DOT3/4 vs DOT5 - Solicone vs. Glykol based brake fluid

[Retiredwarhorses]

If you were starting out with a completely new non ABS system which would you use. Kept inside, little offroad use

Also, how much does a complete system use?

im an OEM shop, I’ve had many military contracts
And work on and worked on pretty much every tactical vehicle in the inventory up to a few years ago…I just use DOT5.

 

[Mogman]

IMHO the only reason every HMMWV that comes out of surplus does not need a complete brake overhaul is because of the DOT 5 fluid, every vehicle with DOT 3 that I have seen that has sat for 5-10 years has crap for a brake system and I have seen a bunch of them.
Yes if you get water in it you can have issues (so don't do that!) but DOT 3 literally sucks moisture every time it gets a chance and then turns corrosive.

 

[Vapor Trail]

Thanks guys, I've read every article I could find about it and they all have pros and cons. I'm starting from scratch so there are no contamination issues and I don't see any reason moisture would get in there or it would get on my paint. I can definitely see the advantage for stored military vehicles but I don't do that either. I've heard about soft feeling pedals and hard to bleed with DOT5 too. I'll probably just use DOT 5 since that is what was in there.

 

[frauhansen]

If you were starting out with a completely new non ABS system which would you use. Kept inside, little offroad use

Also, how much does a complete system use?

DOT5... the system is designed for DOT5!