Are Silicone Vacuum Lines Really Best?

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12-25-2002, 02:43 AM

RX73rdgen

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Location: San Diego, CA

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I am replacing all my vacuum lines while I'm in there replacing the fuel injector o-rings... what a miserable time consuming job.

Anyway, I spoke with someone at SR Motorsports about vacuum lines and he said NOT to use the silicone vacuum lines cause they're usually really crappy quality and that you should just use rubber lines like the OEM.

But most people online say to use silicon because its heat resistance benefits outweigh its spliting defects.

Any comments?

Thanks,

John Magnuson

12-25-2002, 08:15 AM

rx7trix

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Silicon lines are better than rubber ones, they are much more resilient to heat.

Quote:

Anyway, I spoke with someone at SR Motorsports about vacuum lines and he said NOT to use the silicone vacuum lines cause they're usually really crappy quality and that you should just use rubber lines like the OEM.

..... Dont buy shitty ones!! problem solved.

12-25-2002, 03:02 PM

apexkw

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there are different qualities of hoses out there. dont just buy the cheapest ones. some guys get "viton"(sp) or is it called vioton? also i dont think that is was silicon that split but rather it got pinched.

12-25-2002, 07:04 PM

Silver Ninety Three

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Rubber will harden and crack over time. Silicone will last much longer. They key is to get thick-walled silicone hoses so they don't pinch or collapse. The hose techniques kit is pretty nice. Comes in a bunch of colors and includes hose, zip ties, and a cutter. I sell it for $130.

12-26-2002, 01:39 AM

Fd3BOOST

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Silicone from either www.hosetechniques.com or www.bakerprecision.com

12-26-2002, 05:54 AM

jspecracer7

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I've seen the hosetechniques hoses and let me tell you. First impression is that there's a lot of silicone hose. Second impression is that it's all THIN WALLED. Go with baker precision.

12-26-2002, 07:12 AM

13brv3

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Quote:

Originally Posted by jspecracer7' date='Dec 26 2002, 06:54 AM

I've seen the hosetechniques hoses and let me tell you. First impression is that there's a lot of silicone hose. Second impression is that it's all THIN WALLED. Go with baker precision.

I recently installed the Hose Techneques kit ($118 direct), and this isn't entirely true. There is a ton of hose, and some of it is fairly thin walled, but that stuff is intented for dress up items, not vacuum. The 3.5mm hose that you use for 90+ % of your vacuum/pressure is great stuff.

All that being said, if Mazdaformance (or someone else) would stock a kit with all the factory rubber hoses, and the price wasn't outrageous, I would probably have used that instead. Heck, the factory hoses lasted almost 10 years in the worst of conditions (Stock, daily driving with pre-cat). As much as everyone seems to like the silicone, it's hard to imagine that it will perform that much better than stock in the long run.

Cheers,