Mounting steel braided lines any tips?

[DanZX9R]

Hay all I just got some steel braided front lines for my 9 I figure that they should change over pretty easy however I thought I would drop a line and ask if any one has a special secret or tip to share.
Thanks
Dan

[Baptistro]

The length of the lines may not match up exactly with the stock setup (usually will be a little longer as far as I've seen), figure out where you want to put the slack before mounting the lines, might need to be a little creative.

[MackeyStingray]

i've found ziptieing the brake lever to the clip on overnighthelps to further bleed the rest of the air out of the system. once most of the air is out of course. you should have at least 3/4 the feel you normally would for this to work. works very well for me and i still ziptie it occasionally esp. before a trackday.

bleed the caliper furthest away from the master cylinder 1st.

[Max Smiley]

pls. explain the ziptie thing and how it bleeds air out of the system.

[MackeyStingray]

gixersin posted it a while back. i guess the constant pressure put on the lines will let the air go to the least resistant part of the system (the resavoir) since the fluid obviously has more weight than the trapped air. at least that's my theory why it works. :D

i've tried it on half-bled lines and they were pretty stiff in the morning when i took it off. i do it every once in a while and it seems to keep it stiff.

[waverave r6]

My suggestion would be to have plenty of rags handy and an extra bottle of brake fluid in case its a pain to bleed out the air after completely draining. Watch that paint job because brake fluid will ruin it in a jiffy.
Also take note of the washer placement when you remove the old lines.

[sad=man]

couple of other tips... Make sure you use the torque values listed on the brake line directions, not your stock torque values. If I had used the stock values, I would have crushed the banjo bolts on my SS lines :eek. Also, when you bleed the line keep the bleed bottle above the level of your calipers. Once you have fluid in the bottle, you can leave the bleed valve open and just repeatedly squeeze the brake lever to get a good flush of the system.

[DanZX9R]

thanks for the ideas I will let you all know how it turns out
Dan

[Max Smiley]

I'm going to try it then! just bled both brake systems. the left side had a massive bubble - don't know where the heck that came from but lever was very spongy. maybe all the altitude changes? hope not a scored piston or something $. my pads need changing too adding to the overall volume of fluid required to brake and thus pull? all I know is now I don't like my lever feel. it was fine before, I bled it before the trip. like rock hard right off the top. yes I want perfection dangit! :loco

[sad=man]

wait, phil. I'm confused. you bled your brakes and you don't like the feel? Used pads would cause you to need more brake fluid, but that shouldn't matter as long as the brakes are well bled...

[Max Smiley]

they felt great for the whole trip. just today the pull sucked so I bled them and heard air out the left caliper. pads are getting quite low so I'm guessing with all those pistons sticking out the overall volume is high and contributing to the longer pull before the lever feels hard. I wish I had a reverse pulse power bleeder! (60cc syringe :p )

oops, forgot to put the rubber band on the lever. will put it on later tonight...

[Atak Kat]

I just installed new Galfer SS lines on the front.

After installing the new lines, some light tapping directly on the lines brought up most of the bubbles to the top of the master cylinder. After getting most of the air bubbles to come up , I then did the usual squeeze/purge/bleeding process and removed the rest of the air bubbles.

You may also want to go to a pet store (or any place that has aquarium stuff). Pick up a short length of clear plastic tubing (about a $1.00 for an 8ft pack; usually used for aquarium air pumps) and use it to connect to the bleeder screw on the caliper.

Put the other end in an empty wine bottle (more stable and won't tip over) so you can easily see the air bubbles come out when you're bleeding the brake lines.

-ak-

[DaSpeCiALiSt]

Carefully peel the stock rubber hose guides off the stock lines. They're usually rubber cemented on, so you may need a razor to split it down a seam and to work it off the hose. This is probably not absolutely necessary, but I'm anal and I wanted the hoses to go through the stock guide assemblies. Also, it may help prevent wear by preventing hard part contact on your lines! :thumbup Oh, and while you're at it, replace your brake pads. I put EBC Double-H pads in...just ask Bap...he loves them :teeth. Use quality brake fluid as well. I use Motul RBF 600. Speaking of which, I need to replace my fluid soon myself. My power bleeder (http://www.motiveproducts.com) should make it easier this time.

[sad=man]

phil, it sounds like you aren't using a vinyl hose to bleed the brakes. pick some up at home depot for 10 cents a foot. Air can seep back into the calipers easily if you don't use a hose. Like I said before, add a bucket/bottle for the fluid to drain into, put it on a chair higher up than the caliper, and you can actually leave the bleed valve open once you start filling the bottle with fluid. Then pump the lever away for a really good bleeding of the system.

[Max Smiley]

I'm using a mityvac! and the old fashioned way as you described but not leaving the valve open. but will get some new hose and use fresh fluid to push/pull. been bleeding brakes for years. maybe just oversensitive (recall O.C.B. syndrome :p ). probably just making excuses to get those new pads too

[Max Smiley]

... and the soft lever culprit was...

somehow my brake lever was set on #4!?! so too close to the bar. I put it back on #3. AND... :p

new EBC HH's installed (old brembo fronts only 50% worn really)
all new flush and bleed (hey, I got plenty of race fluid afterall)

SF is really good for bedding in brakes. now back to lovely one finger pull stopping. few more miles then get the rear off the ground (did that couple times easy on ERP day :) ).

Dan - how did your line install go, you should have a bunch of miles on it now.

[DanZX9R]

Originally posted by Max Smiley
...

Dan - how did your line install go, you should have a bunch of miles on it now.
Phil thanks for asking however I will be putting them on this weekend. I had to run up north (Work) for a few days on the bike and I just got back. I did hit every river road on the sac river !!! great open road blasting on Hwy 45
I will let you know how it went this weekend
Dan