I am about to bleed the brakes, clutch. etc. and was considering speedbleeders instead of a vacuum bleeder kit. I've heard from various posts however that there have been accounts of these failing under track conditions. Does anyone that tracks their 8 use these with no problems?

 

(subscribing for future use... have speed bleeders installed on my car)

 

I've been using them for 4 years....about 30 track days...10 sets of pads...tons of heat..and I have never had a failure.

 

That's exactly what I wanted to hear. When I searched speed bleeder in the tech section I read a few posts about reports of them failing. I just wanted to be sure. Are you using the speedbleeder brand or a different brand?

 

Speedbleeder brand....

The only failures I have seen are they can break off if you manhandle them because the sidewalls are a bit thinner due to the check valve. Never happened to me though, and I've bled them numerous times

 

...only 5 yrs and ~40 track days...but .... they can fail? ...what's the failure mode? ...it's a one way valve ...perhaps not using a cap and dirt getting in maybe...but that would be user error.

 

I'm not exactly sure how they can fail, I didn't know if the valve could fail under more aggressive braking that is present on the track. I just wanted to be sure my preoccupations were unfounded before I bought a speed bleeder for all 4 corners

 

They're essentially one-way check valves held under hydraulic pressure. Pretty rare to have one fail.

 

90,000 miles, a bunch of HPDE's and no issues with mine.

 

Speed Bleeders can't fail when they are closed.

When closed they are just like a normal bleeder, completely sealing off the the bleed port. There is no way they could fail differently than a normal bleeder. When was the last time you heard of a normal bleeder failing?

Some people have complained over the years that they start to leak around the threads after a while. I've never experienced that, and I've been using the original Speed Bleeders for a decade on my Spec RX-7 race car with probably 100 track days and as many times bleeding them. If you were to experience it, they sell a little bottle of the thread sealant for $10. I bought one and have never even opened it. This is with the SpeedBleeder.com originals or the Russell re-branded ones.

I supposed they could fail if dirt or crap gets into them and prevents the check valve from closing, but that would only affect the bleeding operation, not on-track operation. I've never had a Speed Bleeder fail that way or any way.

Now, if they are using the Earl's (also sold as Wilwood) "Solo-Bleed" bleeders, I can see they would complain. They suck. I bought a race car with them, and they were horrible. Don't seal well, leak around the threads, and generally make bleeding a frustrating mess. They went into the trash.

With Speed Bleeders, I hook up my catch can (20 oz soda bottle with a hole drilled in the cap and a short clear hose), open the bleeder a quarter-turn, and pump the pedal (with violence) 5-10 times depending on situation, check the clear hose for bubbles/trash, close the bleeder if done, move on to the next wheel. Brilliant.

 

Thanks for the replies. I shall be purchasing these tonight once I find my wallet...

 

Good find.. Thanks! ...as ya that's happening with my master cycl speedbleeder.....real PITB trying to bleed when even loosening it only a partial turn...guess I have to get a lil bottle to fix it, looks like using it on existing install is a pain...have to remove the bleeder and clean to put it on...

http://www.speedbleeder.com/install.htm

"Thread Sealant Now Available

The thread sealant is now available in 1/2 oz. bottles so that you can replace the sealant that has worn off over time. It comes in a plastic bottle with a brush cap applicator. It is available for $10.00 and can be used in many other situations where a quality pre-applied pipe sealant is required. A little goes a long way. The recommended procedure for applying is as follows:

Clean the Speed Bleeder with soapy water to remove any brake fluid or grease and dry. A hair dryer does this nicely. With the brush cap applicator apply a small amount of thread sealant evenly to the threaded portion of the bleeder screw. (Leave the first 1 1/2 threads uncoated. This makes it easy to start threading into the wheel cylinder or caliper without cross threading.) After it is applied, dry with a hair dryer on high setting for about 1 minute. When cool and dry it is ready for installation."

 

^ You have to be super careful with the MC bleeder...the aluminum threads get fubarred easily with repeated bleeding. It is really easy to over tighten them a few times and screw up the threads

 

Roger what Wankelbolt said. When they are screwed down they are just like the OEM nipple and they aren't any more susceptible to leaking than the OEM nipple. Now if you don't screw them down but that goes for the OEM nipple as well. I've got about 22 HPDEs and over 50,000 miles on 2 different cars with Speedbleeders and they have been flawless. The "Speedbleeder" brand are made of brass I think so you can't tighten the living **** out of them but I've never had a problem.

 

FWIW, Wilwood does not sell or rebrand Earl's Solo-Bleeders. The bleeder for most Wilwood calipers is a universal 1/4-28 thread, very small bleeder. They are definitely not ideal probably based mostly on their small size and ease of damage. I have a number of packs of them and offer to give them away with a kit purchase if someone insists they want them. Don't know why they would....

 

with a conical face seat you shouldn't need to tighten any of them beyond snug

 

No problems here for past 7 years either. I've heard rumors that they don't do too well with corrosion so people tend to avoid them in areas of bad weather/snow. But if you live in a warmer area or only track the car in summer you shouldn't have any problems.

 

I had one speedbleeder leak (more like weep) at the track. It would build up a bead of brake fluid even though it was tightened. I had to swap it out with the OEM bleeder between runs. I replaced it with another speedbleeder and the problem never occurred again.

 

Don't believe the rumors. I've had them on my Dodge 4x4 truck for 5 years through rain, snow, salt (MD loves to salt the roads), mud, and there is no corrosion problem. I bleed the brakes annually and they work fine.

The rubber caps that come with them would help, but I've never used them.