Updates on brake lube products

[JHZR2]

For a while it was claimed that the purple ceramic type brake lube and silencing products would harden, become abrasive, and damage brake systems. I dont know if that is true or not.

Ive heard lots good on syl-glyde, 3m brake paste, and molykote M77. Ditto for permatex green, and the CRC red goop for slathering on the backs of pads...

Ive used that CRC red goop. I do have some of the purple ceramic stuff but Ive never used it. Ill be doing a brake job soon, and want to figure what products I should consider, and if I should use the purple stuff.

WHen I get the pads, Ill put up a thread asking for advisement on what to apply where, because these pads I think look a little different... But we will see...

But whats the current thought on the purple ceramic stuff?

Thanks!

 

[SLCraig]

I can tell you from experience how good Sil Glyde is, and how not good Permatex green is.

If you have rubber lined caliper slides, Permatex green will no doubt cause issues. It swells and hardens the rubber to the point where the caliper is sticking and causing uneven brake wear. It doesn't take long either.

I threw that stuff out after the 2nd time I had issues with it and realized it's not compatible with rubber.

Sil Glyde has been applied to my cars since and until the brakes wear to the point of replacement, I have had no issues with sticking slides as long as the boots remain in good condition.

Sil Glyde is just such a good product I personally wouldn't even bother with anything else.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: SLCraig
I can tell you from experience how good Sil Glyde is, and how not good Permatex green is.

If you have rubber lined caliper slides, Permatex green will no doubt cause issues. It swells and hardens the rubber to the point where the caliper is sticking and causing uneven brake wear. It doesn't take long either.

I threw that stuff out after the 2nd time I had issues with it and realized it's not compatible with rubber.

Sil Glyde has been applied to my cars since and until the brakes wear to the point of replacement, I have had no issues with sticking slides as long as the boots remain in good condition.

Sil Glyde is just such a good product I personally wouldn't even bother with anything else.


+1

Sil Glyde sometimes is the only grease in my garage, the rest are in the basement. So often it gets used for other uses also, like coating a bolt, etc. Basically if I just need a quick dab of grease.

 

[JHZR2]

Why are you coating bolts? It's not anti-seize and it Will affect the torque ratings, plus on the outside it will accumulate a lot of great and sand.

Just asking...

 

[novadude]

Originally Posted By: SLCraig
I can tell you from experience how good Sil Glyde is, and how not good Permatex green is.

If you have rubber lined caliper slides, Permatex green will no doubt cause issues. It swells and hardens the rubber to the point where the caliper is sticking and causing uneven brake wear. It doesn't take long either.

I threw that stuff out after the 2nd time I had issues with it and realized it's not compatible with rubber.

Sil Glyde has been applied to my cars since and until the brakes wear to the point of replacement, I have had no issues with sticking slides as long as the boots remain in good condition.

Sil Glyde is just such a good product I personally wouldn't even bother with anything else.


Ditto to this. No experience with Permatex, but I found out the hard way that some of the "caliper greases" on the market aren't comptaible with pins that have rubber bushings. Eventually the rubber bushings swell, the caliper can't move freely, and your pads wear uneven. If there is any rubber on your brake calpier sliders, use Sil-glyde or some other silicone based product ONLY. None of the dark petro-based stuff that looks like Moly grease.

 

[KrisZ]

I'm using Wurth Silicone Lubricating Compound, thanks to SLCraig's suggestion.
I was using Prematex stuff before and found that it would be all dried out after about a year. I had to re-lube the pins annually.

I used Wurth compound during fall of 2012 and I checked the pins just before winter season when I was installing winter wheels. The grease was still in there and pins were fine and didn't need to be lubed. So a proper lube with rubber bushings can definitely make a difference.

 

[buck91]

I regularly use various greases as thread treatment to make tightening or removal easier or simply to prevent corrosion or seizing and sil-glyde has worked fantastic every time I use it. Another favorite in the triflow clear synthetic with Teflon, though its a little pricer.

Anyways, I know in certain torque-critical applications a true lube on the threads has potential to cause issues, but I started doing this when I was a bicycle mechanic and it kinda stuck. Anecdotally it has provided greater benefit than harm for me.

 

[garlicbreadman]

3m Silicon paste is one of the best stuff you can put on caliper pins.

Sil-glyde is good stuff too but it's weird how it turns purple when exposed to certain materials.

 

[doitmyself]

It's tough to get answers about products, but it's my opinion that Sil-glyde is NOT a silicone lube. I think that the "Sil" stands for silica. A look at the MSDS shows only a tiny % of silicone compared to the DOW products.

I asked the company why the product turns yellow when exposed to sun light and they hinted that it might be due to the castor oil in it. It also seems that the various Silglyde greases are the same product with different packaging: brake grease, general purpose grease,etc..

It works great for me. But it is not as waterproof as a real silicone if you try the "grease on palm test" under a faucet.

 

[charbaby]

I have certainly had better success with Permatex BLACK compared to the GREEN. I will be trying the CRC Black Brake/Caliper Grease(got it cheaper the this below) in the future but, I am still looking for better! I bought the CRC Grease for something like $5 and I wasn't even looking for it though, I did need more brake lube

http://www.amazon.com/CRC-Industries-053...#productDetails

I may slide over(no pun

) to the Sil Glyde as it seems to be held in high regard here. I've never seen it so, I'll have to search!

 

[hypervish]

Originally Posted By: Char Baby
I have certainly had better success with Permatex BLACK compared to the GREEN. I will be trying the CRC Black Brake/Caliper Grease(got it cheaper the this below) in the future but, I am still looking for better! I bought the CRC Grease for something like $5 and I wasn't even looking for it though, I did need more brake lube

http://www.amazon.com/CRC-Industries-053...#productDetails

I may slide over(no pun

) to the Sil Glyde as it seems to be held in high regard here. I've never seen it so, I'll have to search!


I believe the Sil Glyde can be found at Napa.

 

[charbaby]

I'll give NAPA a look! My good buddy and I often take a trip to NAPA although, the two NAPA's in my area are a bit further away than the local AAP, AZ & PB's. And they close early on Saturdays so we'll make the trip worth our while and check out the rest of the store, buy stuff we don't really need and go get some lunch at the local diner!

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: hypervish

I believe the Sil Glyde can be found at Napa.


Sil glyde can be found there. It can also be found in the real form with an AGS plastic tube at auto zone.

Keep in mind that sil glyde appears to be primarily castor oil with silicone oils mixed in. CRC silaramic is pure silicone with 15% solids.

Napa carries the 3M brake grease, which is pure silicone, and it is cheaper than you can even find it on Amazon. I just bought some for $16.99, while Amazon prime wanted $18.something. And I bought the CRC silaramic as an alternative to the 3m plastilube, as I figure silicone and solids is as good as mineral oil and bentonite.

 

[Doog]

I have been using Permatex green for many years. Never any problems. I just don't paint the car with it.

 

[charbaby]

Originally Posted By: Doog
I have been using Permatex green for many years. Never any problems. I just don't paint the car with it.

I actually bought the black for $1 more when the store was out of GREEN. Never went back the the Green as I noticed how much better the BLACK was by comparison...didn't dry out as quickly and was a better water barrier, I noticed from brake job to brake job!

 

[JZiggy]

Sil glyde is great stuff, but it is not silicone grease. It is polyethylene glycol grease. It does play nicely with rubber however.

 

[JHZR2]

Yes it is not. Because I could find the 3m silicone lube at napa for cheaper than amazon, I got that...

Also bought some silaramic, which has some solids content, for applications that need some solids.