Aeroquip Hoses

[205007 12]

before i rant on i just want everyone to know this argument was proposed to me and i havent made my mind up on it yet!

 

so i was having a convesation with a friend about 205 gti aeroquip hoses and he basically believes they are s*it and overrrated because....

 

1) good quality oe rubber hoses are more than suficcient providing they are not too old/cracked and are tested to xxx psi from factory

 

2) Aeroquip is only a rubber hose covered in metal braid, the rubber hose inside is very thin and prone to expansion more so than o.e flexis

the metal braid is only loosley covering the rubber (hence you can twist it with your fingers) and so under pressure it expands within the metal braid quite a lot before it is held in check by the metal

 

when people use aeroquip throughout the whole car this effect is magnified to an extent that pedal response is affected by the hose expanding inside the braiding before acting on the caliper

 

3) in the early days of racing/rallying there was no aeroquip and people did remarkably well by using normal flexis covered in hosepipe to stop sharp stones destroying the rubber

 

this means on a rallycar it makes some sense but does not justify the extra cost involved in any way

 

on a road/track car it makes absolutley no sense to aeroquip the car at all, just buy good quality o/e flexis and change them every year

 

 

discuss....................

Edited July 28, 2007 by 205007

[welshpug 1,657]

Braided Hoses are made out of PTFE, which is a lot stiffer than rubber, the braiding does nothing to its stiffness its simply there to protect it.

 

Never driven a car with braided hoses myself, but I have used a bike with hydraulic disc brakes, and the brake feel was much sharper and more solid with them in place of the o.e hose. (these were also made by Goodridge, allbeit in a slightly smaller gauge)

[hengti 2]

still watching the LEGO Thriller video but just thought i'd pop in to say that Goodridge/rich/whatever hoses are good - i think they're a PTFE inner with a stainless braided outer - none of this 'stainless wire coiled around hose' stuff - likewise, never been sure of how they're supposed to work..

[Turbo7379 3]

When I was prepping my rally car I needed a full set of hoses as the old ones were cracked . I priced a set of hoses & the aeroquip ones were only £10 more than std rubber hoses at £55 so naturally I bought them !

[205007 12]

ok so im learning

 

but im not sure he isnt still right to be honest, even if they are ptfe do they not still expand inside the shroud?

 

sems like the only real reason for the braid is protection so therefore on track or road std ones are more than adequate?

[Sam 4]

It's much more about the fittings anyway. The fittings mean changing a hose or tighening a joint after changing a part is fautless during pits etc. You can get rubber hose to use with the fittings and i think it even looks better. Sad I know.

[jonnie205 1]

the ptf is much stronger than the oe rubber and the braid is actually very tight over the ptfe. The ideal setup is to hardline the internal brake lines and then run equal length aeroquip to the callipers. having said this, many of the works cars and what i have seen of the super 1600 pumas from Boreham and the PTS super 1600 206's are all aeroquipped throughout. The bottom line is that its flexible and can withstand knocks etc far better than hardline.

[Rob Thomson 6]

My 106 is aeroquipped throughout. The brake pedal is perfect, not spoungey (sp?!) at all.

[snillet 1]

A braided PTFE hose nearly doesn´t flex at all compared to a rubber hose, even if it is a really really stiff rubber hose. PTFE in itself is extremely ridgid.

 

Although.... !

I know there has been a few products on the market which are made exactly like described in the first post with thin rubber hoses with a wobbly braiding on, but i really hope those are out these days and it should surprise me if any of the large suppliers of braided brakelines make them like that.

Edited July 30, 2007 by snillet

[Nathan 0]

Another good reason to use aeroquip hosing is that standard copper brake lines can be prone to fatigue and premature failure, now on a road car this isn't usually an issue but on a proper racecar this can be much more of a problem as you typically run very stiff suspension and have a hard bolted engine.

[James_R 3]

I run braided lines through out my road and track car, no copper ot be seen I have no brake pedal spongy issues, also I run the lines through the inside of the car so no probelm with ripping the lines away form under the car if I ever attack a gravel trap, they have give in them and unlike copper crush or stay bent.

 

in labour it works out cheaper to use full braided lines you just pclip them in place no bending or flaring of ends, just in boh tighten bleed done.

 

If you're talking about the kits where you retain the copper they're not much more or indeed the same as rubber and you won't change them every year? like he suggested with rubber?