Braided Steel Brake Lines with Toyota Caliper

[SCguy]

Now that I've put my wheels on my TR4 I can see that my steel lines will rub againts my wheels while turning. Those of you who have steel lines how did you solve this?

Here's a TR6. Notice the line points up and is located on the opposite side.

 

[71tr]

Seems that you might need to fabricate some sort of small bracket similar to the TR6 setup that will hold your steel lines in place. Check out moss' website for their toyota brake kit, i think they have photos of a similar fix. By the way that is a great shot of your suspension/brake setup, very professional.

 

[Guest]

Either a bracket or a shorter line????

 

[Alan_Myers]

Hi again Larry,

That flex line looks way too long to me, but I am not working with Toyota calipers and they might require something different than I'm used to.

You can reposition those flex lines a bit by bending the mounting tab on the frame. Also, you can often loosen the fitting and repostion/retighten so that they bend a specific direction. I'm not sure if that's enough to resolve the problem here, though.

Hoepfully, someone else who is using Toyota calipers will jump in here.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

 

[SCguy]

I bent the tabs on the frame and now the brake lines are positioned upwards which will seem to do the trick (although the line still seems a little long). I sent an e-mail to Ted at TSI and I'll be interested to read what he has to say.

 

[Guest]

[ QUOTE ]

I sent an e-mail to Ted at TSI and I'll be interested to read what he has to say.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hope you included a copy of the picture in your email. Seeing is believing.

 

[PeterK]

Before TSI offered a full flex line conversion from metric to SAE, most, including myself, made up a short section of hard line that goes between the Toy caliper and the original bracket on the backing plate; from there I used a standard TR SS flex line. And it's a nice clean install. Hate to say it but your hose is way too long (hahahaha). You might try putting a loop in the line to shorten it and then tie wrap to avoid binding in the spring. I can post a picture of my setup if you want.

 

[SCguy]

Thank Peter, I'd love to see your set-up as I've considred going back to that option.

 

[PeterK]

Here's the passenger side on my TR4A view fron the front. Notice that the hard line must be bent to prevent fouling the coil at full lock.

https://mysite.verizon.net/kentech0822/triumph/toyota_brake_line852.jpg

 

[SCguy]

Peter,
Thanks for the picture. What I'm battling with is that on the early TR4 frame, the brake line frame tabs are on the oposite side of the spring (six inches away from the calipar), not the front like the later frames and TR6s.

 

[ALLAN]

The problem is the TSI adapter sticks out of the caliper too far, I have talked to Ted about this after installing mine, there is a saftey issue with his set up. What I did is use the original hard line bracket that bolts to the caliper and drilled the hole that the line connects to as big as it would go and then installed a rubber gromet in the hole and ran the steel line through the gromet. It holds the line in place and keeps it away from the springs and wheels. The rubber gromet has to be put on the steel line first and then pass the line through the hole and then push the gromet into the hole. I had to tweak the bracket a little to get the line in the right position.

 

[SCguy]

Here's a picture of what I've changed. There's no interference, but the lines seem pretty exposed which makes me nervous. the photography is shot from a different angle than the original. The brake lines point straight up.

 

[ALLAN]

If you go with the bracket like the one I made, it helps hold the line in and takes up some of the slack. It was pretty easy to make up using the original brackets that bolt to the calipers.

 

[SCguy]

Allan,

I don't have (never have had) the original brackets, So I'm having trouble visualizing. I'm sure I could find the brackets somewhere. Is there any chance you could post a picture? Thanks,

 

[Guest]

Larry, there is something that has me a little worried about your setup. The end of the hose that fits into your brake seems to thread right in to the area directly and has nothing to take the load off the hose and the threads. I am not worried about the hose popping, I am concerned that the constant turning back and forth of your steering will in short order loosen that fitting. It won't take much more than a slight torquing of that fitting to break the seal and.... no brakes. Are we on the same page?

 

[ALLAN]

The connection is tight enough that the line will flex without the connection moving. But with the bracket you wouldnt have to worry about. I think you can see that bracket pictured in the hanyes manual (tr4a tr6) and/or Roadster Factory catalog or Victoria British. It is an L type bracket that bolts to the caliper--underneath the caliper bolts.

 

[martx-5]

I ran into a similar problem with putting the Toyota calipers on my TR3. My hose also comes from the back of the spring. I made a bracket to fit into one of the caliper mounting bolts to hold the adaptor line to the braided flex line. See the attachment for the finished installation, and then in the next post I will show the bracket itself. (I don't know how to put two attachments in one post.) I roughed it all out, and then tweaked where the bends and twists would be while on the car so I could see how everything lined up.

 

[martx-5]

OK, here is the picture of the actual bracket I made. The twist would of course be in the opposite direction on the other side.

Of course, the other thing is is that my set-up is two seperate pieces. The adaptor for the caliper, and the original line that Triumph used...except braided. It looks like yours is one piece. With the two pieces, I was able to secure the section where they connect into the bracket, as there is plenty of threaded section on the end of the flex line to secure with another nut onto the bracket.

 

[ALLAN]

This is very close to the stock bracket that comes on the TR6-very nice, however you are using the regular braided line with a hard pipe connection (almost like a stock TR6 setup).The real problem is when using the TSI type line with adapter strait into the caliper like SCguy. My bracket is like yours with a rubber gromet in place of the hydralic connection which allows the braided line to run through.

 

[Guest]

I think I have a pair of rigid brake lines pieces that come off the caliper for for the transition year that Triumph tried to go Metric, if anyone wants them. I am pretty sure I still have them (never been installed) but will have to do some digging. Dave at TRF sent both types to me years ago when they rebuilt my calipers and forgot to check the thread type. Mine are standard, these should be Metric.

I still disagree that the flexible hose installed directly into the caliper is good enough. Tighten all you want (and there is just so much that you can tighten before ruining the fitting) but they WILL come aloose (Southern word) in time with the steering movement of front wheel assm. It is an accident waiting to happen.