Braided hose failure
 

So, I had funny Friday when my car decided to kill me. Was going over junction and braking afterwards to slow down before traffic buildup and my brake pedal suddenly went into floor :shocked: managed to slow down using handbrake and downshifting and stopped about a meter before rear bumper of Peugeot.
limped the car to nearby safe spot where it become clear my brake hose snapped. Pics below.
Anybody had that happening with braided hoses? installed by mechanic 2.5yrs ago, did 40k miles on them, car passed NCT flawlesly 2 months ago. How did that happened?

To add insult to injury, when I called breakdown assistance and specifically asked the nice lady to make sure she note car is AWD, after THREE hours of waiting they send... a van....
Driver facepalmed himself and said he was not told it was AWD and requested flatbed but it took another hour.

Question - what to do next? getting it sorted with emergency any-available brake hose from nearby motor facotrs, but I really dont want to drive on 3 (uncertain) braided ones and 1 (noname) rubber one, so I will be replacing all 4 after a while. Do you go volvo OEM, or some aftermarket better alternative? Whole reason of going braided was that those were suppose to last lifetime AND provide better braking... certainly wasnt expecting that...

Glad you avoided a nasty accident LoB, must've been very scary...

I once had braided hoses on a 1999 Alfa GTV I had years back, and one hose split whilst the mechanic was test driving it. They found it had been rubbing on something – which the regular OE pipes never would have – and it had frayed and split. I went back to OE pipes and have never fitted braided hoses since. Your 'snapped' hose looks odd, was it being pulled at too tight an angle?

What brand of braided hose was it? My old S40 had HEL and always appreciated the improvement they made to the brakes. I don't have the car anymore but interested to know what type failed nonetheless.

Iain

Send the manufacturer these pics... Shocking!:shocked:
I've never had a problem with the standard lines IME.

Hose brand was Black Diamond. I did research before getting them and I was recommended HEL or Black Diamond as even alternatives. Third option was Goodridge but were not available at that time.

Markos - yes, was wondering myself looking at the way it snapped but really there was no indication that its too tight or improperly angled, had 3 NCT tests since and didnt do anything in "that area". From the pic of wheelarch you can se it is attached to shock holding mount with rubber and there is still rubber neck on braiding intact. ALso it wasnt me installing them but my mech so my inexperience wouldnt be an issue.

yep, exectly what Im doing now, just digging out the details of original order.

This is very disturbing but highlights an interesting problem that often performance parts are not as long lasting or durable as good old OE items.

Albeit the performance might be 'better'

I recently got some braided hoses (for a golf), and honestly I could not bring myself to fit them as they just didnt sit right.
Cheapo APEC ones fitted instead.

I am literally just replacing my factory hoses with HEL ones, one thing that did strike me was the hose must be fitted in a 'relaxed' position, I think your hose there may have been under too much tension, I wonder if it was actually too short for the car and maybe a picking/packing error saw you receiving hoses for another model?

Valid points, both of you. Im not sure of answers, BD contacted me and are investigating that so fair play for interest. As for its longetivity its actually opposite way in theory - braided ones should last much longer than OEMs, even BD rep confirmed that it carries lifetime warranty as those just dont fail.

Welton - what exactlky u mean "relaxed" position - as for car (i.e. with springs compressed) or as not twisted? from the pic and from looking at the hose before it was taken off, it didnt feel like its tensioned or twisted.

wow thats terrifying, I would go back to the manufacturer!

Just put on braided hoses here and thats worrying. Who installed yours?