Why would a slow low use forklift need to use DOT 3 fluid? All old vehicles I have dealt with in the past had corroded aluminum wheel cylinder pistons stuck from that fluid. Wouldn't it make more sense to use something like AW-32, that is corrosion resistant? And would likely make the seals last longer as well because of the lack of rusting from the hygroscopic DOT 3?
Because the cups in the wheel cylinders and the master cylinder are traditionally made with Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer. Because DOT 3 and EPDM handle the heat. Petroleum will swell the EPDM elastomer and make it goooy. How do you spell that? Goo-ey ? IDK. You could rebuild the brake parts to nitrile rubber and switch to oil. But, why?
I remember someone here putting atf in the 730 grader. The company he worked at before had a grader that used it.. Don't know about the wheel cylinders but it ruined the master cylinder . They replaced the master cylinder and flushed the system. You couldn't push the brake pedal. The rubbers were swollen so much. The rubber on the cap doubled in size.
I had a customer who put brake fluid in the reservoir of an older telehandler that specified hyd fluid It swelled and melted seals and then took out the hydraulic lines from the inside out
We sold Kawasaki loaders and they used Mobile 1 in the brake systems had a couple of customers who put DOT 3 brake fluid in them didn't turn out well. One actually did it twice even after the thousands to repair as it even screwed up the o-rings in the internal brake pistons in the axles complete teardown clean up and replace everything.