Drum brake lubricants: Petroleum Distillates?

[Pete]

In one of Eric’s drum brake YT videos he uses copper antiseize on the backing plate and adjuster threads. I thought great so I ordered some Permatex Copper AntiSeize but I had been reading some cleaner sprays shouldn’t be used on brake parts because they contain petroleum distillates and this rots brake rubber seals. On the bottle of permatex it says it contains petroleum distillates. Has Eric changed his mind about antiseize recently or is there some that doesn’t contain petroleum distillates? Or should I use silicone grease or something else. I am wondering if when hot the fumes gassed off the antiseize will affect the brake parts. Thanks

Here’s a Link to the only non-petroleum grease I could find online. I have a medium sized tube of Dielectric grease which I think is silicone and not petroleum based. I would use that but I don’t know how it will hold up in the friction beteen the backplate and the shoes. The antiseize I have used on sparkplugs seem to hold on to my finger really well. Thanks

Topic

[college man]

The antisieze will be fine on the backing plate. Your
only using a light amount.

[Trent “Teddy” Martin]

With college guy on this 🙂 as long as the antisieze doesn’t physically touch the seals your fine B-)

[Walter Cheryba]

Hello, I’ve done hundreds of drum brake jobs using both the copper and the silver anti-sieze products from various manufacturers and I’ve not ever seen a rubber component failure as a result. The silver product has a higer temperature rating than the copper.

[Pete]

Thanks for your replies. I will try it. It’s better to have a good lubricant than the small worry about the chemicals.

[Author]

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