This really have to do with the posters problem, but does have to do with brakes, so I thought I would do a new post.

#1 the rubber brake lines: I know that they flex when braking, especially the older they get. Has anyone had experience with braided brake lines? Is there really a noticeable difference when braking?


#2 Brake fluid: I was told along time ago that brake fluid absorbs water. I beleive it was around .01% per year. The question is, has any had experience with pure synthetic brake fluid?

 

Steel braided brake lines will give a much better pedal feel. This is primarily because they do not flex as much under braking. The problem is that they cannot bend like the rubber lines can so you have to add a bit of length to them to make them work. If your stock hoses are 16", you may have to run an 18" steel braided line to account for the different path the line has to take so you won't bend the line too much.

As far as brake fluid is concerned, so long as the system isn't opened up too often, you shouldn't have a problem with water absorbtion. Now it is never a bad thing to flush out your brake fluid. For the price of the fluid, it isn't too bad expensive either. Will synthetic fluid do a better job or last longer than regular DOT3 or 4? Well, I don't know about that. Performance mostlikely will not change with a synthetic fluid either.

When I do a brake job on an older vehicle, I flush out the old brake fluid because of how cheap DOT3/4 fluid is. It is just easier to get rid of the dingy contaminated stuff. I generally only flush out through the front calipers, but on my personal vehicle I do all 4 wheels. It's comin' up on time to do it on my Bravada and next year on my Bonneville.

Specifically on the task of flushing the lines. I like to do this with another person just because it is faster this way. I have a vacuum brake bleeder, but I find that having a person inside to pump the pedal is just faster. I use a tube onto the bleeder screw with a wrench on the screw as well. Typical brake bleeding from there only let all of the fluid out of the caliper until you get nice clean fluid through the tube (a clear tube helps out greatly when doing this). On my personal vehicles, I start from the caliper (or wheel cylinder) furthest from the master cylinder and then work my way to the closest. So Passenger rear, driver's rear, passenger front and last driver's front, all the while keeping the master cylinder topped off.

 

I had heard that the braided lines gave a better feel. I didnt know about lack of flexibility thanks forthe heads up.

There seems to be a bit of controversy with the different types of brake fluid. I have seen some talk about DOT 3-4 which looks like it is the same as synthetic and then there is a DOT 5 which is silicon. One of the problems seems to be cross contanimation of the fluids, compatibility with brake components like seals and the big one with silicon is that it does such a great job at seperating itself from water that the water seems to gather at the lowest point in the system. Seeing that the only people that are using the DOT 5 are the army and racers I shouldnt concern myself with it.

I think that my main curiosity,besides the water, was the boiling point, and component compatibility, but I am just gussing that I would never come close to reaching the boiling point of the DOT 3-4 and I should just be concerned with the compatibility.

I think that doing what you suggested on a regular basis would do just as good and probably safer as any of the high priced synthetics.