Brake fluid on tires?

Maintenance/Repairs
21

Good one, please. Funny.

22

Thank you Red Green.

23

I have watched the Red Green Show. You can tell.

1 Like
24

In the very OLD DAYS, when your windshield wipers would crack and chatter and jumpt and smear etc. Dad would give them a couple of wipes with Brake fluidā€¦the old glycol formulae, not synthetic or silicon based. let them sit a few minutes and wipe them off real good and they were good to go (for a while anyway), Dad is gone now and I am in my 60ā€™s, but it did (and still will) work for a while.

25

I worked at a car dealer when I was in high school. I detailed cars. They always used brake fluid. Iā€™ve been using it ever since (Iā€™m 58). Lasts a bit longer than tire dressing. Doesnā€™t hurt the tires.

27

Well then, get new tires. Thanks for the info,I think :thinking:

1 Like
28

Iā€™ve seen quite a few detailers use brake fluid to shine tires and some were old and had been in business for many years.

29

Iā€™ve accidentally got brake fluid on my tires dozens of times over the years doing brake jobā€¦if brake fluid could cause a problem with the tires, then it surely would have happened to me.

30

Well this is an old post. But brake fluid on tires is probably safer than Armor All in your master cylinder.

3 Likes
32

Keep in mind that tires are generally attached to wheels, and modern wheels are often painted, or at least clear-coated. So if you dress your tires with brake fluid, youā€™re gonna get some on paint, and we all know what brake fluid does to paint.

3 Likes
33

Brake fluid softens and swells rubber, In the 50s when I worked at gas stations, a grease job on a car with leaf springs included spraying brake fluid on the rubber separators between the leaves.

As far as natural rubber being black, I could not tell you how many loads of natural rubber I delivered to Dunlop tire and none of it was black.

1 Like