Are Toyota OEM (Rubber) Brake Lines Worth Twice The Price?

Posted by: @not-2-old-for-2-seater

Evening Folks:

I went out to just take a look at my partially dissembled Spyder and found a bit of bad news.

Then I disconnected the rear  wheel/axle assembly from the frame, I wanted to make sure that the dead weight of the assembly did not stretch my rear rubber brake lines.  To ensure that did not happen I locked the wheel assembly to the (empty) mounting bracket with a 150# test zip tie.  Shame on me!

Should have none that the very summer high temps we have been having in MD might cause the zip tie to stretch.

So now I need to replace both of the rear brake hoses --- or as Mr. T. says "Flex Hoses"

First I checked with Mr. T:  $50 on up per each.

Then I found some Dorman** ones for half that.

So now my quandary is: do I really need to spend twice as much for Mr. T.'s parts?

Alternately, at Mr. T.'s price point I would not be entirely surprised that I might be able to get stainless steel ones from an aftermarket source.

While I feel confident I can predict Dev's response, I would love to hear from others as well.

**Dorman:  For more than 20 years I have used Dorman products and have always found their quality --- on non-brake lines --- to be at least as good as OEM

I refurbished my brakes on my 2005 and went with Mr. T all the way regarding hoses. This is because of a nightmare I had with my S2000 when I lost my brakes due to a ruptured braided steel aftermarket line in Death Valley. With brakes, I will spend what I must to get the components that I trust the most. For me, that is OEM.

You have to be cautious with a lot of steel braided brake lines as they have been known to leak because of poor fittings or  the braiding frays.  

I have them on my car but they were custom made by a company that makes first rate quality.  I did replace the fronts for that Willwood caliper deal but unsure how these will pan out.  

I have done braided lines on a car before the Spyder and it did make a difference but for the Spyder there wasn’t much to be worth the trouble.  

For something like brakes I would rather buy known low mileage used OEM than new Doorman. My experience with Doorman and  and Beck and Arnley auto parts has been substandard compared to OEM. These 3rd rate part suppliers  brands tend to be better for domestic vehicles than imports although they will generally get the job done I would never consider them for a high performance application.  

Only SS lines I ever used were Goodridge and never had any issues. Then again I also didn't notice any difference in how the brakes felt.

i also had similar bad experience with SS lines.  i thought what i bought were Goodridge brand but leaked from the crimp collar causing me to lose a lot of brake fluid... i then learned that brake lines on a daily street driven car doesn't get much benefit... if you track your car and are normally inspecting your brakes often then it might make more sense to get that additional braking benefit... for me, the MR2 is light enough and i'm not running double the stock power to warrant an upgraded brake system... OEM parts with a good set of brake pads and call it a day... 

Posted by: @kamlung

i also had similar bad experience with SS lines.  i thought what i bought were Goodridge brand but leaked from the crimp collar causing me to lose a lot of brake fluid... i then learned that brake lines on a daily street driven car doesn't get much benefit... if you track your car and are normally inspecting your brakes often then it might make more sense to get that additional braking benefit... for me, the MR2 is light enough and i'm not running double the stock power to warrant an upgraded brake system... OEM parts with a good set of brake pads and call it a day... 

Greenstreek  Did a limited group buy  for the brake lines that I have that were custom made with high quality  fittings and tooling.  Leaking at the crimps, poor quality fittings, strain relief are all the things that play a factor and were addressed with the ones I bought.  Most of the widely sold cheap stuff sold under various brands  will work until they don't work, either on day zero or five years from now.  When I read all of the reports of failure it made me worried but some how Im stupid enough to get them for the front Willwood  calipers to make everything work.   

Thanks everyone for your comments.

I bit the bullet and bought the OEM brake line.

Local dealer wanted $82 (for a $64 list price part), so I bought it on line shipped for normal list price.

Posted by: @not-2-old-for-2-seater

Thanks everyone for your comments.

I bit the bullet and bought the OEM brake line.

Local dealer wanted $82 (for a $64 list price part), so I bought it on line shipped for normal list price.

If you are  going to keep your Spyder, I'd suggest getting in good with the parts people. I get the internet price at "my" dealer for all the schoozing I do.