Viper Losing Brakes - Check Your Car For This!

[Tom and Vipers]

I had 2 stainless steel front brake lines, lose their 180 degree form and severly wedge themselves in my front coils.

That's not so bad.

Unless there is an ABS sprocket in the vicinity.

I believe at Watkins Glen, a Viper hit the wall when the ABS sprocket cut thru a SS line....

I've heard to another Viper having the SS line wedged in the coils.

Note to SS line manufacturers: Why not keep the 180 bent tube portion just like the stock hoses? That would keep the hose where you want it. And isn't tube stiffer than hose?

 

[GTS Dean]

I believe that the hoses Erik Messley and SVSi make keep the factory hardline up front and braze a 37 degree flare male adapter to it. The minor downside to that is the tube size - you have to use a -4 (dash 4) hose (1/4") instead of -3 (3/16"). This increase in tube diameter may create a minor decrease in pedal firmness.

Here's how I did mine with -3 Aeroquip hose:

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I fabricated a standoff (like the factory) and used a soft piece of double-flared tubing and a tubing clamp. A tie-wrap runs through it to keep the hose put. This allows a small amount of relative motion in the hose that keeps it from unscrewing itself, and also keeps it from flailing about and getting caught in spring coils or ABS wheel speed pickups.

 

[Henry Cone]

Dean, you are correct about the SVSi SS brake lines having a bent hard line that exactly matches the stock factory lines. However, they do make them in 2 different line sizes - I believe in both -3 and -2. We have been using them for 2 years on our 2 Super Stock class Viper Days cars and highly recommend them. They are somewhat more expensive than some other SS lines but this is an area where I want to have the best available and I believe that the SVSi lines are just that....

 

[JonB]

SCARY STUFF, Tom. What lines should be examined, please? I doubt it would be StopTech.......but I must ask.


Note: STOPTECH did their homework on this issue. StopTech S/S lines use a unique, hi-temp, hardened Y-bracket and sleeve to hold the shape of this bend. They re-engineered lines and brackets for ABS-equipped Vipers. No cutting, welding, brazing of the lines. 100% are presure-tested to 4500 PSI.

Ill try to get a photo to someone to post

 

[99t1]

Jon,

Do the ST lines follow the same design and mount points as the factory lines?

 

[StopTech Service]

Thanks to this thread, we have just posted photos of our front lines on our website.

The direct link to the images is:

http://www.stoptech.com/productphotos/viper_frontline_display.htm


If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.


Matt Weiss
StopTech Customer Service Manager

 

[GTS Dean]

Matt,

A very sano setup. I like the cad plating. One minor quibble - your standoff does not allow clearance for, or a place to hook the Viper Service Tools' inclinometer bracket for measuring front caster. However, most folks probably just do a caster sweep and calculate the angle.