This link was posted in another thread and thought it was interesting.

http://www.speedbleeder.com/

Have others used this product and what are your opinions about it? I typically use the two person method, but wonder if this would make things easier considering the cost. Is there anything I should know about before giving this a try?

 

i have used them pretty extensively, as do most of my prelude owning friends who HPDE/instruct here in STL..

i had the regular ones for awhile and have now upgraded to the stainless steel ones. the only thing i would say about them is for as much as we typically bleed brakes, it is good to have extra locktite on hand for them as they come shipped with it on the bleeder and it wears off over time.. otherwise, they are VERY helpful..

 

All IMHO.....

They suck, they leak, they break, they're unreliable heaps of crap.

Get some clear glass bottles (think handle o' vodka, etc) and some vacuum tubing and gravity bleed. Less effort and more reliable.

 

I'm with RJ. My experience with them is less than pleasant

 

I use them on all corners of my ITA Integra. They are extremely useful for how much I have to bleed the brakes for a track car. They make the bleeding job much easier for just 1 person.

RJ and Andrie are correct, they will leak without a thread sealant applied. I have had success with standard high temp RTV on the threads. Although I find this to be the case only during bleeding. When tight, they didn't leak on me before I learned about the thread sealant.

 

I used them on my CRX without any issues. On my EG, I screwed up one pretty easily where I found the metal to be a little weak. Haven't ran them since but I can't say that I would never again.

 

i was thinking aout speed bleeders today. correct me if i'm wrong, but arent there 2 companies that make tham? one thats good and the other is the crap one that people have problems with?

 

I'm with RJ and Andrie. Some of them work great but some of them leak. I called them and complained and they sent me new ones for free, but I don't want to use them if they leak around the threads as air can get in between caliper body and speed-bleeder. Some of them work fine, and same identical product doesn't.

I bought the ones made by Russell. Never used the other brand. I also hate that they don't use metric wrenches like th stock Honda ones.

 

Ive seen them leak/break on peoples cars. I will never ever run them.

 

Mine have worked fine for the past 3 or 4 years, but I heard about the leaking problems. If mine start to leak, I'll replace them with stock.

 

O.k. Thanks for the information! I'll stick to bugging my wife to help bleed the brakes.

 

I've used them for a couple years and I'm happy with them. I bleed my brakes my myself in a matter of minutes. I've had them leak between the threads after a lot of uses, but they only leak when they're loose (i.e. while you're bleeding). This can be fixed with some thread sealant that they sell or some teflon tape. I read the instructions where it says to never over tighten, so I haven't broken any.

Funny story though. I was telling my Dad about them and he just laughed and said he used to use them on his cars over nearly 40 years ago, but the company that made them in England stopped and he was never able to find them again. Here I thought I was using a cool new invention LOL.

 

Speed Bleeders are for people without friends...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HapaHaole &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Speed Bleeders are for people without friends...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Gravity is your friend

 

i was at a track day event and the only major incident (rollover) was attributed to speed bleeders of some type/brand that had failed.

i would not bother when so many people have seen issues. on safety related equipment, i don't want to even hear rumors about stuff failing.

do the gravity thing and you will not regret it. patience is your friend.

 

I've used speedbleeders for years and have also installed them on my motorcycles.

I've seen seepage when loosening them too much or when the thread sealant wears off. Since then I've put teflon tape on the threads to prevent that problem.

Speedbleeders causing an accident? How? The taper at the bottom of the valve does the sealing, not the thread. I'd blame the user before I blame the equipment.

 

I've had them on all four calipers of my track car, for years, with no issues at all.

The biggest problem I've seen with other people is over torquing them when closing them.

With DC2 ITR calipers, the speed bleeders stick out a little bit. They stick out so much that people think they're supposed to be tightened in more than they are, and this can lead to problems.

 

doesnt anyone use a vacume pump? only takes 1 person, quick, easy, no pedal pumping, and retains stock bleeder so u dont have to worry about anything