I just brought my new-to-me car (2022 Mach 1 HP) in for a state mandated safety inspection and they noticed that the Steeda brake lines that the previous owner installed are not passing muster. Finding: Brake lines are rubbing sway bar. Hoses are ziptied to metal brake line.

I was a little worried about this mod when the owner told me he had these after reading mixed reviews regarding fitment in the past. My question is, after looking at these pictures, will I have any issues replacing these and installing the J&M stainless brake lines for magenride cars from OpMustang that utilize all OEM fittings? (Link to product) The car only has around 5k miles on it.

Zip ties will age and become brittle over time. The chafing that may occur near the nut and threaded portion extending from there MAY BE fixable with Adel clamps. Sorry, I don’t live in a State that requires inspections. If it were mine, I would be inspecting regularly after I found a way to not use zip ties.

+1 on Adel clamps being the proper solution for clamping the lines. For the contact with the nut, you could wrap the line in a piece of rubber hose (e.g., fuel or vacuum hose). The rubber hose is sacrificial, meaning you need to regularly inspect it and replace as it gets worn, before it wears through and the brake line starts chafing.

My J&M lines don’t fit as well as I would like either. The front and one rear are good enough but the other rear seems like the end fittings were installed with the wrong orientation so it deflects into the body pretty snugly at the top.

@thelostotter thanks for the heads up. Hopefully it's just a one off issue but from what I have read on various threads it seems like the J&M lines are one of the best bets, other than just finding the original OEM lines. I already have them on order so hopefully there is not issues with fitment. I spoke with Tim from Opmustang and he said there shouldn't be any issues and also said to try to snug everything down with the tires actually on the ground if possible, which is a good tip I would not have considered. The connection on these Steeda lines where it connects to the vehicle hard line (not the caliper) looks a little corroded and as if it was leaking previously so a replacement is necessary either way.

jaylarold said:

@thelostotter thanks for the heads up. Hopefully it's just a one off issue but from what I have read on various threads it seems like the J&M lines are one of the best bets, other than just finding the original OEM lines. I already have them on order so hopefully there is not issues with fitment. I spoke with Tim from Opmustang and he said there shouldn't be any issues and also said to try to snug everything down with the tires actually on the ground if possible, which is a good tip I would not have considered. The connection on these Steeda lines where it connects to the vehicle hard line (not the caliper) looks a little corroded and as if it was leaking previously so a replacement is necessary either way.

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About those hard-line connections... I stopped changing factory rubber brake lines to stainless braided about ten years ago. Those hardline connectors seal up very well at the factory, but after that, they tend to leak. And the tighter you tighten them, the more they leak. A good design for OEM, not so good for anything else. If yours are leaking, I recommend you get some SECO-7 copper washers and install them in the fittings. I've done that on my leakers and it works.

So, that's one reason I stopped using aftermarket brake lines. The other reason is that they don't actually accomplish much on the "sport" versions of Mustangs. That's because, starting in 2012 with the Boss 302, Ford adopted a new brake hose product from Goodyear (I think, might be Continental) for their rubber brake lines. The Boss 302 had them, the 2013/14 GT500 had them and the GT350 has them. I'd be very surprised if the Mach1 didn't have them. The new rubber line is reinforced and it's about 99% as stiff as stainless lines. And they fit perfectly and they last a long time. Unless you need stainless lines to run aftermarket calipers, there isn't a lot of point in swapping out the OEM's.

Now, if you're intent upon changing the lines to stainless, J&M are the only ones I'd use. There are some important subtleties to the way the flex lines are routed on the S550 and J&M does it properly. Other suppliers I've looked at, not so much.

Thanks, JAJ. I would be more than happy with the stock OEM rubber lines still on there but this was the hand I was dealt. It looks like the J&M kit from OpMustang does come with 8 copper washers so fingers crossed everything seals up nicely. Definitely something I will inspect at least every time I rotate tires.

If your replacing your lines get vorschlag ones I have them on my s197 and they are top notch don’t waste your time with j&m and the other ones on American muscle nothing wrong but if your trackin I would get something from people who actually track there cars

I can give an idea as to why those lines were pulled back with a zip tie…. With the 315s on the rear of the Mach 1 there have been instances of the tire rubbing the flexible brake line to the point of failure. I bought a Mach 1 from Copart to rebuild and primarily use as a track car. Once on the lift it was apparent what caused the accident. In talking with the previous owner the brake failure occurred at the end of a long straight at 140+ MPH…

My Mach 1 now runs with the lines pulled back with zip ties to prevent this issue. Ive not seen interference with the sway bar bolt, will have to double check that….