Stainless Steel Flexible Brake Lines

Looking for recommendations on getting a good quality set of flexible stainless steel brake lines for my '06 manual transmission Tacoma. I was recently doing an oil change and noticed that the clutch slave cylinder lip had completely rusted off, leaving the rubber accordion boot just dangling. Looked a little further and found that the clutch slave cylinder flexible brake line looked good in the rubber part, but the fittings are very crusty. In the "might as well department", I'm thinking I want to replace all of the flexible brake lines before the rust on the fittings at the end of those lines become completely "welded" into a blob by the rust, which I know never sleeps.
Any recommendations welcome.

 

I used the ones offered on Headstrong Offroad's website when I replaced mine. No issues with em. Crown is a common reputable brand.

here's one thread on it, few diff suggestions.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/best-stainless-brake-lines.719092/

 

Crown

 

I second this vote. Had mine for 10+ years and still going strong.

 

Thanks all! Crown it is. That previous thread had all good info. Just have to see if I can get a flexible stainless steel line for the clutch slave cylinder.

 

Ended up ordering Crown stainless steel flexible brake lines from vendor "GotExhaust.com" and wanted to comment on my experience thus far. GotExhaust could not have been more professional and diligent in the manner with which they worked with me.

Since the kits only come as a set of 4 (one for each corner) and don't include a line for the clutch slave cylinder, I asked if they could have one made and add it to the kit. They helped me figure out the information they needed, accommodated my request without hesitation and got a clutch line custom made.

Communication was excellent and the price was fair, without any extra "fees". I will update after I receive and install the lines.

 

Well, after some trials and tribulations, I managed to get all four stainless flexible brake lines, the clutch slave cylinder stainless flexible brake line, and the clutch slave cylinder installed.
I received the Crown flexible lines from GotExhaust, including the custom line for the clutch slave cylinder. Definitely high quality, with well machined fittings and look like they will be a "permanent solution".



If you wait too long, this is what the ends of the original flexible brake lines will look like. Keep in mind that the truck is 17 years old and has rarely been driven in snow/salt, and is always rinsed on those rare occasions. It is Long Island though and things tend to rust near the coast.




Unfortunately, the lines included for the front brakes were not correct and Crown wanted me to give them specs for making the correct ones, which on my truck require banjo fittings on the caliper end of the lines. I was not comfortable doing that, so I opted for stainless lines from StopTech for the front lines, Crown for the three other lines. GotExhaust was very helpful and very responsive in sorting out the problem and processed a partial refund very quickly. I could not be more pleased in my dealings with GotExhaust. The StopTech flexible lines were also of good quality and a little easier to install because they have swivel fittings on each end (StopTech part number

$72 950.44016 Stainless Steel Front Brake lines for 05-06 Toyota Tacoma

950.44016 for my 2006 SR5). So, instead of having to fight to turn the relatively small tube nuts on the ends of the rigid lines, it was easier to turn the fittings to get the tube nuts to thread properly. The ends of the StopTech fittings also fit perfectly in the cut outs on the brackets (where the flexible and rigid lines are joined), whereas the Crown lines did not have the flattened two sides to fit inside the cutouts on the brackets.

Here are the before and after for the rear lines





The lip of the back end of my original slave cylinder had rusted off completely, leaving the rubber boot floating and the piston exposed. I replaced it with an Aisin unit from RockAuto and applied POR-15 on the cylinder, including the lip. That ticking time bomb is what got me started on this whole project, to get ahead of the inevitable rust blob disaster.



I ended up having to cut off the slave cylinder to get a vise grips on the two rounded off bolts, despite having soaked the fasteners with PB Blaster for a few days beforehand.



In my experience, any bolt with a "hollow" top will round off much more easily than one with a solid surface, so beware. I replaced both bolts with stainless steel fasteners and lock washers.














If you are not careful and cannot get the tube nuts to spin off on the rigid tubes, you will end up with a much more involved project and end up either splicing or replacing some rigid lines. Even though I had soaked the fittings for a few days with PB Blaster, I also used a torch whenever a tube nut felt like it was tweaking instead of turning and then used a Dremel with small wire wheel brush to clean up any rust that looked like it might be preventing the tube nuts from spinning free of the rigid lines.

This is the right front StopTech flexible line attached to the rigid line, with POR-15 applied to the parts of the gray rigid line that showed some corrosion or wear:



I also ended up removing four of the brackets and sandblasting them because they had the beginnings of a terminal case of rust. I then coated them with POR-15 and let them cure overnight. Wherever the gray plastic coating that covers the rigid brake lines was deteriorated, I applied a coating of POR-15 as well.











The most difficult part was accessing the top of the two flexible brake line unions at the left rear wheel. Fortunately, Toyota had them on a bracket that could be removed and that made a little easier to access.



To remove the bracket, you have to loosen two bolts which are located on top of the frame and can be accessed from the wheel well of the left rear wheel. It's the two bolts on the left.



I will obviously have to remove that other bracket, sandblast it, and give it the POR-15 treatment before it disintegrates.


The brakes do feel a little firmer, perhaps because the rubber lines don't bulge or expand when braking hard. It could just be because I bled them thoroughly with the Motive Power Bleeder and the old fluid was about five years old. I was very careful not to let the fluid get too low in the reservoir to avoid any potential effect on the ABS.

All in all, after flushing and refilling with fresh brake fluid, it was a very satisfying job. Hopefully one that I won't have to revisit for a long, long time.