Braided Brake Hose Kit

[Jason1]

Hi Guys

Just starting to put back my rear suspension and was thinking it may be worth replacing the brake hoses with Braided ones. I noticed some Goodridge Braided Brake Hose Kits on ebay for ?39.

Has anyone fitted these? Is the pedal firmer? Is ?39 a good price or can I get them cheaper elsewhere?

Cheers

Jason

[redskatejbf]

I recently fitted a full set of Goodridge braided hoses from Susan Miller the costs were higher ?47 inc. VAT.. It transformed the brakes, well worth the upgrade,I would recommend you do it. I did have to cut off a small amount from the banjo bolt (rear) as the new banjo was not as thick. The bolt became thread bound before fully tightend. I phoned Susan to inform her, she was not aware of the problem at the time but said she would check with Goodridge. At least if you deal with Susan and there is a problem or query on any item she will replace or refund, no problem, no hassle, you will not (possibly) get that with a eBay supplier.
Regards John.

[redskatejbf]

I recently fitted a full set of Goodridge braided hoses from Susan Miller the costs were higher ?47 inc. VAT.. It transformed the brakes, well worth the upgrade,I would recommend you do it. I did have to cut off a small amount from the banjo bolt (rear) as the new banjo was not as thick. The bolt became thread bound before fully tightend. I phoned Susan to inform her, she was not aware of the problem at the time but said she would check with Goodridge. At least if you deal with Susan and there is a problem or query on any item she will replace or refund, no problem, no hassle, you will not (possibly) get that with a eBay supplier.
Regards John.

[redskatejbf]

Sorry about the echo,but most times I reply it copies twice without any input from me. John.

[Meegulthwarp]

I agree with John, they really make the difference but be careful where you get it from, i custom made mine for best insurance. And if you are looking for even more stopping power try up sizing the disks and/or calipers.

Regards,
Tim

[Vanden Perre]

Hello John,
Can you explain what do you mean by "transforming the brakes"?
Olivier.

[redskatejbf]

Hi Olivier,
Sorry if I confused you, I should remember that this forum is read by many people in many countries and that they may not be able to fully understand our difficult, so I am told, English language.
By saying it "transformed the brakes" I mean that the braided hoses improved the perfomance of the brakes, in my case, by a significant amount, the pedal has less travel and the brakes feel much harder i.e. no sponginess.
I have not got a dictionary to hand but I would describe the word "transform" to mean to alter something from one state to another.
Hope this explains what I meant, and I would recommend that this simple brake upgrade to anyone who intends to improve their brakes.
Regards, John.

[miked]

I just did the same thing yesterday with the Sue Miller ones. Had to cut 4mm off the rear banjo bolt. Pedal is much firmer. The rubber one seem to soften and act as ballons a liitle.

Mike

[Vanden Perre]

Hi John,
Thanks for thinking of us non native English speakers . To tell you the truth on the forum I only struggle with the abbreviation used by some of you. For the rest it is OK.
Let's come back to the brakes. The "transformation" you described is what I had understood from your first post. I was just looking for a confirmation. The brakes of my S3 FHC despite a refurbish of the calipers are still disappointing. I believe that a 700 kg car with 4 disk brakes should brake better than it does. I was thinking of checking the master cylinder but in the process I could think of having the same modification as the one you did. Indeed the symptoms are exactely the one you mention (long travel of the pedal, brakes feeling soft, spongy). Now the decision is going to be tough because it goes against my phylosophy: keeping the car as close as possible to the original one!
Cheers.

[redskatejbf]

Olivier, I woud not disagree with your intention to keep your Lotus as original as possible, I have only just started to slightly modify mine, after 37 years. I found that my wifes Toyota and a Ford were easily out braking my Lotus, our roads are very congested and poorly maintained, I realised I was at a disadvantage in traffic and was having to drive more defensively than I was happy with. I do not think anyone would criticise you for fitting braided hoses and anyway you could refit the original type hoses if you came to sell it. Fit them you will not regret it I am sure.
Regards John.

[Robbie693]

I got my braided kit from Paul Matty, bit cheaper than the Goodrich set at ?35 inc VAT. Fitted perfectly - no modifications needed

[Jason1]

Hi

Thanks for the info

Robbie any idea what make PM's are?

Has anyone else had problems with the Goodridge ones?

I am trying to lay off the credit card at the moment as I someone in Holland has had a spend up on in. So am trying to only use paypal for a while and break the new card in slowly.

cheers

Jason

[Robbie693]

Sorry Jason, I can't remember what was printed on the bag I'm sure they (Matty's) will be able to tell you.

They definately weren't Goodridge though. As I said, no problems fitting them and I gave them a coat of corrosion protection fluid to protect.

[Robbie693]

Just seen this on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LOTUS-ELAN-2-BRAIDED-BRAKE-HOSE-KIT_W0QQitemZ270118942555QQihZ017QQcategoryZ31354QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Ebay shop based in Pelsall, Nr Wolverhampton, buy it now for ?22.00. No pic unfortunately.

[Jason1]

The guy on ebay says they are racetech hoses???

Anybody heard of them??

Jason