Brake lines

[Zook]

im using Matco 1/4” line for my brake lines. Is
it ok to run that from the brake pedal to the wheel or do I need something where it goes from the fuselage to the landing gear .

 

[DENNY]

If it is a flex line it should be no problem other than sealing at the fuselage. You don't want a access for CO2 into the cockpit. In general less connections is better. Make sure you don't have loops that can trap a air bubble.
DENNY

 

[Mr. Ed]

Covered gear legs or not? If covered and the line runs from the master cylinders to the calipers it would be a PITA to pull a gear leg off. Will you, or subsequent owners, ever want to put it on floats?

 

[Zook]

Gear is covered and I plan on putting it on floats every summer.

 

[DENNY]

If you are going to be changing out the legs twice a year I would put a tab with a bulkhead fitting just behind the front gear fitting on the side of the fuselage. Makes for quick and easy hangout.

 

[Steve Pierce]

If it is easy to get the line loose at the master cylinder and through the fuselage then I would go one piece but it rarely is. Is that Matco 1/4" line plastic? If so I would run a tube through there so you can replace the line if something happens to it without cutting fabric. Have gotten into that working on plastic lines on Cub Crafters stuff and it is easy to push a new line through.

 

[Cub Builder]

If you are using plastic or nylon based tubing, I strongly recommend you save yourself some headaches and switch to either 3/16" or 1/8" tubing. The 1/4" tubing has enough stretch in the walls under pressure that you lose much of your brake pressure to stretching the tubing. Over the years, I have replaced a lot of 1/4" with 3/16" to solve poor braking issues on various Experimentals. My SC Clone has 3/16" Nylaflow for the brake lines.

Cub Builder