I have an 02 Ram with rear anti-lock. I was thinking of flushing the brake fluid in the truck, basically fill the resivoir with new clean fluid and flushing it thru the lines until the new fluid makes its way to the wheels, bleeding the furthest one first. What concerns do I have with the read antilock set-up? Will it still allow me to bleed the rear brakes? Anything special I have to do?

 

Unless you boiled the fluid, which I doubt you're going to do in a truck, there's no need to flush out the brake fluid.

 

Worse advice I have ever heard. This is one of the many maintenance services that most people ignore yet should be done every 30-50kmi based upon driving style.
Brake fluid is gyroscopic which is like a sponge with any water that it comes into contact with. Each time the fluid picks up moisture, the spongyness of the brake get worse and your fluid's boiling point drops and it can be very corrosive for everything it comes in contact with like the brake lines, master cylinder, ABS....etc... Brand new brake fluid out of the bottle, you could wash your car with it. Old brake fluid would eat your paint off!!!

When flushing brake lines, you should use a brake bleeder that attaches to the master cylider. If you use the old fashion method by using the brake pedal just becareful when you are pressing the brake pedal to not push it all the way to the floor. Try not to push it down past 70%. i would get a piece of wood that stops you from doing so. Reason is because there are rubber o-ring seals that are inside the master cylinder and since you have an 03' chances are that rod inside of the master cylinder has never been depressed that far and most likely has some corrosion build-up thaat can score the seals. it would be like taking a rusty rod and pushing it in and pulling it out of a rubber seal. it's gonna ruin it and make it leak. So just be careful when pushing the pedal down to bleed your fluid. i use that method, but am very careful. I use the one-man bleeder. Works well.
Also, on most vehicles it take 4-5 3/4 brake presses to fill up the little bottle that comes with the one-man bleeder. It then takes 3-4 of those bottles to flush out each caliper.
On brake fluid. Get DOT4 regardlesss if you need 3 or not. 4 has a higher boiling point and is just a better fluid all around. DON'T use DOT5 as it's not compatible.

 

Great advice there DirtyDog.
I didn't know about the rusty rod thingy in the master cylinder. But on reading your post and looking at schematics, it all makes sense. Especially as I have an 03.

I'm about to do this to mine, so thanks very much for this info'.
Al.

 

I disagree. First off, brand new brake fluid will destroy paint. Unless a piston or wheel cylinder is leaking, nothing is getting in the lines to tarnish the fluid. You're dealing with a highly pressurized system, if moisture is getting in, fluid is coming out first and you've got a problem. In all my years working on cars, I've never seen a brake line rot from the inside out, ever. To top it off, brake fluid is in essence thinned hydraulic fluid. Water does not mix with either.

I've seen jet black fluid that had no performance differences over brand new fluid in a street car.

Changing your brake fluid unless need be is complete overkill.

 

Found this in an article for ya.
POLYGLYCOL ETHER BASED FLUIDS
Fluids containing Poly glycol ethers are regarded as DOT 3, 4, and DOT 5.1. These type fluids are hydroscopic meaning they have an ability to mix with water and still perform adequately. However, water will drastically reduce the boiling point of fluid. In a passenger car this is not an issue. In a racecar it is a major issue because as the boiling point decreases the performance ability of the fluid also decreases.
Poly glycol type fluids are 2 times less compressible than silicone type fluids, even when heated. Less compressibility of brake fluid will increase pedal feel. Changing fluid on a regular basis will greatly increase the performance of the brake system.
Here's the full write-up

I said gyroscopic before...lmao it's hydroscopic. I knew it didn't sound right.

Moisture can work it's way into anything. Think about when you lift off the brake resevior cap to look at the fluid, you really think Zero moisture got in there??? Brakes aren't pressurized, only when you touch the brake pedal. A parked car's brake fluid has no pressure, only gravity keeping out air bubbles!

 

hmmmm. at the least it could be insurance. i plan on flushing my system when i change my pads next.

 

I love a good pissin' match; both parties seem to have your best interest in mind however we must make sure we are comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges with regard to fluid types.

 

Fixed.

Unless you're running a 6 piston setup and gas trapping between your pad and rotor is an issue you think about, flushing your brake fluid is not.

Everything you've posted is true for a track car, street cars NEVER see the heat and break down in the article you posted.

****, it's not even one of the things on Jiffy Lube's list of rapings. You'll reupholster your seats before changing brake fluid is necessary.

 

DirtyDog,
the truck is an 02 with rear anti-lock. Anthing special I have to do regarding the anti-lock or can I flush the rear just like I would without anti-lock?