I'm going to be replacing the pads & rotors on my 03 6MT in the next week or so, and I think I have most of it figured out except for a few shim related questions. Perhaps some of you have experience with these items:

1) The manuals I've read say to apply poly butyl cuprysil grease or silicone-based grease between the pads and shims only where the two overlap (since the shim doesn't necessarily cover the entire back of the pad). I imagine the result to be a grease sandwich on a slice of shim and a slice of pad-back with some greaseless pad-back exposed... is this correct? In this scenario, I believe that there would be no grease contacting the pistons.

2) If I plan on reusing the OEM shims, can they be cleaned with brake cleaner before being transferred to the new pads, or will that cause problems?

3) I'm getting Hawk HPS pads, and I've read random accounts of them "having built in shims". Is this accurate, or should I go ahead and use the OEM shims in conjunction with the new pads?

Sorry for the long questions, but these are the final facts that I need to have the confidence to tackle the job. I appreciate any input you guys may have.

Thanks!

 

I Put a bit of grease on the rim of the piston and a paper thin layer on the shims.

The Hawks HPS have built in shims. Fact.
Word.

 

Be prepared for the difference in cold stopping power with the HPS - they will not stop as well on first applications, or after the brakes have cooled for a few minutes. Driving in cold weather and rain, in particular, will be quite different, so leave yourself good following distances.

Even with brake lube and shims already installed, you may still get squealing since the HPS pads are not acoustically designed/tested for the G35 (nor for any application) as are the OEM's. But for brake grease, I use 3M Brake Lube (Anti-seize), which is a copper-colored substance and has worked very well for OEM Brembo pads - not a peep out of them.

 

Nice! I'm going to swap my pads for my track day this Sat. Should be following suit

 

Thanks for the replies everyone, I'll take a closer look at other pad options as well and we'll see how it goes.

 

Keep your stock shims for the next set of pads in case you change the Hawks. You can clean the shims with brake cleaner.

 

Oem shims are TUNED to match oem pads and oem rotors, as such they may not offer the same noise reduction when used on non oem pads.

The only way to know is to listen or measure the frequency and amplitude of brake noise.

The shims themselves are a sandwich of thin metal and elastometric products.

 

Speaking of grease, is there a specific type that I should use on the Brembo caliper slides/pins? The manual didn't say anything about that, and the DYI's that I've read haven't been too detailed on that part. Would I just use the same stuff I put between the pads and the shims?

 

Nothing specific identified in the FSM for lubing the slides/pins, so multi-purpose grease should be fine. I wouldn't use the brake lube, though.

 

Since the FSM doesn't mention lubricating the pins, would I be better off just cleaning them and not worrying about applying any grease? I have visions of the all-purpose grease melting when the brakes get hot and falling onto the friction surface of the pad. Paranoid, I know...

 

I have never lubed the Brembo pins.

 

Good to know, thanks. And just to clarify, I was referring to the long slides/pins that go all the way through the top of the calipers, not the cotter pins that hold those in place.

 

I've always lubed the sliding pin with grease. Am I doing it wrong? It seems the pins need to be lubed so the caliper can slide easily. When I did my first brake service, the pin looked like it was greased at the factory.

 

Used the HPS on my 6MT and they had shims already installed. Great pads for the car.