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I have always bought the OE material instead of the Stainless. I had heard that the hardness of the stainless created issues sometimes with getting a good seal at connections. Also, I thought, if the crappy originals lasted 35 years and 80,000 miles, surely the new ones will last longer when it is stored in a climate controlled garage and driven 1500 miles a year.




Generally the problem associated with sealing stainless steel lines/fittings for a leak proof fit is an improper installation, no oil or lube on the threads, along with using a "standard" wrench, rather than the proper tube wrench, no lube the threads gall, therefore you can't tighten the fitting because it's galled on the threads binding, then most will compound the issue using a "standard" wrench, which "eggs" the tube fitting, which now causes the tube double flare to "egg" on the flare fitting, then nothing but leaks, and then the irate (often inept/uneducated)end user has nothing but disdain for SS lines


I personally prefer SS lines, they can be easily polished bright for a custom look, or brushed/scotchbrited down to look like OEM steel lines, and granted most restored rides won't see the mileage that they may have seen originally, what they will see however is longer periods of dormant sitting where any water moisture trapped in the brake fluid can/will rot steel lines from the inside out, I've seen it before on long term storage vehicles with "new" steel lines...I've never had an issue using/forming/flaring SS lines