Old brake hose - shrinkage?

[Squankum]

I'm currently refurbishing the brakes on a 1987 German car.

The hoses my parts guru sent me for one spot (car has 7!) are about 3/4 of an inch too long. This may just be the best that can be done at this point in history.

But I started to wonder -- when hoses get to be 25 years old, do they shrink... in length? I have trouble seeing it. Outside diameter, mmmaybe.

 

[LG63]

Unlikely, at least with conventional reinforced rubber hoses. I've pulled hoses off of 40 year old vehicles and the new ones were the exact same length.

 

[MBfreak]

Hi,

Length-wise shrinkage seems unlikely, but not a real cocern.
However, do not be tempted to reinstall the 25 yo part.
I have on several occasions had brake trouble with old german cars that proved to come from internal brake hose swelling. The hoses were virtually closed and led to pulling brakes, binding brakes and trouble bleeding.
I dissected one by slicing it in half along its length, and sure enough, the inner diameter 2 mm was blocked off for > 3/4 of the hose length.

If your new part is 3/4" too long and that is a problem, you can have a new hose made from a reputable brake shop.

Ola