I need to change my brake fluid after racing this past weekend. The brakes are very mushie. Does anyone have any recommendations for high performance brake fluid and how much I need to buy. Also, I will be changing to stainless lines. Any suggestions.

Thanks Randy

 

Rob @ Needswings can help you with this, he's brilliant on braking.

 

Mercedes brake fluid must be DOT 4+.

Brake fluid is another place where people can blow a lot of money for absolutely no good reason. Wet boiling points are what you should be looking at, higher is better. There are several brands of "racing fluid" like Motul, Pentosin, Redline.

But the general rule is this: Regardless of brand, the best fluid is new fluid. Fluid should be changed right before racing.

The consequences of not doing so generally suck:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StyU5QdmXlc

The effect is usually called "Losing My Brakes" but almost 99.9% of the time this is due to people doing a track-day on old brake fluid.

 

Thanks. How much do you think I need to buy?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by RMADERMAN

Thanks. How much do you think I need to buy?

I purchased 1 Lt. and it was enough to replace the entire system with plenty left over.

ATE Super Blue is the best stuff on earth - for the price - except Castrol Synthetic

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/pro...p?Product=3326

You might want to consider some SB brake lines:
(If you shop around you can beat the below price)

http://www.formymercedes.com/mb_resu...ded+Brakelines

Porterfield racing brake pads are great. And they offer big brake kits if your interested. Just expect lots of dust but great bite.

http://www.porterfield-brakes.com/search.php

 

I don't know how much the SRT6 takes, but I'd venture to say 2 quarts is enough for a full brake fluid purge/fill/bleed.

I'd also recommend a vacuum bleeder if you can get one.

 

Thanks for the help. I ordered the castro and the ss brake lines. Brian I used your links. Much easier. Thanks

 

Holy crap. That Castrol is crazy expensive.

Umm...I'll throw in the vote for uhh....average 260 degree brake fluid!! You should save that Castrol for the night before the next track day and bleed with 260 degree brake fluid until then, ouch!

 

If you consider the cost of repairs if your brakes fail @ 125+ MPH after a few trips down the track; then $80 is cheap for the best brake fluid. That being said I'm happy with ATE Super Blue and the Goodridge brake lines. I still have a can and a 1/2 left.

As much as I like the Rotex pads, on aggressive days they do begin to fade.... So I'll go with the R-4 or R4-E Porterfield performance brake pads next time out and just get used to cleaning the wheels more often.....Actually - I still have the OEM pads with less then 1,000 miles of use.....

 

After the Homestead racing both of the SRT's have brake issues. Mine are worse then my daughter's. Both cars have rotex pads, but I think this is more brake fluid breakdown problem and/or air getting into the system. The brake pedal is mushie. You can pump them up , but they go down way too much.

Hopefully the fluid change and ss lines will correct the problem.

 

I gravity bled mine, new in, old out, installed the new goodrich lines which was a snap...good luck and you will love the difference...I used axxis pads, and new drilled rotors, but our stock rotors are fine...
oh and by gravity bleeding, taking my time I did it on just less than a quart...

 

My front rotors and my daughter's are slotted, but not drilled. I am having the goodrich ss lines in next week when then get here.

An old man(80) came over to the SRT's and suggested taking out the fog lights and running tubes to the front brakes to assist in keeping the brakes cooler. He is probably 100% correct.

 

well, you will be surprised just getting rid of the old fluid which contains some water accumulating over time. When brakes heat up heating fluid the fluid will begin to boil the water out...so the with metal lines and the better fluid, it will make the biggest difference...our rotors are well built, I just wanted drilled ones, the stock rotors are really prolly better...the pads are important...I went ceramic...we shall see, may change pads again, but I think so far, they are doing the job...good luck...

 

Being that I've burned up a lot of pads at the track, I too would like to chime in. You will find that your brake pads have been cooked. They will look thick, but you cooked them. All you have to do is take the pads off and smell them. They will stink your garage up. Yep, they're cooked. Change the fluid AND brake pads. So what if you have dust, you want to stop your car and you want to be confident you have brakes when you are coming out of a long straightaway. Once you go to a track, you'll want to keep going back and you won't anything to take away from your seat time. Great brakes and sticky tires are a must.

The Porterfields are indeed great pads. Porterfield made metal brake lines for me. I burned up OEM, EBC and Hawks pads really bad before I went to Porterfields. The racing Porterfield pads performed wonderfully for me.

Motul 600 is the fluid I use. Unfortunately, I've now warped my rotors. It's always something. But, as you discovered, the Crossfire is a heavy car and needs huge front brakes. There is nothing worse than wondering if you are going to get the car slowed down and righted to make a certain turn when your brakes are mush.

So, now I'm ready for some really big front brakes. Rob at Needswings has been helpful with the research about whether Stoptechs or Brembo, etc are better. I'll be putting on Stoptechs on the front. Will use stock back rotors with the porterfield pads in the back.

Good luck with your racing mods. The road racing fever rages on!!

Jane Bridges

 

she's been there done that, that is for sure...can't wait to see your setup this spring...oh and Merry Christmas to you and yours, especially the pups...

 

Thanks for all the positive and constructive feedback.

I'm sure glad I live in Florida where it's nice and warm. The only problem is there is always something going on. This racing is getting expensive.

Randy

 

Saw references to stainless steel brakelines on the Mercedes site and from Goodrich. Asking those who have installed these -- are they a direct fit or do they require re-routing or other adjustments?

My SRT6 brakes feel mushy compared to my roadster. I should probably replace the brake fluid and may want to upgrade the brakelines at the same time.

 

Direct Fit - Front & Rear