Brakes are arguably as important as any other part of a car. These are the ones in charge of stopping your vehicle, so maintaining them properly also helps keep you safe on the road.
The first step in keeping your car’s brakes in tip-top shape is to check them regularly. Keep in mind, though, that ‘checking’ your brakes takes more work than just driving out and actually testing them. One of the easiest things you can do is to pop open your car’s hood and check if it has enough brake fluid.
Unlike brake pads, brake fluid is something you can and should check as often as possible. It takes just a few minutes to do this—you can even do it every day before you head out. Ensuring that there’s always enough brake fluid or there are no obvious contaminants present will ensure that your brakes will work properly.
Now, it goes without saying that skimping on your car’s brake fluid is also a huge no-no. Using quality products—like Bendix’s high-performance DOT3 and DOT4 brake fluids, for example—will not only guarantee proper performance but will also give you peace of mind whenever you head out.
Bendix’s brake fluids are compatible for use in both ABS and non-ABS disc and drum brakes, as well as hydraulic clutch systems in cars, trucks, buses, and motorcycles. Plus, these have significantly high dry and wet boiling points.
Dry boiling point is the temperature at which a fresh, new brake fluid from an unopened container boils, while wet boiling point is the boiling temperature of brake fluid that has absorbed 3.7% water by volume, which is usually after two years of service.
Bendix’s DOT3 fluids have minimum dry and wet boiling points of 230 degrees Celsius and 140 degrees Celsius, respectively. Its DOT4 fluids, meanwhile, have minimum dry and wet boiling points of 260 degrees Celsius and 155 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Of course, just remember that no matter what expensive brand of brake fluid you resort to using, regular checks will always be the key to maintaining your car’s brakes. Since you’re already here, you can also check out some of our other tips on brake usage and maintenance for good measure.
So, now that you’re done reading this, we reckon all that’s left to do is to flush and change your car’s brake fluid. To read more on that, you can refer to one of our previous stories here. If you want to go deeper down the DIY rabbit hole, you can also read up on our other tip sheets such as how to change your car’s brake pads and how to adjust drum brakes.
