# DIY: MKIV STAINLESS STEEL BRAKE LINES FRONT/REAR



## Steveo989 (Jan 21, 2006)

For anyone looking to get the ultimate braking experience there is a good chance you will benefit from stainless steel brake lines. They will get rid of the pedal play from the expansion of rubber lines, and will act like a heatsink compared to oem rubber lines as metal is a better conductor etc etc.
A friend of mine off of hrdubs.com and I installed a front/rear stainless steel brake lines on his 03 GTI, the install was very straightforward and the hardest part was figuring out what the orientation of the retaining clips were. 
Assuming you are looking at this is assuming you have basic tools, set of flare nut wrenches from sears that are 9-18mm runs for only 35.00 at sears,







the sizes that you will need are an 11mm flarenut wrench, and an 14/15mm flare nut wrench. (note that the 14/15 is coming from the new lines so this may vary as I am unsure what sizes each manufacturer uses. You will also need a decent socket set for a bolt that is 13mm for the rear passenger brake line mounting bracket as this will be e genuine pain in the ass if you don't take this step, as I found out.







Finally a screwdriver to get the oem brakeline retaining brackets off.
Also ensure you have at a *min 2 liters of brake fluid *as there is a massive amount of air that needs to be bled from the lines.

*THIS IS BY FAR THE MOST IMPORTANT NOTE!!! Keep tabs on the brakefluid resevoir during the entire install as fluid will eventually run dry if you take your time(no lift) Luckilly I had access to a lift and we installed the front and rear lines before it ran dry.*
Keep in mind this is a work in progress it will be updated multiple times with directions and such, tomorrow will be a slow day at work so look out for changes. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Starting with the front lines, begin loosening the banjo bolt that joins the caliper and the lines. You will most likely need quite a bit of pressure to break it loose USE A FLARE NUT WRENCH, otherwise you will most likely damage your fittings that you will re-use. This is pictured below.








With an 11mm flare nut wrench loosen the fitting that joins the steel line to the oem rubber lines. (Pictured below) Next with with a flat head screwdriver remove the mounting bracket these will not be reused so if need be you can bend them to slide them out. They should slide right out though. You can now remove the entire line. 








Pictured below is a closeup of the same fitting, just to clarify.








Below is the fitting with the line removed and the new clips or mounting brackets that keep the line from chafing in the bracket. This is the way all the clips should be installed, front and rear.








Install the new line at the top by using an 11mm wrench at the original fitting and to give it the final tug when tighetning with opposing force in the opposite direction with the 15mm wrench. If you would like you can use standard open end wrenches until you need to apply a lot of torque use a flare nut wrench on both ends to once again avoid damaging the lines. 
Next you will install the line to the caliper there should be a 2 copper washer for the bajo bolt one for where the bolt meets the line and the line meets the caliper 








The rear lines are pretty easy if you just take your time and remain patient, it is a pretty tight fit so once the fitting are broke loose use a regular open ended 11mm. 
The right rear(rear passenger) side line will be much easier if you loosen the bolt for the bracket, this will allow you to drop the line a bit to get a wrench in the space. This is well worth the time it takes to remover the bolt, actually I am not even sure it is possible to do the rear passenger without dropping the little bracket. 
















Pictured is the drivers side rear brake line.








One more good picture of the right rear passenger side line installed.









There will now be a massive amount of air in the lines, preferably with a power bleeder flush one of your liters of fluid through your lines, if you are comfortable with the amount of braking power you have go for a small drive heat up the brakes a bit the pedal feel will most likely be mushy until the second bleed. Now flush the 2nd liter of fluid through your lines secure all your bleed screws and you will now enjoy a much better pedal feel and better initial breaking response. 
By the way give yourself a







for your hard work.








GOTTA PLUG MY CLUB







http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
















_Modified by Steveo989 at 6:58 AM 5-28-2007_

_Modified by Steveo989 at 7:03 AM 5-28-2007_


_Modified by Steveo989 at 7:04 AM 5-28-2007_


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## Steveo989 (Jan 21, 2006)

bump


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## 04VDubGLI (May 20, 2005)

Very nice







I intend to do this when I do all my rotors/pads and repaint my calipers


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## moonstation 2000 (Jun 25, 2004)

*Re: (04VDubGLI)*

Don't Mk 4's come with stainless braided brake lines?


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## Banditt007 (Oct 23, 2002)

*Re: (moonstation 2000)*

i dunno about stainless, but yes, braided w/ a rubber coating over the top.
stainless brake lines to me are better in a very very very small way. i think most times is placebo coupled with, now you have fresh brake fluid over the old stuff that was in there, and the brake lines are new!
i bet in a blind test withnew SS lines, fresh fluid (obviously) vs new OEM rubber lines + fresh fluid, the user would not be able to tell the difference.
They do look cool however


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## clarksongli (Nov 4, 2003)

*Re: (moonstation 2000)*


_Quote, originally posted by *moonstation 2000* »_Don't Mk 4's come with stainless braided brake lines?


they do come with a full set of stainless braided....ONLY difference is they use black coatings where as most aftermarket use clear coated.....
SS lines are completely pointless upgrade for mk4s.....and even for most cars.....it does not change braking capacity, it just makes the pedal feel stiffer


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## sramoo (Apr 8, 2007)

*Re: (clarksongli)*

I can say (because it is my car pictured), that the SS brake lines do not seem to add a great deal to the whole braking performance on the MK4, with the exception of a slightly stiffer feel. I added them because I was changing out the pads and rotors, so I figured I would go for the clean sweep with the nice looking SS lines. My daily bumper-to-bumper traffic driving doesn't really give me much of a point of reference, though. 
Maybe some of the guys who autocross could see a difference.


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## 04VDubGLI (May 20, 2005)

So, basically... the stock lines are 100% certainly braided steel lines? So the best bet is to just flush them and put better pads on and call it a day?


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## phatvw (Aug 29, 2001)

*Re: (04VDubGLI)*

The inner tubing on OEM hoses which ages and flexes over time. Most Stainless braided hoses wrap a teflon inner tube which flexes less than rubber.
The advantage is minimal when both are new.
Read more:
http://www.nsxprime.com/wiki/Brake_Lines


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