Battle of silicone greases for caliper slide pins

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Oct 26, 2009
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Balto, MD
As many of you may have seen already, Im in the search for new greases for brake jobs here and there. I thought this might need its own post- since its specific.

The general consensus is to use a "dielectric" silicone grease ( lack of a better word, I know... ) on the pins. Many recommend the 3m 08946 paste or the Mission Auto dielectric grease/silicone paste. Looking at them online, they seem like the run of the mill one ingredient silicone paste.

Then I saw a few people mention the Raybestos DBL2T / ACDelco 10-4019 silicone greases ( which are rebranaded Fuchs 839 )... These make more sense to me than the ones posted above, since these contain PTFE in the mix... Thus giving some lubricity properties to the basic silicone grease...

Thoughts?

 
Don't try something for a use that it wasn't intended for, especially on something critical like brakes. Get a product made specifically for the brake system.

61428KItHeL._AC_SL1200_.jpg
 
I'm on the fence about lube on the guide pins. BMW says to not use any because it attracts dirt. I have used a small amount of Sil-Glyde and none at all and did not find it to make any difference. 🤔
Yeah but that’s what BMW said for their pin and boot design. I followed the “no grease” thing on my BMW but my Toyota and Honda vehicles say to use lubricant so I do.

Having said that I wouldn’t use anything that wasn’t recommended in the FSM or was commercially marketed for that specific use. If 3M says it is okay for that then okay… I guess.
 
Doesn't the permatex grease have a tendency to swell up rubber on guide pins?
some do. but they have about 15-20 different ones.

the purple ceramic extreme gets gritty and is terrible.

I use sil-glyde on the pins but I'm open to other options.. the tube is about 5 years of brakes for me.

Any time I've used permatex its not been great.. after 4-5x I just swore off all their brake lube products.
 
As many of you may have seen already, Im in the search for new greases for brake jobs here and there. I thought this might need its own post- since its specific.

The general consensus is to use a "dielectric" silicone grease ( lack of a better word, I know... ) on the pins. Many recommend the 3m 08946 paste or the Mission Auto dielectric grease/silicone paste. Looking at them online, they seem like the run of the mill one ingredient silicone paste.

Then I saw a few people mention the Raybestos DBL2T / ACDelco 10-4019 silicone greases ( which are rebranaded Fuchs 839 )... These make more sense to me than the ones posted above, since these contain PTFE in the mix... Thus giving some lubricity properties to the basic silicone grease...

Thoughts?

What benefits would the Raybestos/AC Delco lube offer me on slide pins vs Mission or 3M silicone paste?
 
Yeah but that’s what BMW said for their pin and boot design. I followed the “no grease” thing on my BMW but my Toyota and Honda vehicles say to use lubricant so I do.

Having said that I wouldn’t use anything that wasn’t recommended in the FSM or was commercially marketed for that specific use. If 3M says it is okay for that then okay… I guess.

I suspect that BMW defers to its big brake supplier, Ate, in its guidance in this respect.

In addition to the hardware, they make practically everything associated with brakes, including Plasilube (for the hard contact points, explicitly not rubber safe - "Never apply to the friction surfaces of hte brake disc or pad, nor to rubber parts"), and "Bremszylinder-Paste" for internal use only during rebuilds (rubber safe, but not weather resistant).

One thing they don't make is a lube for the pins and their rubber sleeves.

I'm not current on the latest and greatest practices, and perhaps things have changed, but that's what I've followed.

Sil-Glyde is cheap, and easy to get, but I don't use it for demanding stuff. I've found it gums up as it ages, and washes off easily. MSDS says it's mostly castor oil, and it's fair to question whether it actually justifies its name.
 
... Sil-Glyde is cheap, and easy to get, but I don't use it for demanding stuff. I've found it gums up as it ages, and washes off easily. MSDS says it's mostly castor oil, and it's fair to question whether it actually justifies its name.
Yep, that's my experience with it. Not impressed!

Super Lube Silicone Lubricating Grease is another one containing PTFE, and never turns gummy.
 
For your pins, you should only use Sil-Glyde or similar. Anything else, you risk swelling your rubber bushings.

For your pads, shims, and ears, go with some higher temp, water resistant stuff like CRC or Permetex Purple brake grease. Lasts for years.
 
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I use lithium soap base glycol grease for the pins that ride inside of rubber bushings as that is what is used from the factory on all of the cars I have owned (vw, toyota/lexus, subaru)

31942_1.jpg.5958a593f3f28390b00c697c6ee44a8e.jpg

Febi 31942 for the german cars (This has VW G 052 150 A2 listed on the tube. Consensus on oil-club.ru seems to be that this is relabeled Fuchs Renolit LX-PG2)

rx2.jpg

Niglube RX-2 for the japanese cars


They are effectively the same thing and interchangeable, but being a member of bitog, I just had to try them both.
 
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