Stainless Steel Braided Hose Advantages & Order Tips
Jul. 07, 2025
Stainless Steel Braided Hose Advantages & Order Tips
Temperature Range
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Any type of flexible hose should be used in appropriate temperature ranges. When working temperatures are extremely high or low, especially cryogenic, metal flexible hose will be a must.
Chemical Compatibility
Stainless steel metal corrugated hoses are compatible with diverse varieties of chemicals, oils and steams.
Permeation
Stainless steel braided metal hose is gas-tight in contrast with rubber hose and composite hose which can't completely avoid gas permeation. If the gas to be carried is toxic or expensive, consider metal hose.
Catastrophic Failure
Hose failure can't be absolutely get rid of. However, metal flexible hose will materially cut down and minimize the potential of catastrophic failures compared with rubber, PTFE, fabric and other hoses.
If you want to learn more, please visit our website Flanged Flexible Metal Hoses.
Fire Safety
Up to °F, stainless steel braided metal hose remain its integrity while other materials are totally molten.
Abrasion
Stainless steel braid, single or double, resists any abrasion and also can be used as protective cover for other hoses.
Full vacuum
When your specified applications require full vacuum, choose metal corrugated pipe, because others will collapse.
Fitting Configuration
Flexible metal hose can be attached to any type of fitting without any special requirement of shanks and collars as other hose types need.
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stainless hose ok with extreme heat?? | Turbobricks
for coolant and oil lines to my t3 can i use stainless lines with all that heat going around?? i know russel makes turbo banjo fittings, but i have to run the lines through/near the header. i was warned that i could see problems.
btw i was going to use -6 for the oil supply and -10 for the drain.
for the coolant i will use -6 as well. (it is equivalent to about 1/4 hose diameter.)
james
Stainless as in braided outer over Teflon inner hose? They won't stand EXTREME heat, you need to run a solid metal line past the worst of the heat source, then go to flexi hose. Ideally re-evaluate routing to avoid going between header pipes et cetera. Always make sure a turbo drain has an ID the same as the stub ID on the turbo, and has a good "fall" on it. You do not want U bends or kinks, or sudden diameter changes, either. HTH. Most normal steel braided hose is rated for 300 F, about the same as similar quality rubber hose. The braid offers rub through protection and maybe a little heat shield, but is not as critical as many think. Looks impressive, though.
Teflon braided hose, such as that specified for brake hoses, is rated for more like 500 F. It kinks more easily than the rubber, so it cannot be bent as tightly. I use it for my oil feed line, in a -4 AN size. I have not had any trouble in a year and maybe 10,000 miles, but that is hardly long term testing by my standards.
I previously used normal rubber steel braided hose for my oil feed and it got too hot and leaked. It was pretty brittle at the end of the hose where it attached to the block when I removed it. The manifold does get hot and you must be careful with the routing.
There are hose heat shields you can buy that will help, but almost nothing can touch the manifold and survive for long. Aeroquip makes some expensive orange shields and DFI makes some corrugated flex tubes and some soft hose covers that will provide some insulation.
The best way to get past hot stuff is to use solid steel near the heat. No wonder Volvo did it that way.
You could avoid this problem and take your oil feed from the end of the oil rail at the front of the block. Rubber steel braided hose would be fine, then.
Philip Bradley hello.....at one point i was close to buying some steel braided lines and such, for one thing to let you know the stock hole in the block is a METRIC 14mm x 1.5mm pitch. i belive the turbo inlet is 1/8 NPT(national pipe thread)
check that out: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=
but someone recommended that i buy EARLS instead of Russels, because the have a bigger flow in their fittings.
if you do use the steelbraided lines, i recommend you go down under and up to the turbo on it's outter side. it will put it out of the way much more i believe.
matt. thanks guys.... but keep in mind this is an with custom manifold etc. i am getting my oil feed from the block where the oil pressure line goes to. i split it with a "t". i may try to use steel line and tap flanges to bolt to the turbo. i am also wondering what the oil requirements are for a t3??
if i use -6 for oil feed will i loose too much pressure in the feed line??
if -4 works i suppose this question is answered. i will try to make some flanges with typical npt threads.
ohh yeah... one last thought... if i use header wrap would that help enough to run braided stainless all the way from turbo to sources/ drains??? it would be close to primaries at points ( about 2" away)..
thanks
james Look at the 1/8 NPT hole into the turbo. Then ask yourself whether you really want a -6 feed hose. You could connect a garden hose, but the oil has to get through the inside of a 1/8 NPT fitting. That is a 1/8 inch hole. No need to feed it with a 3/8 inch line.
If you insist, however, I would think the oil system would have no trouble filling up a couple of feet of 3/8 inch line to get to the turbo and pressurizing it to normal pressure (not that the turbo needs much oil or much pressure). I would not go any bigger than -6, though.
Use 1/2 to 5/8 for the return, or -8 to -10.
I would not worry about whether Earls is better than Russell or whether Aeroquip is better than Goodridge. They are all good. Buy whichever you get a reasonable price on. Beware that fittings for one may not fit another.
Philip Bradley -6 is only slightly bigger id than the 1/4npt IIRC. the -8 is about 3/8".
for now i am using high pressure fuel hose on the stock steel lines. some of it is close to the primaries, but i will watch it closely. i ordered annodized banjos from russels but they are going to take a couple weeks.
the car is getting really close to running and i am very excited/nervous.
james I used -4 AN teflon brake hose. Teflon brake hose has a smaller ID than the normal braided steel rubber lined hose. The ID of my -4 AN teflon hose is 0.22. That is almost 1/4 inch by my book. The -6 AN teflon hose was 50% bigger ID, way over 1/4 inch. With rubber lined hose rather than teflon, the differences could be 10% more -- the rubber being around 10% bigger ID than the teflon.
Sometimes pressure ratings bear no correlation to temperature ratings. Your fuel hose may or may not be rated to 300 F. I learned this the hard way with my first (non steel braided rubber hose) turbo coolant plumbing job. I used power steering hose, which has a high pressure rating but a low heat rating. It did not last.
If there are any unused bolt holes on the block, you might be able to tie the line back with those lined cable clamps.
Philip Bradley Don't worry about the flow. The hole is 1/8 inch. Again, you can hook a garden hose up, but you only get 1/8 worth of flow. The only way to increase flow is to increase pressure, but your pressure is limited by the pump's pressure relief valve. Apparently, oil pressure is not really a problem for turbos until you get to well over 60 psi. Most turbos now have a piston type seal that is better than the old carbon seals. If -6 AN is easier for you to use, go ahead, but you don't need it.
On the return, try making a bracket to hold the hose somewhere in the middle. The best brackets have two mounting points. Make a little arm coming up or out from somewhere if necessary and attach a rubber lined clamp to it.
Philip Bradley
btw i was going to use -6 for the oil supply and -10 for the drain.
for the coolant i will use -6 as well. (it is equivalent to about 1/4 hose diameter.)
james
jiminy14 said: for coolant and oil lines to my t3 can i use stainless lines with all that heat going around?? i know russel makes turbo banjo fittings, but i have to run the lines through/near the header. i was warned that i could see problems.
btw i was going to use -6 for the oil supply and -10 for the drain.
for the coolant i will use -6 as well. (it is equivalent to about 1/4 hose diameter.)
james
Stainless as in braided outer over Teflon inner hose? They won't stand EXTREME heat, you need to run a solid metal line past the worst of the heat source, then go to flexi hose. Ideally re-evaluate routing to avoid going between header pipes et cetera. Always make sure a turbo drain has an ID the same as the stub ID on the turbo, and has a good "fall" on it. You do not want U bends or kinks, or sudden diameter changes, either. HTH. Most normal steel braided hose is rated for 300 F, about the same as similar quality rubber hose. The braid offers rub through protection and maybe a little heat shield, but is not as critical as many think. Looks impressive, though.
Teflon braided hose, such as that specified for brake hoses, is rated for more like 500 F. It kinks more easily than the rubber, so it cannot be bent as tightly. I use it for my oil feed line, in a -4 AN size. I have not had any trouble in a year and maybe 10,000 miles, but that is hardly long term testing by my standards.
I previously used normal rubber steel braided hose for my oil feed and it got too hot and leaked. It was pretty brittle at the end of the hose where it attached to the block when I removed it. The manifold does get hot and you must be careful with the routing.
There are hose heat shields you can buy that will help, but almost nothing can touch the manifold and survive for long. Aeroquip makes some expensive orange shields and DFI makes some corrugated flex tubes and some soft hose covers that will provide some insulation.
The best way to get past hot stuff is to use solid steel near the heat. No wonder Volvo did it that way.
You could avoid this problem and take your oil feed from the end of the oil rail at the front of the block. Rubber steel braided hose would be fine, then.
Philip Bradley hello.....at one point i was close to buying some steel braided lines and such, for one thing to let you know the stock hole in the block is a METRIC 14mm x 1.5mm pitch. i belive the turbo inlet is 1/8 NPT(national pipe thread)
check that out: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=
but someone recommended that i buy EARLS instead of Russels, because the have a bigger flow in their fittings.
if you do use the steelbraided lines, i recommend you go down under and up to the turbo on it's outter side. it will put it out of the way much more i believe.
matt. thanks guys.... but keep in mind this is an with custom manifold etc. i am getting my oil feed from the block where the oil pressure line goes to. i split it with a "t". i may try to use steel line and tap flanges to bolt to the turbo. i am also wondering what the oil requirements are for a t3??
if i use -6 for oil feed will i loose too much pressure in the feed line??
if -4 works i suppose this question is answered. i will try to make some flanges with typical npt threads.
ohh yeah... one last thought... if i use header wrap would that help enough to run braided stainless all the way from turbo to sources/ drains??? it would be close to primaries at points ( about 2" away)..
thanks
james Look at the 1/8 NPT hole into the turbo. Then ask yourself whether you really want a -6 feed hose. You could connect a garden hose, but the oil has to get through the inside of a 1/8 NPT fitting. That is a 1/8 inch hole. No need to feed it with a 3/8 inch line.
If you insist, however, I would think the oil system would have no trouble filling up a couple of feet of 3/8 inch line to get to the turbo and pressurizing it to normal pressure (not that the turbo needs much oil or much pressure). I would not go any bigger than -6, though.
Use 1/2 to 5/8 for the return, or -8 to -10.
I would not worry about whether Earls is better than Russell or whether Aeroquip is better than Goodridge. They are all good. Buy whichever you get a reasonable price on. Beware that fittings for one may not fit another.
Philip Bradley -6 is only slightly bigger id than the 1/4npt IIRC. the -8 is about 3/8".
for now i am using high pressure fuel hose on the stock steel lines. some of it is close to the primaries, but i will watch it closely. i ordered annodized banjos from russels but they are going to take a couple weeks.
the car is getting really close to running and i am very excited/nervous.
james I used -4 AN teflon brake hose. Teflon brake hose has a smaller ID than the normal braided steel rubber lined hose. The ID of my -4 AN teflon hose is 0.22. That is almost 1/4 inch by my book. The -6 AN teflon hose was 50% bigger ID, way over 1/4 inch. With rubber lined hose rather than teflon, the differences could be 10% more -- the rubber being around 10% bigger ID than the teflon.
Sometimes pressure ratings bear no correlation to temperature ratings. Your fuel hose may or may not be rated to 300 F. I learned this the hard way with my first (non steel braided rubber hose) turbo coolant plumbing job. I used power steering hose, which has a high pressure rating but a low heat rating. It did not last.
If there are any unused bolt holes on the block, you might be able to tie the line back with those lined cable clamps.
Philip Bradley Don't worry about the flow. The hole is 1/8 inch. Again, you can hook a garden hose up, but you only get 1/8 worth of flow. The only way to increase flow is to increase pressure, but your pressure is limited by the pump's pressure relief valve. Apparently, oil pressure is not really a problem for turbos until you get to well over 60 psi. Most turbos now have a piston type seal that is better than the old carbon seals. If -6 AN is easier for you to use, go ahead, but you don't need it.
On the return, try making a bracket to hold the hose somewhere in the middle. The best brackets have two mounting points. Make a little arm coming up or out from somewhere if necessary and attach a rubber lined clamp to it.
Philip Bradley