CMP fluids question ..........

[Bob Carriere]

Just to echo Phil's point........

Last weekend, just a spur of the moment thing...... we decided to see if I still had brake pressure on my C15a which slept in a canvas tent all Winter.

Now my experience with M 37, M43 and PW was that the pedal would drop to the floor and a total bleed job would be needed...... that happens every year on my Dodges...... low and behold.... after two pumps, by hand, we had full pressure.
Sat on the beast and puched hard to see if it would bleed down.... held real thight......

So we pushed our luck a little further and tested to see if the battery still had life..... shit the engine started no problems at all......

Now when I rebuilt my C15a I installed new wheel cylinders, new steel and rubber lines and a rebuilt SS sleeved master, done by John Stuart of Stoney Creek, Ont. I hesitated like most to convert to silicone..... read all the pros and cons of the new fluid...got totally confused with the controversy...... some early experience were very negative..... it is important to note that most high end Ford cars (Lincoln and Jags)and trucks have switched to the modern silicone fluid......

For good dependable brakes do not hesitate to get new linings and get the drums turned clean..... and while at it..get them to "arc" grind your new linings to sit properly in the arc of the drums.....

If I had a chance to redo the full system of a Dodge, I would switch to synthetic silicone fluids. There are limits as to the improvement of the sick design of the flexible flower pot brake drums of the M37 as the stretch oval when braking hard..... it is a design limitation.

I would not consider using old, seemingly good, brake lines and would not try to flush them clean but rebuild the whole brake setup...... expensive.. Yes..... but so stopping a CMP on the rear end of a Honda.

Phil's expereince with the CMP is based on driving his trucks in the hills of Vermont and New Hamshire at a comfortable 50 mph... so when he says he can stop... he is not talking parade speed....!!!!

BooBee