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MG MGF Technical - Steel Brake Hoses


has anybody fitted steel brake hoses?

the rubber ones at the front use a bracket to support the hose, what have people done for the steel ones???
Have you just left the cable 'flapping' about??

-matt
M66 MAT
matt

Matt ,the s/s hose have a clip that is mounted to the subframe to support the hose, well they have in our kits;-)
Mike.
mike

Do the steel hoses really make that much of a difference?


Chris
Chris George

I know that on a 1 year old motorbike 1300cc with only 6000 miles on the clock steel braided hoses make a BIG difference to bite and feel

Can only assume the same can be said for cars - same principle - rubber hoses expand so give a slight spongyness even when new!

Mkae sure you get Stainless steel fittings - alloy etc are for race use only and can fracture!
tony

Well I took the plunge and booked my abby in to B&G yesterday to have EBC grooved disks and greenstuff all round, plus braided hoses... should come to about 430quid, I don't think that is too bad at all.


Chris
Chris George

Chris,

You should also get the Master brake cylinder support bracket fitted at the same time. ITs 26GBP from B+G plus fitting of course.

Gaz
Gaz

Gaz, did you get a master cylinder bracket fitted in the end? what do you think of the modification- worth while?

I was going to get it done when the car was in with Techspeed having the 60k service and a suspension rebuild performed. Interestingly, the chaps thought that it would not have much palpable difference upon pedal feel. So the bracket was not fitted and I didn't think about it again until the subject was raised once more in a recent edition of 'Saftey Fast'- and you mentioning again here.

If it does make a difference- how much was it to have fitted?
Rob Bell

The advantages of steel braded hoses is mainly in the fact that there is much less expansion of the hose when you apply the brakes. This lack of expansion is felt in a firmer pedal and less so in a slightly shorter pedal travel. The next main advantage comes from these hose being far more resiliant to knocks scrapes, and other potentially damaging incidents. Finally with the steel brading protecting the hose inside there is far less ageing and consequently an MOT failure will be further away.

Rog
Roger Parker

sorry to butt in but roughly on the same lines well brakes anyway :0)

on my 96 MGF sometimes the pedal will feel fine
but then another time i apply the brakes the pedal will
feel extremely stiff, i did think it ould be air in the system but was told this would make the pedal spongy not stiff..?? anyone else have any suggestions?

thanks
Nick Walters

A variety of factors can contribute to this Nick, and interestingly my '96 F brakes felt the same way.

1. Water in the brake fluid. Garages at service time have a nasty habit of just topping up the hygroscopic brake fluid rather than replacing it. Water saturated brake fluid has poorer performance than fresh stuff, and can contribute to a poor pedal feel and ultimately to more worrying brake fade.
2. Old brake hoses. Over time, the rubber ages and becomes softer, bulging with the pressure in the hydraulic lines leading to poor pedal feel. This is erridicated with stainless braided hoses.
3. Air locks- air introduced into the system over time leads to a scenario where the brake pedal needs to be pumped to get optimum braking performance. The only solution here is to thoroughly bleed the system.
4. The bulk head flexes- so making the pedal feel more spongy. Fitting a bracket is said to help remove this undesirable 'feature'

If you can get these problems sorted, then the brakes will return to 'as-new'- and I am pretty pleased with the work I asked Techspeed to do that addressed all but the last of this list on my car.

Nice brakes sir! :o)
Rob Bell

Nick

I think your brake calipers may need a good clean up including the pistons - sounds like a little bit of seizure
tony


Thanks Rob and tony.
What kind of a job is this tony do you know, i would want to change the hoses at the same time i guess.
is it a job for a guy who cuts a chunk out of his finger whilst fitting dynamat :0)
Nick Walters

This thread was discussed between 23/11/2001 and 30/11/2001

MG MGF Technical index

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