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1980 - 1986 Bullnose F100, F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Early Eighties Bullnose Ford Truck

Brake fluid

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Old Oct 18, 2008 | 05:39 PM
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Brake fluid

Hey guy's whats the best brake fluid for me to put in my truck? It's an 85 f350 Dually with a c-6 & a 460. I just use it to haul my race car in my 24 foot enclosed car trailer. I know that the fluid gets a little warmer because I do a lot of towing up & down mountains with it. What I want to do is bleed the whole system. I just changed the front pads & I figured I'd do this as well. I've heard things about Synthetic fluid so I wanted to see what everybody else is using?
 
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Old Oct 18, 2008 | 06:35 PM
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From: Out of here
Good ole' DOT 4
 
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Old Oct 18, 2008 | 07:26 PM
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Are you using Synthetic or what?
 
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Old Oct 18, 2008 | 10:08 PM
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The only other choice that you really have is the silicone fluid(I think it's DOT 5). The only advantage to this is it prevents rust more than the regular brake fluid. A big disadvantage is it makes the system very hard to bleed and get all the air out.

If you feel you will experience high temps with the brakes, what you are doing(flushing the system) is the best thing to prevent problems. The regular brake fluid attracts moisture over time, and the more moisture content, the lower the boiling point of the fluid will be, and also the more rust problems you will have(sticking calipers and wheel cylinders).
 
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Old Oct 19, 2008 | 07:59 AM
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I run silicone fluid in my X1/9 race car and haven't had any issues. The main benefit to run it is that once it is bled there is no reason whatsoever to maintain it. Unlike regular brake fluid it doesn't attract moisture and therefore doesn't need constant flushing to prevent the hard lines/cylinders from rusting.

There's a couple of things to be aware of. Firstly, it's pretty expensive, but you should only need to buy it once. Secondly, and most importantly, it cannot be added to an existing system. It does not mix with regular brake fluid at all. In fact, I would go as far as saying that the only time that you can use the stuff is after a complete brake system rebuild when there is no trace of old brake fluid left anywhere in the system.
 
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Old Oct 19, 2008 | 08:08 AM
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Ive got a cn of valvoline dot 4 synthetic, it says it has a higher boiling point. DOT 3 & 4 Brake Fluid
 
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