Dot 5 vs. tire rubber, who wins?

[newmaac]

Last spring I bought new Battle axe BT45's, and at about the same time I changed-over my rear brake system to use dot 5 brake fluid.
After riding less than 1000 miles, I let the bike sit for a few months un-ridden.
I now find that my caliper has leaked all of the rear brake fluid. It looks like the fluid ran down the sidewall of my new tire.

I have repaired the caliper, but I don't know what to do about the tire. Can I just wash it really thouroughly with Simple Green and a scrub brush, or will the dot 5 do something to change the compound of the sidewall?

I would really rather not toss a perfectly good tire, but if it is not safe, I shouldn't be riding on it.

Any thoughts?

TIA

[mro]

If it looks like a problem you might go to the tire web site and/or the brake fluid site and see if you can ask them.


blow out on a bike could get a little hairy!!!!



mro


PS
if you get an answer post it. information never hurts

[Ken Talbot]

Brake fluid doesn't seem to harm the rubber seals in a caliper or master cylinder too bad, even with constant contact over a long period of time. It may start to eat out the inside of the original rubber hoses after 20 years or so, but I'm guessing your tire won't be lasting that long.

[RiskyBusiness]

Brake fluid and rubber make for interesting interactions. As a kid growing up on a farm we used to soak rubber irrigation seals in brake fluid prior to install in order to make the seal better. The brake fluid would make the rubber seals swell a bit causing a better fit as well as providing lubrication for slipping the lengths of pipe together. This never seemed to degrade the seals.

I would wash the tire well and then ride. Inspect the rear tire on occasion to make sure it was not swelling or showing distortion. I don't see any reason that the fluid would damage it enough to cause a blow out. If I saw the sidewall begin to change shape in the area impacted by the fluid I would then replace the tire... but I would not anticipate that.

[John]

DOT 5 is a silicon based fluid, and shouldn't harm the tire any.

[newmaac]

SWEET!!! Thanks guys