[GU Col]

We all know that the brakes on the older GU's are a little on the spongey side (other than the 4.8L's with the bigger discs), has anyone replaced the brake lines with braided ones to help with this? If so what was the cost of the lines?

Cheers, Col

 

[geeyoutoo]

We all know that the brakes on the older GU's are a little on the spongey side (other than the 4.8L's with the bigger discs), has anyone replaced the brake lines with braided ones to help with this? If so what was the cost of the lines?

Cheers, Col

Can't give you a cost but suffice to say the good stuff (not cheap internals with a braided cover) is bloody expensive, the benefit of st/st braided hose is when you jump on the brakes the hoses do not expand in multiple directions, this will take some of the sponginess out of the pedal but not all.

Works OK if done properly but you need to balance the cost against the advantages, for non competition use, I'm not sure it's worth it.

 

[sw1]

for non competition use, I'm not sure it's worth it.

What a ridiculous comment, why wouldn’t you want your daily drive to pull up as quick as possible? They don’t cost that much.

I have replaced all lines on my GU. It definitely improves pedal feel & braking performance.
When initially pressing the peddle there is still a small amount of peddle movement before getting that 'biting' feeling, once that is past they stop the car very, very well.

It is worth mentioning, have you had your brakes bled recently, starting from the load proportioning valve?

 

[geeyoutoo]

What a ridiculous comment, why wouldn’t you want your daily drive to pull up as quick as possible? They don’t cost that much.

I have replaced all lines on my GU. It definitely improves pedal feel & braking performance.
When initially pressing the peddle there is still a small amount of peddle movement before getting that 'biting' feeling, once that is past they stop the car very, very well.

It is worth mentioning, have you had your brakes bled recently, starting from the load proportioning valve?

Not a ridiculous comment at all my friend, I have some considerable experience with braided brake and clutch lines and the difference in the quality that is around, sure if you want to go to the nth degree then by all means use them.

From my point of view I am not sure there is that much difference in normal braking efficiency to justify changing based on that premise. If your hoses are shot then that is a different case but to just change them for changing sake! not so sure.

The title of the thread indicates the guy is looking for opinions. That is my opinion, I am entitled to it and I have some experience in this matter.

 

[ls400x]

Oh yeah, less flexible lines will only affect the pedal travel to achieve a nominal pedal force. They will not magically make it pull up with less pedal force. Retain the stock ones and spend the savings on coke an strippers

 

[Grumpybum]

check if the braided lines ARE legal for road use !! you may find they are only for competition use unless they are ADR approved

 

[Cruiserboxer]

Hi Col, Not sure if you have had your questions answered but I blew a brake line while on a recent trip and paid $75.00 for a standard line in Cobar with some transport costs included but happy to get one. When I got back to Melbourne I priced braided lines at a specialist brake centre and was quoted $85.00 per line which I didn't think was too bad. I hope this helps.

 

[GU Col]

Thanks guys, i guess i'm not looking for a magic fix but more a firmer peddle (spelling??) and less travel before something happens.

Cheers, Col

 

[ITS A FORD NOT A NISSAN]

i would be looking at the calipers if your brakes are spongey , mine were spongey for ages and no amount of bleeding , replacing master cylinders etc would fix it, i then noticed when i was under the car that the calipers could move around freely and i worked out that when i took my foot off the brake pedal that the piston in the caliper would also retract too far leaving a small gap between the piston and brake pad , do this on 4 wheels and there is your spongey brakes,

i ended up grinding / cleaning off the rubber backing from the brake pads so they had nice clean metal on the back face only , doing 1 wheel at a time i removed the pads and pumped the pedal once to bring the piston out further , put the pads back in and only pushed the piston back in enough so i could just slide the caliper over the brakes , did this to all 4 wheels and now my brakes are like new with maybe 10 mm of pedal movement before pulling up the car where before the pedal was traveling 80 plus mm before the brakes started to pull up

i know this is a quick fix but it has led me to realise that the rubber seal in the piston is at fault and seems to be flexing rather than sliding, and yes i have recently put new kits through the brake calipers in the process to finding out why i had spongey brakes which only fixed it short term

 

[slowzuki]

I had braided lines fitted to my previous fourby and found the difference incremental- at best. Anyone who claims a big difference prolly got that through the bleed associated with fitting the new lines. My current 4WD also has them fitted all round, but they were engineered. Would check with your Transport Dept. before laying down the dollars.Was another post on here recently about the benefits of fitting GU 4.8 Hitachi pads, which apparently are a straight swap but have a softer friction material and thus more bite. Might be worth checking that one out.

 

[GU Col]

I had braided lines fitted to my previous fourby and found the difference incremental- at best. Anyone who claims a big difference prolly got that through the bleed associated with fitting the new lines. My current 4WD also has them fitted all round, but they were engineered. Would check with your Transport Dept. before laying down the dollars.Was another post on here recently about the benefits of fitting GU 4.8 Hitachi pads, which apparently are a straight swap but have a softer friction material and thus more bite. Might be worth checking that one out.

Ok, so i found the thread about the 4.8 Hitachi pads but i just need to make sure i get this right....so i can purchase these for my 2000 4.5L and they will fit? Even though the 4.8 rotors are 1mm bigger? If this is all i have to do to get better braking then i'm in as it seems too easy??

Col

 

[slowzuki]

Ok, so i found the thread about the 4.8 Hitachi pads but i just need to make sure i get this right....so i can purchase these for my 2000 4.5L and they will fit? Even though the 4.8 rotors are 1mm bigger? If this is all i have to do to get better braking then i'm in as it seems too easy??

Col

PM the guy that posted, I guess.

 

[patrol_dave]

Ok, so i found the thread about the 4.8 Hitachi pads but i just need to make sure i get this right....so i can purchase these for my 2000 4.5L and they will fit? Even though the 4.8 rotors are 1mm bigger? If this is all i have to do to get better braking then i'm in as it seems too easy??

Col

If you find out if the 4.8 pads fit the 4.5 I would like to know too please.

Thanks