My brakes have always been spongy compared to my Ford Ranger or my friend's Chevy Blazer. It was always one of those things that bummed me out because I expected a sports car to have really good brakes. I just assumed the truck brakes were better than car brakes.
A friend of mine was upgrading his brakes for autocross and I thought more about the stainless steel front brake lines. The idea is that under heavy braking, the stock rubber lines tend to expand, thus giving the spongy feeling. During spirited driving or stop and go traffic, the brakes get really hot and so does the fluid. Hot fluid make the rubber brake lines even softer, resulting in even more spongy feeling. Some said it might just be air in the lines. Some said it's both. So I purchased a set of these stainless steel brake lines for $60, and a big bottle of DOT3/DOT4 brake fluid for about $8.
http://www.stangsuspension.com/store/comersus_viewitem.asp?idproduct=919
Here's how the installation goes...
Jack up the car and remove the front wheels. Place a large pan with rags to collect brake fluid that spills. Examine the part where the stock rubber brake line connects to the solid brake line. There's a bracket at this connection. A C-clip holds the rubber brake line connector to the bracket. The solid brake line connects to the rubber brake line connector.
Pull up on the C-clip that holds the connector to the bracket. You may have to pry it up with a screwdriver first. The first picture shows the C-clip partially raised. Next, loosen the nut that holds the solid brake line to the stock brake line connector. It's the small nut towards the right in the picture below. Have a rag handy because brake fluid will spill. Seperate the two brake line connectors. The upper end of the rubber brake line will be free at this time. Remove the bolt holding the rubber brake line to the brake caliper. You can work blindly because the bolt is behind the brake caliper (as shown in the third pic) or you can turn the steering wheel to give you easy access and more room.
Edit: There is a right and left brake line. The only difference I found was the connector that joins the new brake line to the stock solid brake line is threaded different. Take one of the stainless steel brake lines and try to thread the solid brake line connector into it. If it goes in easy, you have the correct one. If it doesn't, try the other one.
Install the c-clip onto the new flexible brake line connector. It goes on the inner notch. This prevents the connector from going all the way through the bracket. Install the connector into the bracket. The bracket and connector are keyed so they will only go in one way. Connect the solid brake line.
Install the C-clip and push down to lock. The next two pictures show the view on the other wheel. The orientation is reversed.
Insert one copper washer onto the banjo bolt, the bolt with holes. Slip the caliper end of the brake line over the bolt. Insert the other copper washer. Connect the new brake line to the caliper. Examine the picture below. You'll see the bolt, copper washer, brake line, copper washer then the caliper.
Tighten the connections to specs then repeat the above steps on the other side.
Turn the steering wheel all the way to one side. Examine the brake lines for binding. Turn the steering wheel all the way to the other side. Check for binding.
Install the wheel. Hold the wheel in place with three lug nuts, hand tight. Turn the steering wheel all the way, both ways and check for clearance. If the brake lines come in contact with the tire, you'll rub the weatherproofing off the braided wrap. That's not good. If the brake lines come close to the tire, you can bend the bracket a bit to give it a bit more room.
If everything is good, bleed the brake system. Done. It actually took longer to bleed the brakes at all four wheels than to swap the front brake lines. Bleeding the brakes is easy. You just need another person around. If that's not an option, there are some one-person brake bleeding kits available but I haven't heard anyone say they work really great. Instead of spending another $40 on a one-person kit, I just did it when I had a friend available.
Did it make a difference? Hell yea. Before, I stepped on the brakes and you could feel where the brake pads are pressing against the rotors. Under light braking, this is as far as I normally push the pedal. No problem. Under heavy braking, the pedal would travel another two inches. I know my foot isn't calibrated but that's what it felt like. There was another 1.5-2.0 inches of pedal travel when I fully mash on the brakes. With the stainless steel brake lines and a full brake fluid bleed, there's less than an inch of pedal travel to really mash on the brakes. I get to that "fully applied" point and the pedal becomes pretty solid. The initial travel is still the same. The amount of force needed to apply the brakes is still the same. But that heavy braking feels really solid now. There's no more extra 2 inches of spongy pedal travel.
I asked the vendor about stainless steel brake lines for the rear but he said they don't make them. The rear brakes don't get a lot of fluid pressure so the rubber lines expanding isn't an issue. The front brakes get a lot of fluid pressure and that's what makes them spongy.
I love it. Not bad for a mod under $75 that can be done in an hour. I know it doesn't knock off 0.1 sec off my 1/4 mile time but if you're into autocross or just want to improve daily driving, I highly recommend this. I can't clearly say if it was due to the new brake lines or the fluid bleed or both. If you're gonna swap the lines you have to bleed the brakes. I thought about doing just the brake fluid bleed to see if that's the issue but if it wasn't then I was going to do the brake line swap and the fluid bleed again. So I decided to do both. I'm glad I did.
PS. Sorry. No butt shots of my female mechanic this time.
A friend of mine was upgrading his brakes for autocross and I thought more about the stainless steel front brake lines. The idea is that under heavy braking, the stock rubber lines tend to expand, thus giving the spongy feeling. During spirited driving or stop and go traffic, the brakes get really hot and so does the fluid. Hot fluid make the rubber brake lines even softer, resulting in even more spongy feeling. Some said it might just be air in the lines. Some said it's both. So I purchased a set of these stainless steel brake lines for $60, and a big bottle of DOT3/DOT4 brake fluid for about $8.
http://www.stangsuspension.com/store/comersus_viewitem.asp?idproduct=919
Here's how the installation goes...
Jack up the car and remove the front wheels. Place a large pan with rags to collect brake fluid that spills. Examine the part where the stock rubber brake line connects to the solid brake line. There's a bracket at this connection. A C-clip holds the rubber brake line connector to the bracket. The solid brake line connects to the rubber brake line connector.
Pull up on the C-clip that holds the connector to the bracket. You may have to pry it up with a screwdriver first. The first picture shows the C-clip partially raised. Next, loosen the nut that holds the solid brake line to the stock brake line connector. It's the small nut towards the right in the picture below. Have a rag handy because brake fluid will spill. Seperate the two brake line connectors. The upper end of the rubber brake line will be free at this time. Remove the bolt holding the rubber brake line to the brake caliper. You can work blindly because the bolt is behind the brake caliper (as shown in the third pic) or you can turn the steering wheel to give you easy access and more room.
Edit: There is a right and left brake line. The only difference I found was the connector that joins the new brake line to the stock solid brake line is threaded different. Take one of the stainless steel brake lines and try to thread the solid brake line connector into it. If it goes in easy, you have the correct one. If it doesn't, try the other one.
Install the c-clip onto the new flexible brake line connector. It goes on the inner notch. This prevents the connector from going all the way through the bracket. Install the connector into the bracket. The bracket and connector are keyed so they will only go in one way. Connect the solid brake line.
Install the C-clip and push down to lock. The next two pictures show the view on the other wheel. The orientation is reversed.
Insert one copper washer onto the banjo bolt, the bolt with holes. Slip the caliper end of the brake line over the bolt. Insert the other copper washer. Connect the new brake line to the caliper. Examine the picture below. You'll see the bolt, copper washer, brake line, copper washer then the caliper.
Tighten the connections to specs then repeat the above steps on the other side.
Turn the steering wheel all the way to one side. Examine the brake lines for binding. Turn the steering wheel all the way to the other side. Check for binding.
Install the wheel. Hold the wheel in place with three lug nuts, hand tight. Turn the steering wheel all the way, both ways and check for clearance. If the brake lines come in contact with the tire, you'll rub the weatherproofing off the braided wrap. That's not good. If the brake lines come close to the tire, you can bend the bracket a bit to give it a bit more room.
If everything is good, bleed the brake system. Done. It actually took longer to bleed the brakes at all four wheels than to swap the front brake lines. Bleeding the brakes is easy. You just need another person around. If that's not an option, there are some one-person brake bleeding kits available but I haven't heard anyone say they work really great. Instead of spending another $40 on a one-person kit, I just did it when I had a friend available.
Did it make a difference? Hell yea. Before, I stepped on the brakes and you could feel where the brake pads are pressing against the rotors. Under light braking, this is as far as I normally push the pedal. No problem. Under heavy braking, the pedal would travel another two inches. I know my foot isn't calibrated but that's what it felt like. There was another 1.5-2.0 inches of pedal travel when I fully mash on the brakes. With the stainless steel brake lines and a full brake fluid bleed, there's less than an inch of pedal travel to really mash on the brakes. I get to that "fully applied" point and the pedal becomes pretty solid. The initial travel is still the same. The amount of force needed to apply the brakes is still the same. But that heavy braking feels really solid now. There's no more extra 2 inches of spongy pedal travel.
I asked the vendor about stainless steel brake lines for the rear but he said they don't make them. The rear brakes don't get a lot of fluid pressure so the rubber lines expanding isn't an issue. The front brakes get a lot of fluid pressure and that's what makes them spongy.
I love it. Not bad for a mod under $75 that can be done in an hour. I know it doesn't knock off 0.1 sec off my 1/4 mile time but if you're into autocross or just want to improve daily driving, I highly recommend this. I can't clearly say if it was due to the new brake lines or the fluid bleed or both. If you're gonna swap the lines you have to bleed the brakes. I thought about doing just the brake fluid bleed to see if that's the issue but if it wasn't then I was going to do the brake line swap and the fluid bleed again. So I decided to do both. I'm glad I did.
PS. Sorry. No butt shots of my female mechanic this time.