Age of steel braided line

[Joe Schaechter]

Originally Posted by Rusty Davenport

I found an unused 15ft roll of Russell #8 steel braided line in a shop clean up spree----going to estimate 10-12 years old-----does it have a shelf life for using as fuel line ????

Rusty,

I wouldn't use old line. I had never had a problem with braided line until the Columbus race a few weeks ago. After towing 500 miles one way I discovered what I thought was a leaky fitting at the fuel cell. It turns out the line was leaking and the fuel was collecting around the fitting. After a scramble at the track to find some line I was able to make the repair and race. I consider this a lucky break as I was able to find the problem and make repairs 500 miles from home. Most importantly I wouldn't want to have a leak on the track, especially after I observed a track employee smoking cigarettes at the burn out box later in the day.