Every now and again the question of brake pipe corrosion raises it's head regarding replacement of corroded pipes.
Having had a thorough look over the brake pipes on my car I can not find the slightest sign of corrosion on them.
To me the brake pipes appear to be copper alloy. My MOT tester agrees with me. They are original unless the entire car has been re-piped which I doubt.
My question is, does anybody know if the material used for brake pipes has changed over the years ie from steel to copper alloy and if so when?

Hi - I've had my 55 plate FFRR for a month now and as a precaution I had it independently checked.... and one of the advisories was brake pipes showing signs of rust and corrosion and although showing this not a necessary change required. I will check back with the guy next time in the garage.

Trev

As far as I can remember I used to sell copper brake pipe back in the late 80's ( from a motor factor), didn't sell steel, never heard of this use on modern cars. My brake pipes to the rear were replaced completely last year as they were at the point of failure. Scary thing is, only reason my mechanic had a look as he was replacing the saddle pump beside the fuel tank & had the access panel off. They can't check them for the MOT as they aren't visible there. He kept the old ones to show me and was an eye opener to say the least, best few hundred quid spent!

My mistake They are indeed steel.
Just managed to find a magnet and try them. Remarkably well laquered steel pipe.
Need to get the can of grease out now to coat them in the vulnerable areas.

Probly made from straws, chocolate gearboxes and balloons for suspension bags,

Had an advisory last year and this year on the MOT. Must get round to sorting them, but they're down at number 4 or 5 on the list of things to do!  Cheers

Greg

Go ahead punk, make my day........

Previous vehicles:-
Far too many to list (in excess of 45!)

I also had an advisoy last Aug after MD service - quoted a crazy price to replace them!

Will be done by an Indy sometime in the next month along with service, MOT, new rear shocks, diff and transfer box oil changes and a few other bits and pieces - had her for a year and everything working great (except the damm TPMS), she's now a keeper and will have the appropriate preventitive maintenance money spent! 2007 Zermatt Silver TDV8 Vogue SE - now sold but was a great car!

Mine are showing external corrosion and I m currently working out how much if the whole set to replace. Certainly the big long pipes from the back wheels.

Fronts look ok. Will change hoses at the same time.

The pipes themselves look like coated steel and the rust bubbles are large, so need to get my skates on.

No mention at MOT time back in Jan. 2014 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography & 2015 3.0SDV6 HSE Lux Discovery 4
2005 4.2 Supercharged Vogue SE & 2011 3.0SDV6 HSE Discovery 4
2002 4.4 Vogue
2000 4.6 Vogue
2010 Freelander 2 TD4 HSE
2009 Freelander 2 TD4.e 2009
1992 Mercedes 300D
1986 Renault 2.1 Turbo D
1976 Morris Marina 1.8

Tee. Where did you get yours done ? I am just down the road in Dunblane. I am waiting for Brembo's and rear calipers back from Porsche calipers then intend to get steel braided hoses into them but sounds as if you had more substantial replacement done ?

Steel seems to be the material of choice for oem brakes lines, ive had to have a few sections replaced on various vans etc, not on the ff though yet.

Copper would be better and when the swapped a section on my old transit the put in a copper section, im certain it will outlast the rest of the vehicle. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
Fiat 500x 1.4 multiair Lounge 2015
2010 LR D4 Commercial 2.7 TDV6

I had two brake pipe failures during the last MOT couple of months ago ...one while the mechanic was driving the car to be tested , the other when it was on the brake performance machine

Spooky coincidence, or revenue generator?

TtheArab yhm

Ta

Just a quick note for those looking to change their pipes, make sure they are cupronickel not copper.

Copper pipes suffer badly from stress fatigue, so whilst they wont rust, they will become brittle and fracture. There are people about that say if they are properly secured and the flexy hoses are good they shouldnt flex. But i dont think its worth the hassle and gamble. Especially on these beasts.

Regards, Luke

If your brake pipes start to look bad, get them done now as it could save you money in labour costs.

Last week I failed an MOT on corroded brake pipes, had a new set manufactured by the garage and they had difficulty removing the old corroded pipes because of "how badly they had corroded".