Am I smoking crack, can you combine soft brake lines to extend them for SOA

[slickrock]

OK, I have no idea if I actually read this or if I was smoking crack when I was sleeping but I thought I read somewhere about combining stock soft brake lines together to extendend them. For instance, to lengthen my rear soft lines (SOA) I can just unbolt the front soft line on my 73 FJ40 and screw it into the rear soft line and bling, longer brake lines. Then for the front with an old fashion 4" SUA, I can use a stock rear soft line to get the extra length I need.

Am I smoking crack becasue searching isn't telling me anything.

 

[Poser]

I have seen this done with some brake hoses by someone in FL......it was on a maroon piece of work that was in the shop a couple years back....it was one of the many things that were going to be corrected on that jewel....



Just because something can be done, does not mean that it should.....especially considering the availability of one-piece hoses that are long enough.



To each their own.


Good luck!


-Steve

 

[Radd Cruisers]

Ditto to what Steve said.

Once seen almost 6 hockey puck lift, every time I would come to a stop the body would shift forward several inches, you could see the stick shift appear to moved back on stopping.

Bottom line, it was unsafe and very stupid. I suggested to the customer to pull the lift, he drove it to South America like that?????

 

[Degnol]

If you have access to a small autoparts store, where the counter guys actually know something you can tell them the length you need and they can find you something that will work. If it is made for a production car/truck it will be waaay cheaper than anything aftermarket specialties. I have an anemic 3.5" of lift and use a rear drop from a Caravan.....for less than $10.00.
You can do it the way you suggest, and I have seen it before, but there are two places you do not want to go on the "cheap". One is steering and the other is brakes. Well, seatbelts, too.
JMO

Ed

 

[slickrock]

OK. But why is it bad.? If the lines are tightly secured with no leaks, what is the problem?

This is an old XJ and CJ trick to do (yeah I know Heep and all but that is for another post)

 

[Poser]

OK. But why is it bad.? If the lines are tightly secured with no leaks, what is the problem?

This is an old XJ and CJ trick to do (yeah I know Heep and all but that is for another post)

It screams: I am a cheap fxxxing hack, and that my brakes are not important enough for me to plumb correctly, among other things....that is why.





Throw the fact that it is one more point for a leak to occur, out the window.


Forget that you have this weight in the middle of two hoses just dangling and vibrating...how are you going to 'secure' it so that it allows free range of motion through the full suspension cycle? A daisy-chain of zip ties and wire?



You do whatever you want man...to each their own.



Good luck!


-Steve

 

[lone gunman]

just by the set of 4 exteded stainless lines from man-a-fre for around $100.00 and be done with it. and if you went rear disc go to www.tsm.com and get there extended lines from the breather junction to the calipers $50.00 and be done and safe!

 

[Pin_Head]

Am I smoking crack or can you combine soft brake lines to extend them for SOA?

They are not exclusive choices. You could do both, but I wouldn't recommend either.

 

[Mark W]

To answer your question, without all the editorializing... Yes you can do this. No it does not leak or cause problems.

It is usually a bit too long, but the junction in the middle makes a good place to hook a spring to keep it up and put of the way.


Mark...

 

[Pighead]

It's a trail fix...not for every day use.

 

[ducktapeguy]

It's possible to do that, and like everyone said, it might work fine. But one your pedal will probably feel softer, and would probably have a little more pedal travel to compensate for the extra swelling of the softline. If your brakes are already kinda sketchy, you may not have sufficient braking to stop your car, that's why it's best to minimize the amount of softline in the braking system.

If it was an emergency, I would probably do it. But if you're gonna do it, you already need to buy another set of brake hose for the front, why not just do it right and buy a longer set all around? It's only one more hose to buy. I already know I'm pretty cheap, but I won't take shortcuts on brakes.

 

[Mark W]

But one your pedal will probably feel softer, and would probably have a little more pedal travel to compensate for the extra swelling of the softline.

Nope. Maybe in theory. Not in the real world. Besides a longer soft line would have the same amount of "swell" as an equal length achieved with two shorter lines joined together. If you want to really split hairs the single line would have MORE "swell" since the fittings in the middle where the two shorter lines connect make up part of their length which would be made up by additional soft line distance inthe one piece line.


Mark...

 

[Pighead]

Word.

<snip> I already know I'm pretty cheap, but I won't take shortcuts on brakes.

 

[ducktapeguy]

Nope. Maybe in theory. Not in the real world. Besides a longer soft line would have the same amount of "swell" as an equal length achieved with two shorter lines joined together. If you want to really split hairs the single line would have MORE "swell" since the fittings in the middle where the two shorter lines connect make up part of their length which would be made up by additional soft line distance inthe one piece line.


Mark...

Well, uh...i was talking about SS lines. Yeah, that's it. haha. Yeah, you're right, i just wasn't thinking, if you still have the same lenght of softline, the amount of swell would be the same. But if you're only extending the hose a few inches to clear a lift kit, connecting two front/rear hoses will give you a lot more hose than one properly sized hose.

But if you're gonna change out the lines anyway, might was well go with SS lines. That's usually one of the first things I do to any of my cars, mainly because i don't trust a 30 year old rubber hose to stop me. If you're worried about the cost (and who isn't?) this is how I always rationalize my spending. Just think to yourself, if this part were to fail, how much would you be willing to pay at that very moment to have it fixed the right way? I'm betting you'd be willing to spend a lot more than the cost of new brakelines if you start rolling down a steep hill or about to run into that car in front of you.

 

[cpip]

I have no idea, but I haven't seen a very convincing arguement not to yet.

 

[3jvj]

I would have to assume any rubber extention would "swell" and any length added would decrease your pressure at the other end of the line. The next time I'm doing a brake job I'll test it with a pressure guage and see what I find. Metal is a must.

That aside; I once heard a story of a jeep with "some brake stuff to work out". A guy had re-done some lines that someone had done some shadetree stuff to. Whether or not he fixed the problems, didn't fix the problem, or another component had been weakened and failed- no one will ever know. He left on a roadtrip from CO to AZ and had a brake failure heading south on I-17 (between sunset point and black canyon city). Failed to shut it down in time.

No reason to skimp in the brake department.

 

[JasonH]

It works fine. Mine have been that way for years. No issues.

 

[Polak]

A.) Brakes are not to be skimped on.

B.) Ass-Fab Heep tricks are for extreme emergencies, not for when you've got a chance to do it right the first time.

C.) I have Heep friends that I keep around to entertain me with s*** like this. I respect my rig and work way too much to f*cking butcher it.

Note: I'm not a purist, but a cruiser deserves the right stuff.

AJ

 

[John Smith]

I have been running double lines on my 40 for over 5 years without any issues. Before anyone figured out the part numbers for the extended lines that cross reference, unless you made custom lines you had no choice.

Unless someone can find something documented from an authority on brakes that says it is unsafe I will continue to run them.

 

[Trollhole]

I'd rather have two lines coupled together, as long as they were new, than drum brakes.

But as most have pointed out brakes are the most important thing. Though a lot of people still run around on 4 drums. If they both are stainless lines then run them. If not go spend 30 bucks and get a long one that will work and keep those as a spare.