240sx clutch question

[puerkone]

Ok I keep hearing rumors about replacing the clutch hard line for a steel braided line. Reason I am asking this is that I am going to do a 5 speed conversion and we dont have the lines so we found a shop that can do a steel braided line from the clutch master cylinder up to the slave and I want to know if there are any problems if I do this. Let me know what yall think. I can get the steelbraided line tomorrow or should I do hard line instead and delay the project. comments or advices are much appreciated. thanks every one.

[jontron5000]

If you're gonna do lots of events (drift, autox, track) it would be a good idea to get SS braided lines, but if you're just gonna be driving around town as a daily driver, I don't think it's THAT necessary

[puerkone]

I see. I dont know I also heard since the ss braided lines reduce the clutch sensitivity because they are flexible and create air pockets or something like that. have you heard any of that? I would like to get ss braided lines but I am scared of having any clutch problems. let me know thanks.

[jontron5000]

I'm not really sure about that. But I would imagine that the type of clutch line (SS vs rubber) shouldn't affect clutch feel, although I could be wrong. The type of clutch you get (6 puck vs 3 puck) affects the feel and all that.

The air pockets could have been due to the improper bleeding of the clutch system when they installed the braided lines

[puerkone]

perfect man well I will get the ss line and try out. thanks for the info =D

[SLiDe_WaYz]

I have the hard line, going to a nismo slave and SS line. I got rid if the dampening system and just bent the hardline to go to the SS line. My pedal feel is super soft on my 4 puck. Like super soft. Its alot better with the SS line ompared to the rubber one.

[puerkone]

so when you did it, it became super soft? hmm I see that you only bent the hard line and used like a foot of ss braided line. I was wondering if it would be the same if I completely get rid of all the hard lines and run a 7 feet ss braided line from the master cylinder straight to the slave cylinder. what do you think?

[SLiDe_WaYz]

Yep, your pedal feel gets alot softer. The SS line doesn't create a air pocket unless you bled te slave improperly. It actually reduces resistance so you would get softer pedal feel.

[puerkone]

i see so why is the damper there? it makes the clutch pedal stiffer? isnt that what we want? a stiffer clutch?

[Hashiriya415]

You in sac and can't find a shop that can make you a hard line. I will make you a clutch hard-line with my eyes closed sitting on my toilet. Stainless steel line this and that, what happened to the days of buying tubing, fitting, and flare tool then making it yourself. Even a 5yo could make it.

[puerkone]

well making one is not the problem. the problem is that I want to know what is better hardline vs ss braided line because I want to buy one but I dont know which is better in the end. thats why I came here to ask awesome people for their advice =D

[Hashiriya415]

hard-line is best. You only need a rubber line where it will flex because hard line will break over period of time if it keeps flexing/moving.

stainless steel = rubber line wrapped with stainless steel to reduce expansion of line. However, when braiding falls apart it can easily cut the rubber inside. SS rubbing against anything will cause the braiding to start falling apart and breaking.
Also when a stainless steel line detaches itself from whatever clip or zip tie your using to hold into place, the line will swing around, if it hits for example exhaust it will burn and create a fire. A hard line will not swing around and it will stay in place, but move a little bit depending how you set everything up.

[puerkone]

i see. how about using a ss line between the slave and hard line? would that be better?

[Hashiriya415]

Like I was saying you only need a flexible line when something is moving. If you connected the hard line directly to the tranny it would last a few days.

[DataXUnknown]

I ran a SS braided line and removed the dampener. It was perfect. Had it like that for a few years no problems at all. Removing the dampener makes it feel a bit different, anyone who drove my car was like "whoa your clutch feels weird"

[SLiDe_WaYz]

Hardline is fine, delete that dampened though it's stupid and pointless and just makes bleeding the clutch a PITA. I mean it has a purpose but you don't really need it.

I have a hardline running from my master to my slave, and from my slave I have the nismo SS line that's maybe 10IN long that goes directly to the hard line. The pedal feel is a little weird but I like it better and it's a TON easier to bleed with that 1 bled
Point instead of having 2.

[puerkone]

awesome I will just get that line for the slave only. thanks again everyone I appreciate all your comments. =D

[silva.240]

i did the five speed conversion and i use the braided line from the mc to the slave . i mainly daily drive the car. its better this way. eliminate unnecessary items. and i've driven the car with the extra hard line. un needed. feels a bit better without it although its almost un noticeable

['97 S14 SE Turbo]

Sheesh, people are getting confused with "hardline". When most folks remove them, they are talking about the damping loop, used to dampen out clutch engagement (makes it feels smooth).

Running a braided line from the clutch master cylinder all the way to the slave cylinder is the 2nd best option of running an OEM hardline setup with the final section with a braided hose.