TC Bros Brake hoses

tstidham

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So the last original parts that need replaced are my brake hoses. They aren't cracked or anything and the brakes work great so I know they're ok internally, still...1978!
Good plan. They absolutely can and do rot on the inside and look OK on the outside.

I'm thinking of getting the tc bros cut-to-fit brake line kit. It comes with 5 ft of braided hose and two 10mm 20 deg banjos. Looks simple enough to do. Anyone on here use this before?
https://tcbros.com/collections/metric-brakes/products/custom-stainless-braided-brake-line-kit-5ft

I haven't used that. I've always either bought ready-made or ordered at a local industrial hydraulics place.
 
Good plan. They absolutely can and do rot on the inside and look OK on the outside.



I haven't used that. I've always either bought ready-made or ordered at a local industrial hydraulics place.
Well, I guess I'll be the test subject for them on the board and document and report how they work. They claim to handle a max of 2500 psi force, and I doubt our little master cylinders and produce anywhere close to that. Plus if they can stop a Harley, they can certainly stop a light weight like our 400's.
 
The hose kits arrived so I'll snap some photos when I do the job and make a write up on them. Then I can finally get this thing through PA state inspection!
 
So creating the hoses with their kit really was not hard at all, and I could have done it with one kit and just ordering two extra banjo fittings as I had about 2 inches of hose left over from one kit once both hoses were made.

They have you wrap the hose where you will cut with some tape, cut it using a cut-off wheel or hacksaw. I used my Dremel with a new cut-off disc. Measure back an inch and cut-off the out plastic casing, then slip the nut over the bare stainless wire. This part was a little finicky as the wire starts to expand outward, especially if you mess with the end and getting the nut over it can be tricky as you try to press/squeeze the strands back smaller.
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Now you DO want to expand the stainless covering a little to insert the brass ferrule. This goes on pretty hard and I found placing the ferrule onto the side of my work bench, the pushing the line into it while giving it some wiggles worked best. There is a lip on the inside top so keep pressing until the nylon inner hose bottoms out inside the ferrule.
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Then just put the banjo end into the tube and tighten the nut up onto it. I found holding the banjo end with a large adjustabe and an 11mm wrench for the nut worked great. I thought I had a picture of that, but no dice. I also had some heat shrink tubing on hand to tidy up the install, and here is the finished product. I will say the brakes are way firmer now vs. my original, 45 year old hoses. I re-used the factory hose grommets and holder, though they are too big for this smaller hose. For the rear, I don't think it will matter, but for the fronts, I use a zip tie to act as a stop to keep the hose in the proper position, as close to factory looking routing as possible. You probably could tighten then up with a few wraps of tape before putting the rubber holder on, and maybe I'll do that later.

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