Banjo Bolts and Crush Wahsers

[centerville]

A leak has started on my front passenger caliper. I have never had a leak from a banjo bolt. Should I just get new washers and make sure all surfaces are flat and smooth? Or should I just replace the hose and all do to age?

[Al Fernandez]

Really old brake lines aren't a problem. I mean, whats the worst that can happen if one fails? ;)
How old are they?

[centerville]

They are stainless lines that have been on there since '10. But the car has sat since then. If they were rubber they already would have been changed out. I guess if in question change them out.

[mach1]

$100 for a set of lines for what could be life or death plus thousands in damage and medical bills etc.

[Pranav]

Replace them, but also see if they make or you can make PTFE brake hoses for your car

I hate hate hate braided rubber hoses

All of mine are ptfe except for my clutch bleeder hose which ruptured randomly while clutch in in grid.

The burst strength of prefer hose is much higher than braided rubber

[Al Fernandez]

What Pranav said

Consider making your own, PTFE line and high pressure reusable fittings.

[Pranav]

Yep, summit has a good selection of Earl's speed seal.ptfe hose and fittings

They make all kinds of banjo bolts and metric/sae type brake hose ends to go along with their ptfe hose

If I could I would ditch the factory hoses on the truck and make them out of PTFE.

[centerville]

Thanks guys. I did not know anything about ptfe. Now to find the right ones.

[drecords]

Just did my whole fuel system in the Earl's PTFE hose and UltraPro fittings. No doubt the stuff is spendy, however 0 leaks on first start was great...even with me being the hack mechanic I am. :D

[Supercharged111]

Really old brake lines aren't a problem. I mean, whats the worst that can happen if one fails? ;)



Well there was this guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7dMXSCegTg

That video is the reason I didn't biff any trees back in 2015 when I locked all 4 in the rain on Friday. The trees are farther away off to the right.

[centerville]

Ok so with further investigation I think I have earls teflon hosed and fittings. 1831

So I am going to order new lines. Are you supposed to change out all the fittings when you change out the lines? 1830

[Pranav]

It looks like you have pre fabbed/crimped 3an lines

So your banjo 3an bolts leaking, you just need new washers for the banjo bolts

The lines if you are happy with the lengths then yes replac them with pre fab lines if you want, or make your own.

The only thing to note, those lines don't have a heat shrink sleeve/coating.

If they make the same lines with the coating ur good, if not I would recommend buying bulk coated (black) line and 3an fittings and make them yourself

[centerville]

Thanks Pranav. The replacement I have is 1.5" shorter than what is on the car now. Making my own seems like the way to go. I will need to find out what the banjo height is for these calipers but once that;s known it should be straight forward.

[Pranav]

Yeah, if you want to go one step further you can make hose ends that have banjos built in; did that on mine for the rear calipers to reduce the number of fittings in my brake system, but did seperate banjo + 3an on the front to make it easier to take stuff apart in a pinch.

Earl's PTFE Fittings:
https://www.summitracing.com/search/department/fittings-hoses/section/fittings-plugs/part-type/hose-ends/brand/earls-performance/fitting-material/steel/hose-end-size/minus-3-an/fitting-style/reusable-non-swivel?N=4294951003%2B4294951002%2B4294947446%2B40 0041%2B4294950996%2B4294947263%2B4294920744&SortBy=Default&SortOrder=Ascending

The hose I use for brakes and clutch:
https://www.summitracing.com/search/department/fittings-hoses/section/hose-line-tubing/brand/earls-performance/part-type/an-hose/hose-size/minus-3-an/hose-color/black?N=4294951003%2B4294949392%2B400041%2B4294924 175%2B4294924174%2B4294920440&SortBy=Default&SortOrder=Ascending

Assembling this stuff is easy and hard to screw up; just make a clean straight cut with a hacksaw/air body saw and clean it out real good. I also like to take coat hanger wire and run it inside the hose to support the hose structurally when making the cut, but make sure you can push it back out from the other side.

Biggest thing is to route in such a way the hose never kinks. Turns out my clutch hose that blew up was kinked bad as it was routed to make a sharp 90* out of the bellhousing; just poor routing on my part.

Also good practice to keep at least one spare fitting of each type you use, or just keep your old stuff in the spares box.

[centerville]

Thanks for the tips. Cool stuff for sure. Now to just get the right fittings and I am good to go.