pulled "enough" out. The result is when the engine is off, the pedal is firm. When the engine is on it's mush again. Maybe I have a slightly different setup than the 6 month newer legacy I installed on/drove, but it doesn't do it _that_ badly. When you're in the "soft" zone it's already braking decently hard, not me.

 

Went out in the rain, tried to light up the ABS, first two times could not get all 4 wheels, third time used both feet. After that it seems like it was easier to engage ABS, but it doesn't seem like it did anything for pedal feel. Bleed again? Ugh, too late! what a pain...

[ebpda9]

if the brake fluid reservoir ran dry then you need to bleed the master cylinder first. i spent the last 2 days bleeding the brakes on my acura with no success, then i discontected the lines from the reservoir and did a "bench bleeding" on the car, and the brakes seem to be nice and firm.

 

and this is an awesome writeup.

[magnetic1]

Update: Got a craftsman vacuum bleeder. Bled twice. Brand new clear fluid everytime. The vacuum setup sucks because it draws in air from around the bleeder threads so you can't see if you really have bubbles, though I should have pulled "enough" out. The result is when the engine is off, the pedal is firm. When the engine is on it's mush again. Maybe I have a slightly different setup than the 6 month newer legacy I installed on/drove, but it doesn't do it _that_ badly. When you're in the "soft" zone it's already braking decently hard, not me.

 

...

 

Im thinking you have air in your ABS unit.... try bleeding with the ignition "on"

[magnetic1]

I was also going to say that it is normal for the pedal to feel "mushier" w/ the car on, but I didnt because you said the other LGT was fine.

 

The reason why both cars should feel mushier when the car is on is because that just means the brake booster is working. When the engine is off, there is no assistance and it'll feel firmer......

[mbacis]

I just got back from a local shop. They said they needed at least one more 500ml bottle of fluid to do the job. Of course they don't sell the Motul that I have so it's either track down another bottle of Motul or go with whatever fluid they use, but then I'm stuck with the fluid I already bought.

 

It seems everyone on here says that the two 500ml bottles of Motul are enough. Should I just find another shop or what?

[magnetic1]

I just got back from a local shop. They said they needed at least one more 500ml bottle of fluid to do the job. Of course they don't sell the Motul that I have so it's either track down another bottle of Motul or go with whatever fluid they use, but then I'm stuck with the fluid I already bought.

 

It seems everyone on here says that the two 500ml bottles of Motul are enough. Should I just find another shop or what?

Really... 2 is plenty.

 

But if you need it.. find a motorcycle shop in your area. Most of the time they will carry Motul. Prolly $15-20/bottle.

[Xenonk]

It seems everyone on here says that the two 500ml bottles of Motul are enough. Should I just find another shop or what?

 

2 bottle is more than plenty (and you will still have some leftover to do the clutch fluid change if you want).

[mbacis]

Hmmm. Well, after calling around a lot, I was able to locate a motorcycle shop that carried Motul, but they only had the DOT 5.1. I bought a bottle of that because it says "Compatible with DOT 4" right on the front. I made an appt. for tomorrow at 11:00am, if they find the need to they can tap into the bottle of 5.1.

 

On a good note, they are giving me a $10/hour service discount because I mentioned this site. They do it for allwheeljunkies so they extended it to me.

 

BTW, this is Group5 in San Diego, not sure if anybody has experience with them. I may be having them do my uppipe too if this goes well. Thanks for the replies.

[mbacis]

So, I had them installed today. Dropped the car off at 11:00am and went back at ~1:30pm after not hearing from them. Car was still up in the air with the wheels off. They finished up about 15 minutes later and charged me for 2.25 hours of labor. Gave me a free t-shirt if that counts for anything.

 

As I start to drive off I hear 'whoomp, whoomp, whoomp' coming from the front right wheel area. Turn right around and have the guy join me for a listen. We go back to the garage and he and another guy go for a drive to listen. When they come back (never left my sight) the noise has magically stopped. I drive it and hear no noise. He says "it just may be one of those fluke things", not to worry.

 

Yeah, so I leave and all seems fine. Didn't notice much of a difference in brake feel, seems I have to push the pedal down farther to get engagement. I went back to work and a few hours later get in the car to drive home. Nasty groan as I back I of my spot. No noise the whole way home in traffic, but I notice the braking actually feels worse, almost like when I let off the pedal it doesn't fully release right away and I definitely have to push it in farther before I get any engagement.

 

I stopped for gas and thought I hear a type of clicking coming from the front right wheel when going slow. By hte time I get home and I am driving around looking for a parking spot (about 30 minutes, aargh) there is a horrible scraping sound coming from the same wheel. At this point I want to kill someone and I'm afraid to drive the car. When I finally parked I looked in the wheel well and felt around to find that the brake line is pressed up against the inside of the wheel. Checked the other side and found it to be very very close to touching the wheel.

 

What the hell? I thougt this was supposed to be an easy swap deal. If it wasn't for lack of a proper jack, jackstands, and level ground I would have done it myself. I can't even tell you how pissed I am. I'm so sick of paying other people to do things wrong, and taking their sweet time to do a shotty job.

 

So about the feel, do you think it wasn't bled properly? And by the way they ended up not even finishing off the second bottle of fluid. So they made me drive around yesterday searching for a third for nothing. I don't even think they're open on the weekends to bring it back. Besides, I have to be at a work event three hours away all day tomorrow, and I'm supposed to drive. Grrrrrrrrr.

[mbacis]

Well, I just walked the .75mile back to my car to take a look at what's going on. The line from the caliper to the hanger/bracket is far too long and bends up against the wheel. A second look at the passenger side shows that it is fine over there, just the driver side. Is that something that is adjustable upon installation or did they put the wrong line in the wrong place?

 

I zip-tied the line toward itself (one side of the bracket to the other) to keep it off the wheel. Bad news is the line has been damaged. The plastic sheath has been worn right through and I couldn't tell, but I'd assume the stainless line scratched the hell out of the inside of the wheel.

 

Eric, expect Group5 to be ordering another set from you because I plan on making them replace it. Unfortunately I'll be gone all day tomorrow, they won't be in on Sunday, and next week is a hellatiously busy week at work so I don't know when I'll get a chance to get back to over there. The worst part is that this morning I almost cancelled my appointment thinking that I would sell the lines and put the money toward something else. Stainless lines weren't high on my priority list, but they were such a good deal it felt wrong to pass it up.

[LittleBlueGT]

In the middle of the line there is a bracket that bolts to the strut housing. That clip is adjustable along the line and is obviously out of place.

 

There is a walk-through of how to install brake lines here someplace. It is an easy fix with just the car jack.

 

The shop you went to should pay for all of this and give you a refund on the labour. If not I would threaten to tell the authorities about a shop that can't install brake lines properly and cold be responsible for someone's life!

[LittleBlueGT]

I guess it is this thread.

 

Post #5

[Xenonk]

Obviously the shop didnt follow my walkthrough.. n00bs.

[firedawgs]

I installed the lines last weekend. It sure does help have a penetrating liquid and a 3/4 open wrench. I was really surprised to find that two of my stock lines already had cracking in them. I will post a picture later. All bolts came off except one line that had to be taking off by vise grips. Other than that it was straight foward.

 

The short of how I think of the difference:

 

S/S lines= less pedal effort.

[mbacis]

Just an update, and I apologize for hijacking the thread. I could have avoided all of my problems had I followed the walkthrough and done it myself.

 

Anyway, I brought the car back to Group5 Motorsport on Tuesday and the guy was really nice and before looking at the car he said that he would replace the lines with Goodrich lines if I was ok with that. However, after getting the car up he stated that he could not conclude that it was an installation error because, unlike Goodrich lines for example, the Technafit have a pass-through hanger that allow for a variable length between the caliper and hanger, as opposed to a line that is fixed to the hanger. He said that it must have gotten pulled through too far by driving (i.e. turning the wheel). So they would not cover replacement.

 

The flaw in his explanation is that turning the wheel can only pull the line through so far, the same distance that a fixed line would have to be. That's not far enough to make contact with the wheel even if it didn't push back through the hanger properly when turning the the wheel back, it had to have been that way upon installation. He then said that there was no damage to the line, just the sheathing which wouldn't matter on stainless lines anyway. I beg to differ on that one, stainless doesn't mean rustproof.

 

They did re-flush the lines which improved the pedal feel, I am happy with the lines now. I figured I would get some heat shrink plastic and recover the spot that was worn. Should this be sufficient or has the line now been compromised and therefore should be replaced?

[Xenonk]

as long as the stainless steel braid didnt brake, it's ok, but I would definitely keep an eye on it for sure. It is for your peace of mind to have a new line on it or not.

 

I have driven my car for just under 2,000 miles with the line (with 200 of it being on the track) and it's holding up just fine (no real significant movement of the line sliding through the hanger).

 

To prevent the line from shifting or sliding in and out of the hanger, I would suggest putting a zip tie on both sides of the line so that the line can only go so far on either side of the hanger. This will prevent the line from moving.

[magnetic1]

Just an update, and I apologize for hijacking the thread. I could have avoided all of my problems had I followed the walkthrough and done it myself.

 

Anyway, I brought the car back to Group5 Motorsport on Tuesday and the guy was really nice and before looking at the car he said that he would replace the lines with Goodrich lines if I was ok with that. However, after getting the car up he stated that he could not conclude that it was an installation error because, unlike Goodrich lines for example, the Technafit have a pass-through hanger that allow for a variable length between the caliper and hanger, as opposed to a line that is fixed to the hanger. He said that it must have gotten pulled through too far by driving (i.e. turning the wheel). So they would not cover replacement.

 

The flaw in his explanation is that turning the wheel can only pull the line through so far, the same distance that a fixed line would have to be. That's not far enough to make contact with the wheel even if it didn't push back through the hanger properly when turning the the wheel back, it had to have been that way upon installation. He then said that there was no damage to the line, just the sheathing which wouldn't matter on stainless lines anyway. I beg to differ on that one, stainless doesn't mean rustproof.

 

They did re-flush the lines which improved the pedal feel, I am happy with the lines now. I figured I would get some heat shrink plastic and recover the spot that was worn. Should this be sufficient or has the line now been compromised and therefore should be replaced?

 

Which line is this? There is supposed to be some play with the hangars, etc otherwise the line would rip out!

 

Post some more details on the line here or you can email me so we can straighten this out.

[Xenonk]

^ stock hangers on the stock lines are fixed. In post #5 of this thread, I made a comment on comparing and adjusting the new lines to match the stock line's hanger locations.

[LittleBlueGT]

There is NO WAY that they were installed correctly! The lines wouldn't come out on their own. That being said they are probably just fine.

[BoxerGT2.5]

You may wanna edit your recommendation on any DOT 5 brake fluid before someone screws their car up.

[Guest *Jedimaster*]

Keefe- do you plan to hold classes on brakeline installation?

[Xenonk]

You may wanna edit your recommendation on any DOT 5 brake fluid before someone screws their car up.

 

noted and corrected.

[Xenonk]

Keefe- do you plan to hold classes on brakeline installation?

 

no plans

[Mungo]

Is this about a 2 hour job?

[Xenonk]

the lines should take about that much.. without the bleeding process of course.. it takes a good 10 mins taking off the old lines and another 10 to put them back on and at least 10 mins to take the wheel off and back on..