Has anyone change their brake lines? I'm going to change over to Super Blue fluid tomorrow and bleed the brakes etc. A friend of mine had bought a set of Precision lines stainless steel brakes lines from Pelican and then sold his Cayman. So he gave me his set. Should I completely drain the brake system then remove and replace the lines, put new fluid in and bleed or should I change the lines and be ready for some fluid leaking until I get the new line on and then go super blue and bleed? Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,

Batman

It is imperative the you bleed your brake system when installing new lines. Personally I would go with a fluid more readily available than Super Blue (Motul?), but thats your call. Nothing wrong with Super Blue, but not as readily available as others if you need to top off, etc.

-Bman

I personally would let fluid leak out while you are installing the new lines. The positive outflow of fluid would ensure that no contamination enters your brake lines. Yeah, it is a little messy but with carefull planning that can be minimized. If you top up the reservoir before working on each wheel and keep the cap on during the work the flow will be minimized. Be sure to keep the brake fluid away from the painted surfaces of your car. A small rubber tube attached to the open line may help in directing the leaking fluid to an appropriate container. After installing all the new lines be sure to do a complete bleed of the system.

Should be a fun DIY project. Good Luck!

Blake fluid everywhere and you call it fun DIY- sick!

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Batman, I have done this procedure with different cars the same way you describe it above and had work fine for me, no need to make an unnecessary mess IMHO.

Gilles,

Thanks for the confirmation. It's always good in theory, but theory is not always the best way. You can't beat experience! Again thank you.

Batman

I just too a close look at the rears. There is very little line to change. Most everything is metal already... is this really worth the time?

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Tomasz

Apologies for spelling mistakes, most of them are keyboarding errors. To enjoy this forum I run out of time to proof read.

my garage: 2000 Audi S4 (not stock) | 2007 Porsche Cayman S (almost stock) | 2007 VW Passat 4Motion Wagon (still stock)

Personally I don't believe there's any reason to change any of the oem brake lines except if you prefer the look of braided lines. If the stock lines are good enough for Cup cars, they're good enough for me.

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Dan

If you really are going to attempt this then do it with as little loss of brake fluid as possible because there's the possiblity that if you let the whole system drain you will have difficulty re-priming and then properly bleeding the ABS system.

Stainless lines took some of the initial softness out of my brake pedal, it was instantly noticeable, though not dramatic. I'm one of the few that have haven't been entirely blown away with the stock brakes, especially on the track.

I've had SS lines on a few of my cars. Never found them to improve braking. It just a cool looks thing IMO.
I wouldn't waste the time or money on lines but you should bleed brakes at least once a year if you plan to track the car. I alternate between Super Blue & Gold so I can see the new fluid. Best to empty most of the master cylinder first & refill with new fluid before starting bleeding.

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Augie

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A voice of reason. Stainless lines may look cool to some people, but they just don't offer enough of anything (especially on the street) to go through the hassle to change them out. The stock parts are very durable for just about anything.

If you do decide to go ahead with them, make sure they are of very good quality. There are tons of bad quality SS lines out there, and many people have had lots of problems over the years with them on the street,...regardless of car brand. It's something you don't want to screw around with just to be flashy.

I just installed the goodridge stainless steel lines and flushed the brake fluid. I noticed a huge improvement over the stock feel however there was a considerable amount of air in the lines from the factory so it’s hard to say if the lines helped as much as the new brake fluid. In all reality if I wasn’t aggressively doing canyon/track I would probably say just flush the fluid and get better pads...you will notice more for the money.

If you do decide to go with the SS lines then as Atlas_Croc suggests make sure you get DOT approved name brands as lots of people have experienced quality issues.

For installation I just put a piece of cardboard underneath the car and swapped out the lines while the brake fluid dripped out. Its pretty quick but plenty messy…