Brake Hose Life

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My Toyota Avalon is now 14 1/2 years old with 122k miles. Getting ready to do biennial brake fluid replacement and was wondering if I should replace brake hoses as a preventative measure. They look fine on the outside but they are like me...getting old! Thanks for your advice.
 
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You could replace the whole car as a preventive measure. Not sure what condition they're in, but if they're not rusted and you get the salt off the car in the winters, I don't really see the need to change them, especially if you're changing the brake fluid that often. There are cars out there that go 10+ years without getting brake fluid flushed.
 
Not like your doing it for performance. I wouldn't worry at all. 95 Camry has original brake lines. All good so far. All I do drain/fill reservoir every oil change (7k).
 
Originally Posted By: artbuc
wondering if I should replace brake hoses as a preventative measure.

No.

If not damaged mechanically or degraded by neglected fluid changes, those hoses will go the life of the car. Find something else to spend your money on.
 
IMO I would prefer to keep the system that keeps me from hitting stuff as clean as reasonably possible. Those flex hoses do deteriorate over time inside and out.

For the amount of movement, road junk and pressure the flex hoses are subject to and the generally low replacement cost, I wouldn't even hesitate to replace them. Especially at the age you've indicated for your car.

I usally rebuild the calipers every 2nd brake job - it's not that hard and ensures that the piston seals are in good shape as well. If it's drum brakes the wheel cylinders just get replaced. Overkill to many I'm sure, but small potatoes to me for a key system.
 
Just getting to them on my 1989 firebird. They stopped the car fine but the fittings are rusting and not coming apart easily. The rear hose shows a "stress mark" possibly related to having 100+ lbs of axle hanging from it.

Remember the outer rubber you can see just protects a middle cord layer that actually holds the pressure. There are plenty of good layers even if the outside looks slightly shabby-- but the clock starts ticking on internal corrosion etc when they start looking bad.
 
Originally Posted By: artbuc
My Toyota Avalon is now 14 1/2 years old with 122k miles. Getting ready to do biennial brake fluid replacement and was wondering if I should replace brake hoses as a preventative measure. They look fine on the outside but they are like me...getting old! Thanks for your advice.


I would do a visual looking for cracking, etc. I replaced my front flex hoses on my Jeep and in doing so, the shop snapped some rusted frozen connectors and had to replace the front steel brake lines.

Its also good to do a visual on the steel brake lines, maybe catch a rust through before it leaves you with partial brakes. Replace with copper-nickel.
 
I've posted some images of what aged brake lines look like. My images have bumps where the hoses almost released pressure.

But the other concern is that the innards can collapse causing odd behaviors including rotor warpage and rapid pad wear since the caliper cannot release and return properly.

The images were 30 year old likes. I just did 23 year old lines that looked ok on the outside, however they may have contributed to a bad rotor and inner pad wear.

I see you live in PA, so it's not the highest heat or UV area. I'd personally probably wait until you're due for a pad/rotor swap and do it then with the fluid. At that age/mileage we did a first pad swap on our Toyota previa, and while the brakes worked perfect, one piston in the dual piston caliper didn't compress all the way back, so we had to replace. When you're due for pads/rotors, you might consider rebuilding/replacing everything.
 
I have had vehicles that the metal lines failed before the rubber hoses.

Maybe the brake fluid somehow preserves the rubber hoses.
 
The rubber flex hoses do fail and should be replaced periodically. Depending on the operating conditions, I change them between 5 and 10 years of service on my own cars and more frequently on cars I service for others. The hoses are made of real rubber and deteriorate just like coolant and vacuum hoses. Is it worth risking your life to save a few bucks by not replacing brake hoses?
 
I find that the front ones crack and go bad way before the back ones. If one in the front looks bad, replace both of them. So far, I have replaced only the front ones on my 1995 Escort ~220K miles.
 
Originally Posted By: artbuc
My Toyota Avalon is now 14 1/2 years old with 122k miles. Getting ready to do biennial brake fluid replacement and was wondering if I should replace brake hoses as a preventative measure. They look fine on the outside but they are like me...getting old! Thanks for your advice.


10 years is about the useful life for brake hoses according to the German TÜV. As they age they expand a little more and cause the pedal to be less firm, its a gradual thing and for the most part goes unnoticed.
New hoses will provide a noticeable improvement in pedal feel.

http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/brake-system-and-upgrade-selection
 
Since I had a brake line burst once at only 7 years, my vote would be to change them, not much additional work and cheap insurance....
 
I wouldn't touch them unless there's an actual issue.

It can be a pain to bleed the system once introducing air into the lines during replacement. Some cars are worse about this than others but why risk it.
 
I like doing hoses around the 10 year mark. On my truck they looked fine until I got them off and they were full of cracks.

I'm not a fan of the saying do it for cheap insurance but brake hoses do degrade and are generally very cheap. I think the fronts were $25 for both of them on my truck.
 
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Originally Posted By: 46Harry
The rubber flex hoses do fail and should be replaced periodically. Depending on the operating conditions, I change them between 5 and 10 years of service on my own cars and more frequently on cars I service for others. The hoses are made of real rubber and deteriorate just like coolant and vacuum hoses. Is it worth risking your life to save a few bucks by not replacing brake hoses?


Funny thing is on my 82 Mercedes, the brake lines were getting bumpy due to age, while the original radiator hoses are still perfect. I attest it (right or wrong I have no idea) to reflected uv, of which apparently there is a ton on the road and parking lots.
 
Here in Florida, I see anything between 15-25 years. It seems that not all cars have brake hoses of equal quality. Some develop cracks that go into the fabric that holds the hose together, some fail where the metal is crimped to the rubber, and others develop a bulge before failing, and others fail by expanding when the fluid goes in, and trapping the fluid when the pedal is released. Unfortunately, it seems most hoses look okay, but burst while driving the car.

Most of the new brake hoses I have installed have come from China. The only exception was when I was given uRO brand hoses on a Benz. Those hoses came from Italy.

I would prefer to use OEM hoses or premium performance hoses on any car I owned, or my family owned.
 
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