the story with the lines is this, the akebono's are made to accept a flared hard line inlet, from the factory there is a hard line that screws into the caliper, it then extends a bit further up the spindle where it changes over to a flex line & then connects to the chassis hard lines... well the 03-08 fx is originally set up different, instead of a hard line to the caliper it runs the flex line directly to the caliper from the chassis, & it uses a banjo bolt fitting instead of a flared fitting... it just so happens that the thread size & pitch is the same & the akebono's also do still have a square pad at the line fitting, meaning it too will work well with a banjo fitting, just like the OE fx used, but, because it was originally designed for a flared line it does not have quite the same depth at the threaded hole...
this is why the bolt needs to be slightly shortened, or at least have the tip drilled, to give it the same contour as the inner flared fitting... when using a banjo bolt the seal is not created at the flared part of the fitting, it is instead created with the 2 copper washers that seal on the flat boss at the threaded inlet... this is also exactly why the bolts need to be drilled a bit, to insure that the bolt tightens on the sealing washers before it bottoms in the orifice, allowing the washers to do the job of sealing without having any interference from the bolt bottoming
now a later model line, one correct for the akebono's theoretically will work, BUT realize that this new line is shaped & designed for the suspension of the donor car, & it is not really the same... it will be up to you to mount & plumb it in a way that it will be safe & durable & not have any interfering anywhere... it will be much harder to use that line safely than it would be to use a line that is specifically designed for our suspension, the correct line will be the right shape, length & have the correct mounting points, I'd strongly advise using the original line & just modifying the banjo bolt, as this will result in a safe reliable & as factory intended install... brake lines are nothing to play with or take lightly, if you match up your new line & are confident in it's mounting & routing then technically it should work fine, BUT I will never recommend it to anyone because there is just too much room for error... I looked at the factory lines for the akebono's & decided early on that it was NOT worth the work & risk to try & make it work... our suspension is very different from the suspension that the newer lines are designed for & it just will not mount & route correctly without some work, it's MUCH safer & easier & foolproof to just retrofit the banjo fitting & use the lines that are designed specifically for our suspension... hope this helps
