chris writes:
> I'm curious -- how did you make the decision to fit Aeroquip brake
> hoses? I've been debating this. Local wisdom is that the stainless
> steel covered hoses have teflon inner tubing, and that this is subject
> to cracking in cold/cool weather with large suspension travel. Also,
> that they don't last forever anyway, so it makes more sense to have a
> visual reminder of a broken outer braid than waiting for an inner bit
> to spring a leak.
I originally fitted Aeroquip brake hoses to my Scimitar about 3 years
ago and noticed that after the brakes were bled, that the brake pedal
felt very positive. By that I mean that the amount of pedal travel between
the brakes being full off and them being full on had decreased.
The Aeroquip literature stated that under hard braking, normal brake hoses
tend to expand with the amount of pressure whereas Aeroquip do not
expand and transmit all pedal force directly to the brakes. I believe
what they said, because the brake pedal has remained firm ever since
fitting the hoses.
I noticed the same thing happened after fitting the Aeroquip hoses to the
Midget recently. The firmness of the pedal has increased and there is very
little movement in the brake pedal from the full off position to the
full on position. The other reason that I fitted the steel braided hoses.
is that most of the rallies that I take part in have off-road/forest
stages, and steel-braided hoses resit cuts from flying stones much
better than the normal hoses. For extra protection, I sometimes fit 1/2"
rubber hoses over the Aeroquip hoses for the added protection.
If I were you, I would instantly swap over to steel-braided hoses.
Gerry.
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