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are all stainless lines equal?


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I was looking at http://www.fredbeansparts.com and noticed several stainless brake line kits from different manufacturers. Which is the best bang for the buck?

 

I'll buy them from wherever is cheapest, I guess I just didn't realize the wide price range.

 

Goodridge $138

RacingBrake $127

StopTech $80

 

I drive daily in a lot of stop and go traffic on the highway (frequent panic stops and rapid slowing from 60-10 type of stuff) so I don't need track level performance, but I would like to improve my braking performance and feel.

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Quality is the main factor. I chose Goodridge because of their reputation and they have lots of measures to ensure the quality of the product. It would be a real pain to install a set of brake lines and then have one be defective and have to do it all again. They have a life-time warranty and a durable coating of the stainless braid.
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I plan on putting on new pads, lines and fluid. I am keeping the Stock rotors as IMO the $400 for slotted will not yiled me that much more stopping power given my type of driving.
Rehab is for quitters.
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I've read here that the biggest change in brake feel comes from a change of pads and fluid. I'd check out the Hawk HPS pads for your street use.

 

Cheers!

 

I hate to say it, but I honestly couldn't disagree more. I've had the HPS's on for a little over a 1000 miles now. Bite is worse than the stock pads and they squeal loud CONSTANTLY. The only improvement is a slightly higher resistance to fade. (I'm running them on recently resurfaced stock rotors)

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I went with goodridge but I'd be interested to know more as well.

 

I first went with new pads and rotors (hps and RB slotted) for about 2 days, then went to ATE superblue and goodridge lines. I'd say pedal feel was hard and ineffective in the 2 days with stock hoses.. The car just wouldn't stop. After I went with the SS lines the pedal feel was much better. The HPs pads bite better initially but seem to be about the same even with all of this other crap I did compared to a stock setup. They dont squeal for me but I do get that rumble strip feeling when laying on the brakes thanks to the slotted rotors.

 

overall, I'm still not impressed with the LGT's brake system.

"The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato
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No real difference in lines as long as they are all coated.

 

Dont know why your HPS dont feel right and make so much noise, that isnt right.

 

But pads will change the feel the most. If your car is fairly new, there is little compliance in the lines anyways....

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I got a set of legacy specific technica fit from magnetic1 and they installed perfectly with my brembo swap far (didnt put the rears on yet) and they were only about $125 for f&r set. The oem clips snapped them right into place no problems. I did use the oem bolts into the calipers though.

 

Can't say they made any difference. I only replaced them because I was doing a brembo sawp so figured might as well. The oem lines are braided inside the rubber. If keeping oem calipers I would have just changed fluid and pads

MAYHEM

#122/22 STS NNJR SCCA

AUTOX4U.COM

 

XENON RETRO GUIDE

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I hate to say it, but I honestly couldn't disagree more. I've had the HPS's on for a little over a 1000 miles now. Bite is worse than the stock pads and they squeal loud CONSTANTLY. The only improvement is a slightly higher resistance to fade. (I'm running them on recently resurfaced stock rotors)

 

I'm pretty sure you are the exception rather than the rule on this. I've had 3 sets of HPS pads that have never exhibited any squeal, and would also strongly disagree that they have less 'bite' than stock (though that's pretty subjective).

 

I don't doubt that there's an issue with your braking system but the constant squeal isn't a result of the HPS pads design - unless of course you have a defective set.

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I just did an upgrade to my brake system. Went with Hawk HPS pads, Goodridge lines, ATE Superblue and FrozenRotors.

 

I must have some air in the lines (see my other thread) beacause the initial bite of the pads is WORSE and the pedal travel is LONGER to get the same braking performance of what I had. 61K miles now, about 55K when I took the stock rotors and pads off the car.

 

Not very happy yet, but hopefully bleeding the lines again this weekend will help. Wish me luck, as I REALLY don't want to shell out cash for a big brake kit.

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I hate to say it, but I honestly couldn't disagree more. I've had the HPS's on for a little over a 1000 miles now. Bite is worse than the stock pads and they squeal loud CONSTANTLY. The only improvement is a slightly higher resistance to fade. (I'm running them on recently resurfaced stock rotors)

 

As we've been telling you for a 100+ posts, there is something wrong with your pads....

 

-mike

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The other key is to do a full FLUSH of the lines, not just a bleed. Brake fluid is hydroscopic, it absorbs moisture. This moisture is fine in the lines, until you start to do heavy braking. The fluid (with the embedded moisture) then gets up above the boiling point of the moisture in the lines and evaporates the moisture. You now have AIR pockets in the lines, which as we all know air is compressable. So when you hit your brakes with these air pockets, the air compresses and instead of applying pressure to your pads, compresses. Thus the bad and dangerous pedal feel.

 

We sell the Technafits and have had good luck with them. Over the years I've used Goodrige. They have all been decent fit, at least those 2 brands as a first hand knowledge.

 

-mike

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agreed. I paid a ton to get mine flushed and the lines switched at a shop, but its piece of mind thats well worth it. Pedal travel for me started out very short, but has gotten into a stock-ish pedal travel over the last month or so. I wonder if these pads are going to wear out in another month or something... they seem to be wearing awful fast.
"The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato
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I had Cobb stainless lines on my LGT and the rears didn't fit properly. the tech had to drill out the stops or something...this was years back, let's hope they fixed it - I paid $$$ for them thinking there's be no issues due to Cobb's rep.

 

edit - magnetic1 - got an app for GR STI (08+)? I'd like to buy a set. :D

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So if I am reading all this correctly:

- The lines seem to make a difference, but perhaps not a huge one.

- Goodridge seem to be the premium standard in lines.

- The pads are the big thing

 

I run EBC rotors and pads on my F150 and even though they come with stick on squeal pads from the factory, I always put a layer of disc brake squeal on the back of the pads when I install them. The one time I didn't they squealed. My dad always used the anti squeal stuff and I will likely also always do it too.

 

If you are having problems with squealing, I'd try an anti squeal coating on the pad backing plate before I buy new pads (again).

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As we've been telling you for a 100+ posts, there is something wrong with your pads....

 

-mike

 

The guy I've been in contact with at Hawk isn't convinced they are defective. And every single person, shop, and dealer I've talked to/asked locally about them said the squeal is normal . . . not sure who to believe. :spin:

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dealers ALWAYS say squeal is normal.

 

I'd like to punch them all in the gut when they hand out that lie.

 

if squeal was normal my morning commute would be HORRIBLE.

 

squeal is NOT NORMAL.

"The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato
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dealers ALWAYS say squeal is normal.

 

I'd like to punch them all in the gut when they hand out that lie.

 

if squeal was normal my morning commute would be HORRIBLE.

 

squeal is NOT NORMAL.

 

yeah i got the same response about my axxis ults on my brembos. they squeeled horribly. only thing i could think of was shims. i ordered all the oem shims (didnt get them with my calipers) and greased them up good with hi temp copper based anti sieze. problem solved. car is silent as it was from the factory. check your shims and make sure they are there, installed properly, and greased up.

MAYHEM

#122/22 STS NNJR SCCA

AUTOX4U.COM

 

XENON RETRO GUIDE

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The guy I've been in contact with at Hawk isn't convinced they are defective. And every single person, shop, and dealer I've talked to/asked locally about them said the squeal is normal . . . not sure who to believe. :spin:

 

I'm convinced it's the pads or the installation. Squeel is NOT normal on HPS, having installs literally 100s and 100s of sets in the past 10 years of working on subarus. We are having a BBQ at our shop today, come out and we'll check em for you at no charge! We are probably about 1.5hrs from you MAX.

 

-mike

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