What kind of Brake Fluid do you use?

[Mr Blotto]

What is the Bus's prefered brake fluid?

And, how much do I need to fill/flush the entire system after a brake job?

Thanks!

[chitwnvw]

DOT 3 or DOT 4. I will leave the brand name haggling to others, I have used the Autozone house brand to no ill affect. Bleed until clear, not hazy and obviously no air bubbles.

If you are bleeding alone, I recommend this:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/Sho ... DR_pg6.htm

Got the recommendation from the Ratwell pages. Basically you screw it onto your brake fluid reservoir and pump it up, this pressurizes the system, so that when you open your bleeders, all flows outward.

[Hippie]

Ya. Me too. I don't think it's picky about brand.
STP brand DOT3 I believe is what I have in there.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/Sho ... DR_pg6.htm

That's pretty slick. It looks like a garden sprayer with an adapter.

[Mr Blotto]

Thanks Guys!

One more question - does new brake fluid have a shelf life? I have a several quarts of DOT 3 left over when I did the front brakes on my '78 Firebird in 1989 (in highschool......I had a pretty sweet Mullet back then ). They are unopened bottles.

Still OK to use?

[poptop tom]

Thanks Guys!

One more question - does new brake fluid have a shelf life? I have a several quarts of DOT 3 left over when I did the front brakes on my '78 Firebird in 1989 (in highschool......I had a pretty sweet Mullet back then ). They are unopened bottles.

Still OK to use?

Are the bottles plastic? If so, they will pull in some moisture.

I would not use those old, unopened bottles. If they were less than 5 yrs. old, I might consider it.

Use new stuff!

[Mr Blotto]

Thanks Guys!

One more question - does new brake fluid have a shelf life? I have a several quarts of DOT 3 left over when I did the front brakes on my '78 Firebird in 1989 (in highschool......I had a pretty sweet Mullet back then ). They are unopened bottles.

Still OK to use?

Are the bottles plastic? If so, they will pull in some moisture.

I would not use those old, unopened bottles. If they were less than 5 yrs. old, I might consider it.

Use new stuff!

Yup - 21 year old plastic bottles purchased at Trac Auto...

Guess I will get new stuff.

Thanks

[aopisa]

Thanks Guys!

I had a pretty sweet Mullet back then

What happened to the Mullet?

[Mr Blotto]

Thanks Guys!

I had a pretty sweet Mullet back then

What happened to the Mullet?

Male pattern baldness crept my way early, and rather than doing a comb-over, I decided to shave it all off and go bald and beautiful .

Me hugging the BobD on Colin's first day of ownership - sorry, it is the only pic of me that I could find already online.


Photoshop gurus, have at it .

[MeyerII]

DOT 4 here. A little bit of light reading:

http://www.checkthatcar.com/brake%20fluid.asp

The only caution is to avoid silicone products. They work on modern cars, but mess with rubbe parts on older cars.

[Mr Blotto]

DOT 4 here. A little bit of light reading:

http://www.checkthatcar.com/brake%20fluid.asp

The only caution is to avoid silicone products. They work on modern cars, but mess with rubbe parts on older cars.

Great link - thanks!

[tristessa]

Male pattern baldness crept my way early, and rather than doing a comb-over, I decided to shave it all off and go bald and beautiful

With a certain amount of length in the back/sides, you could've gone for the "skullet" look, ala Devin Townsend:

[Hippie]

...you could've gone for the "skullet" look...

..................................

[Mr Blotto]

That is SOOO me =D> =D>

[Robert Berglund]

Male pattern baldness crept my way early, and rather than doing a comb-over, I decided to shave it all off and go bald and beautiful

With a certain amount of length in the back/sides, you could've gone for the "skullet" look, ala Devin Townsend:

I liked that one two...or is it three

[tristessa]

The guy is .. interesting, and not just his look.

Now that we've completely threadjacked this thread .. brake fluid. For years & years I just used whatever was on the shelf at the FLAPS, recently started using Castrol GT LMA when I had to flush & fill the brakes on teh Cabriolet. Stuff is a DOT4+ (exceeds the spec) fluid, and is highly recommended by a lot of the "early" watercooled VW crowd (pre-'90s), so I went that route. Not cheap, but not hugely expensive either.

I'm going to be using it when I flush the brakes on the Bus in a month or so, mostly because I've got an unopened quart & pint left from the Cabby job...