Mark2009

Should these be routinely discarded to promote heat transfer or should the mfr be contacted to discuss exact purpose? Very lightweight mat'l, maybe Ti? Pops off easily.

froggy47

Looks like common anti squeal shims, they get discarded as the new pads will either have them, or they will not fit the new pads.



Some pads have them some don't.

ROBMARZ

The purpose of the backing plates is to reduce heat transfer to the caliper pistons and brake fluid. They do this in 2 ways. Firstly, the Ti has lower thermal conductivity compared to steel and secondly by providing two interfaces (between the pad and the shim and the shim and the piston) that provide additional thermal resistance.

Hi Volts Z06

If you are actually using EBC pads..... Forget about those shims, throw the pads away before you even take them on a track. I used EBC yellow many years ago and got about 20 laps out of a set (in addition to learning the true meaning of the term "brake fade"). They are fine for street but absolutely garbage for track use.

Mark2009

That's the explanation I was looking for, tks. For track use, I presume they should not be used, yes?

froggy47

Those are NOT Ti shims.

Read this:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-p...rake-shims.htm

ROBMARZ

you are correct the shims shown in OP are not Ti but that link is talking about completely different shims. Even non Ti shims will reduce heat transfer and prevent the piston from extending too far as the pad wears.

Bad Karma

I have not yet picked up a set up Ti shims for mine, but what I do have is a spare set of pad base metal, when the pad material wears down I slide these in and it gives more metal that need to heat soak before it transfers that heat directly into the caliper pistons and takes up the extra pedal travel from the worn down pad material.

Perfect use of a worn down brake pad, the dust I created from my belt sander and the pad dust was actually pretty impressive getting the pad material cleaned off; I probably should have worn a dust mast...

froggy47

Yes of course you are right & it's not the best reference, I was in a hurry.

It just appeared that the OP had no idea what he was looking at. And then appeared that he was convinced they were Ti after absorbing your brief post.

Limitations of thread chat, I can only imagine how many miscommunications go on with tweeting and the limit on characters (why I don't do it).

Mark2009

Guys, don't care what the material is, should they be discarded for track use?

froggy47

Not IMO, the heat transfer will happen, they would affect that an immaterial amount & might make the pad not fit as well.

BTW I agree with another post, those are NOT in any way a track pad. See post #4, I have used EBC blue which is supposed to be more a "track" pad than yellow, they were "not useful" on a track.

Mark2009

tytek

Yes, they should be discarded when new pads are installed. Most, if not all, pads will come with new shims. You ought to use new ones each time, and make sure to lube you slider pins, as well as the pad/caliper contact areas (top and bottom of the pad), each time you put new pads on.

If you have Ti shims, you want to reuse them, as no pads that I know of come with titanium shims - discarding those, and putting new Ti ones each time, would get really expensive.

I always use shims on track pads, but not sure if they are absolutely necessary... as I have seen some people that don't use any. Squealing on the track is not an issue for me, and I don't think that steel shims offer enough heat resistance properties to make them worthwhile for that purpose.