Over the years I’ve had several brake hoses that collapsed internally. They all did the same thing in that when the brakes were applied, pressure to the linings did not release when the brake pedal was released. In most instances, it’s always been the front hoses which are more prone to breaking up internally simply due to the extra flexing that takes place on those hoses due to the steering action. If I had to put a time frame on replacing brake hoses, I’d say do it mandatorily every fifteen years but I did have a ’62 Thunderbird that had a hose failure at the twelve year mark.

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As far as brake fluid goes, I’ve been running Dot 5 fluid in all the race cars and some of older driver cars for well over twenty five years. Dot 5 fluid is non-hyrdroscopic and that has eliminated the moisture absorption problems related to the Dot 3 and Dot 4 fluids. My ’55 Customline managed to get 20+ years on the Dot 5 fluid without issues before I had to go back into the system to replace linings and check out the wheel cylinders. It was nice to go into those wheel cylinders and not see any of the prerequisite ‘mud’ that is associated with getting moisture into the system.