A brake vender who attends many car shows wrote a very high percentage of the cars, in reference to the brake boosters, the owners has not used vaccum hose but rather gas hose or some other type of hose. He mentioned that it must be labeled ( vaccum hose,) other types may seal shut due to the thickness of the wall of the hose creating bad braking.
I use fuel line for my brake booster hose and PCV. It has some type of reinforcement to prevent collapsing and will not "rot" from exposure to fuel. FYI, bad braking has nothing to do with poor vacuum. The "booster" is an assist, to ease pedal pressure. It does not increase braking power.
Through the years I have seen many problems with "vacuum" hose on PVC and to brake boosters. I have used fuel hose for over 35 years.
I use a hose called Boston Easy Couple hose. It’s rated for gasoline, diesel, motor oil, and ATF. It’s a very stiff walled hose that will not “suck closed”. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I agree ,I never thought it made that much difference what you used as long it was new and quality. The guy that mentioned this is a brake biz guy and seemed to know what he was talking about. said " the wrong hose for carring (vacuum)it might suck closed) referring to brake boosters . Has to do with the thickness of the wall ??
I'd worry more about it kinking than sucking shut. 18 or so inches of vacuum shouldn't suck any hose flat. I've worked on a couple of cars over the years where the hose to the booster had a kink in it for some reason or another all being installer error.
The vacuum hose for brake boosters has a heavier wall gauge. I guess they make it for a reason. Continental has the correct heavy wall hose if anyone is interested, I can look up the hose numbers tomorrow.
I have had a few cars through out the years with incorrect hose collapsed because of fuel continuation for years . I really think the best thoughts are we all use good quality hose where needed . The best thing to do is to inspect and replace if you think it’s bad , everyones hose gets soft after a while !
If you look pcv and brake booster vacuum hose are different then “ regular” vacuum hose. More heavy duty layered hose. Probably what he was getting at is folks using that soft silicon or cheap vacuum hose and it pulling down flat. I’ve seen it on pcv systems where the wrong hose is used and gets soft and collapses.
I was always told vacuum hose and pressure [fuel] hose were different. I always use the vacuum hose rated for power brake boosters.
NAPA has correct brake booster hose on reels, at least at my local store. Talk to the guys at the counter about what you are planning to do. Most know the products pretty well.
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