What is some really good brake fluid for the FTO brakes?
And what is the difference between DOT 3, 4 and 5?
Brake Fluid
Moderators: IMC, Club Staff
-
spetz
- Oldtimer
- Posts: 2915
- jedwabna poszewka promocja
- Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2004 6:00 pm
-
afterburner
- Mechanic
- Posts: 418
- Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 6:00 pm
- Location: Previously NZ, now Hertfordshire, England
All the recommendations I have read advise against using DOT 5. A good quality DOT 4 fluid is your best bet.
Have a read here:
http://www.0800brakes.co.nz/pg8.htm
It's a bit biased towards their products, but has a lot of useful information about fluids and brakes in general.
The DOT number is a measure of how readily the fluid absorbs moisture - the higher the number, the less moisture they will absorb over a given period. DOT 5 is a silicone fluid which does not absorb moisture at all - this is good in that it makes the fluid last longer, but bad when the pockets of water in your brake lines vapourise under high heat - it can get exciting when the pedal goes straight to the floor
I use Elf DOT 4 fluid (have also used Motul as well) - both are very good.
Have a read here:
http://www.0800brakes.co.nz/pg8.htm
It's a bit biased towards their products, but has a lot of useful information about fluids and brakes in general.
The DOT number is a measure of how readily the fluid absorbs moisture - the higher the number, the less moisture they will absorb over a given period. DOT 5 is a silicone fluid which does not absorb moisture at all - this is good in that it makes the fluid last longer, but bad when the pockets of water in your brake lines vapourise under high heat - it can get exciting when the pedal goes straight to the floor
I use Elf DOT 4 fluid (have also used Motul as well) - both are very good.
[url=http://www.atom.net.nz/afterburner/fto/index.htm][img]http://www.atom.net.nz/afterburner/ftologos.jpg[/img][/url]
It's gone :( - now carless...
It's gone :( - now carless...
-
RichardH
- Grease Monkey
- Posts: 309
- Joined: Sat Aug 10, 2002 5:00 pm
- Location: Perth, WA
- Contact:
-
Breza
- Mechanic
- Posts: 470
- Joined: Sun Aug 04, 2002 5:00 pm
- Location: Kingston, Tasmania
Whatever is qouted in the owners manual should suffice for normal driving conditions and you can probably pick it up at SuperCheap ar other parts store..................saying that, I don't have a owners manual handy.What is some really good brake fluid for the FTO brakes?
Personally I use Castrol SRF as I enjoy the odd weekend spirited drive in the Tasmanian countryside and plan to do a couple of track days in the near future.
Chris
-
DarkRain
- Apprentice
- Posts: 51
- Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2002 5:00 pm
- Location: Sydney
The different DOT ratings represent the dry and wet boiling points of the brake fluid. DOT 5.1, DOT 4 and DOT 3 are similar glycol based brake fluid whereas DOT 5 is silicon based and are not compatible with the glycol based and not suitable for brake systems with ABS.
DOT 5.1 has similar wet and dry boiling points as DOT 5 brake fluid and therefore is superior to DOT 4 and 3. Similarly DOT 4 standard is better than DOT 3. There are also better brake fluids than DOT 5.1 with very high boiling points, especially the wet boiling point, like the Castrol SRF (definitely one of the best and very expensive - US$65 per litre) mainly used for racing as they are expensive. Cheaper and more reasonable one is Motul RBF600 with high dry boiling point and a wet boiling point better than DOT 5.1
DOT 5.1 has similar wet and dry boiling points as DOT 5 brake fluid and therefore is superior to DOT 4 and 3. Similarly DOT 4 standard is better than DOT 3. There are also better brake fluids than DOT 5.1 with very high boiling points, especially the wet boiling point, like the Castrol SRF (definitely one of the best and very expensive - US$65 per litre) mainly used for racing as they are expensive. Cheaper and more reasonable one is Motul RBF600 with high dry boiling point and a wet boiling point better than DOT 5.1