DOT 3, DOT 4, DOT 5 fluids
 

Wanted to find something special for my 1000th post, so here it is. I'm a big F1 fan and while I'm watching the coverage of the US Grand Prix practice session I saw something . Mine you these are the best of the best in automotive technology. The budgets for these teams is in the 200 million dollar range per season. I think these guys know what there doing. While the interviewer was in the Jaguar garage the team was filling the brake resevior. In there hands was a can of Castrol LMA fluid, dot 3/4. I know the sillicon stuff is great for paint but when I used it the stuff seemed spongy. This is just some info to think about when you guys are trying to decide what fluid to run. The 5 may protect your paint but the 3/4 seems to have a better heat rating which means better brakes.:bowtie: :flag: :cool:

That castrol LMA 3/4 is good stuff....
 

..I think another advantage to the DOT 5 besides the paint issue is it isn't as prone to pick up moisture during periods of inactivity as the 3/4.

I know all of the autocrossers in the MG club I used to be in ran the LMA

I know, it's a ferd site but I picked up on this link at some point, looked good, so I saved it: :)

http://www.shotimes.com/SHO3brakefluid.html

Interesting artical, maybe they were using the SRT fluid:bowtie:

the reason it feels spongy is because it is not made for your application. I think from my schooling I remember them saying that there is a different lining used on brake hoses that use silicon and they only used it like 2 years in production vehicles.

I've used DOT-5 for around twenty years. It's high heat,it doesn't absorb moisture,it doesn't hurt the paint, and it's a lot more expensive.

You can use DOT-5 in our trucks with NO PROBLEMS. But you can't change the other way.(in other words you can't use DOT-3-4 in a DOT-5 system) If/when you change your sytem over just bleed it very well,and purge the old Fliud out. There is some DOT-5 that will MIX with 3-4 and there's some that won't.

RON

makes it all sound risky..

where can you even find dot5 anyways ? i never see it at napa or auto zone or wal mart...

Napa carries DOT 5, maybe the store you were in was out. I have used it in several different things with no problems. That is all that modern Harleys use. I could never tell the difference as far as the spondgeness thing, but I have heard that the higher the altitude the worse it is. If you have trick paint or a vehicle that sits in the garage more than it goes down the road it is the only way to go.