Wheel cylinder grease

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I vaguely remember reading way back in my 1974 VW Beetle manual about rebuilding brake wheel cylinders. I remember it mentioning something about using VW Wheel Cylinder Grease during reassembly to maximize life of the unit.

Has anyone ever heard of or used such a thing? I don't think I've ever used grease while rebuilding a wheel cylinder
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Haven't read many of my posts? I am forever harping on the importance of rebuilding wheel cylinders and calipers and slathering them good with Sil-Glyde. Older instructions say use brake fluid. In the past, I have seen some greases, perhaps the VW stuff too that were maybe cellulose based. The trouble with brake fluid and special brake greases is that they are hygroscopic. That is the last thing you want out between the cups and the boots. Even when new, the boots do not do a perfect job of sealing out moisture, salt, and grit. Expose hygroscopic material to the moisture and salt, and expensive parts your life depends on corrode. The older the boot gets, the poorer it seals. It may still look good, but be letting salt and moisture in. Even flushing the brakes doesn't help the outer parts of the cylinder.

Ordinary grease will swell and ruin the rubber parts.

Sil-Glyde and other silicone greases will neither attack any rubber, or absorb water. It is the best thing for anywhere rubber meets metal.
 
quote:

Originally posted by labman:
Haven't read many of my posts? I am forever harping on the importance of rebuilding wheel cylinders and calipers and slathering them good with Sil-Glyde. Older instructions say use brake fluid. In the past, I have seen some greases, perhaps the VW stuff too that were maybe cellulose based. The trouble with brake fluid and special brake greases is that they are hygroscopic. That is the last thing you want out between the cups and the boots. Even when new, the boots do not do a perfect job of sealing out moisture, salt, and grit. Expose hygroscopic material to the moisture and salt, and expensive parts your life depends on corrode. The older the boot gets, the poorer it seals. It may still look good, but be letting salt and moisture in. Even flushing the brakes doesn't help the outer parts of the cylinder.

Ordinary grease will swell and ruin the rubber parts.

Sil-Glyde and other silicone greases will neither attack any rubber, or absorb water. It is the best thing for anywhere rubber meets metal.


Well, I haven't made a detailed tour of the grease forum until just now, so I looked up and read all your posts on the subject
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I have some SilGlide left over from my last brake job on the truck's disks. Autozone sells it in small one-use $.99 packets, but they didn't carry it in a tube. I put it on the slide pins, where pistons meets inner pad, and where outer pad meets caliper.

I guess on the wheel cylinders you just use it on everything outside of the spring and cups: piston, boot, and where the shoe contacts the pistons.
 
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