Brake Fluid Recommendations?

[df2x4]

Him: ''How much brake fluid did you buy when you did that brake work on your truck?''
Me: ''Three quarts.''

Him - much later: ''Hey, I bought three quarts of brake fluid like you said and had one quart left over unused.''
Me: ''So did I.''

What can I say, I like the idea of having a spare bottle.

Pretty sure that's the only fluid my trucks use that I don't have stashed in the garage somewhere.

 

[Pinger]

I prefer to have a (preferably unopened) bottle as a standby so a bit of brake work that should be attended to doesn't get shelved on account of it needing bleeding after and 'I don't have any fluid'. Bottle doesn't stay unopened for long....
Talking of - off to crack another one open.

 

[df2x4]

Talking of - off to crack another one open.

Good luck! Hope your ABS bleeding works and it solves your issue.

 

[SUBURBAN5]

So you're saying buy three quarts...

Thanks!

Nope 1 qt unless you want extra lol

 

[SUBURBAN5]

Him: ''How much brake fluid did you buy when you did that brake work on your truck?''
Me: ''Three quarts.''

Him - much later: ''Hey, I bought three quarts of brake fluid like you said and had one quart left over unused.''
Me: ''So did I.''

Lol. I didnt realize how much 3 qts are

 

[Erik the Awful]

I used to buy ATE Blue, but since the government outlawed colored brake fluid it's not available. ATE 200 is the same stuff, but hard to find. Last time I bought fluid for the Jag, I bought a case of Wilwood EXP 600 from Summit. It had the best specs at the best price point. In our BMW we run Motul 600, but it's twice the price. Whatever fluid you consider, look up the specs. They're readily available.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Consider how long DOT 3 fluid was used, and how many vehicles there are out there, that have never had the fluid flushed and refilled.

I think you'll be good with any off the shelf DOT 3 fluid that meets the correct specs. Don't over think it, you're not taking your pickup to the autocross track or going fast and turning left for 500miles.

 

[df2x4]

I used to buy ATE Blue, but since the government outlawed colored brake fluid it's not available. ATE 200 is the same stuff, but hard to find. Last time I bought fluid for the Jag, I bought a case of Wilwood EXP 600 from Summit. It had the best specs at the best price point. In our BMW we run Motul 600, but it's twice the price. Whatever fluid you consider, look up the specs. They're readily available.

This is exactly the type of info I was hoping for when I made this thread, thank you! I didn't have the slightest idea where to start looking for "performance" brake fluid.

Wilwood's Hi-Temp 570 appears to be a DOT 3 certified glycol based fluid with no silicone, plus dry and wet boiling points significantly higher than the DOT 3 minimums. Looks like that's the winner so far.

EDIT - Here's a link to the info on the Wilwood Hi-Temp 570 DOT 3 if anyone else is interested.

https://www.wilwood.com/BrakeFluid/BrakeFluidProd?itemno=290-0632

 

[df2x4]

I think you'll be good with any off the shelf DOT 3 fluid that meets the correct specs. Don't over think it, you're not taking your pickup to the autocross track or going fast and turning left for 500miles.

I'm sure you're probably right, but I'm also the type of guy who 4L80E swaps a V6 half ton because he's sick of killing 4L60Es.

I'm a "spirited driver" on occasion and I like overkill when it comes to reliability. The rest of my brake setup that's going on this truck is fairly performance oriented and I wouldn't mind having a nice fluid to go along with it. This truck is eventually getting a cammed LQ4 so going fast isn't out of the realm of possibility, I hope anyway.

 

[Erik the Awful]

FYSA, the "dry" boiling point is fresh fluid. The"wet" boiling point is what you can expect if you let the brake fluid get old. Brake fluid is hydroscopic, meaning that it soaks up moisture. The wet boiling point is the boiling point when the fluid is saturated. Typically, racing fluids go bad faster but have a higher wet boiling points. Street fluids take longer to soak up the moisture, but it can bring them down to a dangerously low boiling point - which causes brake fade.

If we have any brake engineers on here, feel free to set me straight, but this was the info I picked up when researching brake fluids for my car.