Dan H.

I picked up a set of these from a fellow forum member. I have four shims for the front calipers. Do I put a shim on both the inboard and outboard pad? Or do they just go on the inboard pad to shield the pistons and fluid?

Thank you

Bill Dearborn

They go behind each pad. Make sure they fit properly in the caliper and don't hinder the movement of the brake pistons/pad.

Bill

Dan H.

Thank you Bill,
I wasn't sure since there wasn't much to shield heat from on the outboard side.

RDnomorecobra

there isn't but I use them on both sides. can't hurt

z060ntrack

I used Ti shims for a long time ("inboard") on c5 / c6 Z51 calipers (T1) but was told by Carbotech to never use a shim which will interfere with heat transfer. I stopped with little or no affect in heat.

Supercharged111

On that note, have any of you shim users noticed a difference? My Camaro still uses C5 brakes in the front, so this is relevant to me. Though the car has a great pedal, I am always open to improvements if they can be quantified. Also, does the shim affect pedal feel by increasing travel? I've noticed race pads don't have anti-squeal shims and I figured part of that was eliminating bits that may create an air gap between them, the pads, and the caliper/piston. That and the obvious not caring about brake dust and squeal because race car.

miracle_whip4130

I've always wondered about this. Obviously if you insulate the pad, the heat is staying in the pad, the pad will be operating at higher temperatures. Are these temperatures outside the intended window of operation they were designed for? Not sure, and it would obviously depend on the pad, but I would wager if you're just using them in HPDE sessions you're not going to overheat a pad designed for racing. I would be interested to hear back from someone saying they noticed pad overheating with the shims, since I've only heard positive things about the Ti shims.

moespeeds

The shims also serve the purpose of not over extending the pistons as your pads get low. I suggest using them as I ruined a caliper bore by not shimming as the pads wore.

You can also use kicked brake pads as shims, just grind off the remaining pad material.

96CollectorSport

IMO the Ti shims are just a band aid to a bigger issue.

As the arms race started in ST2 we were going faster and faster (adding aero, running larger rubber, etc.) but one of the things we didn't upgrade with the rest of the car were the brakes. The 355 x 32 StopTech BBK that we had on the car just wasn't cutting it anymore. We always ran Ti heat shields on the front of that car and then we were just running too hot in the front. The first thing we tried was Ti piston noses for the ST-60 calipers - big mistake. We started going through pads like crazy, caliper temps went down but obviously the heat from the rotors had no where to go.
This really helped me learn that it's a brake system all of the parts have to work together. The rotors should be what dissipates the heat but the calipers help pull heat from the brakes pads. Obviously this takes the Ti heat shields a step further - but it illustrates the point Carbotech was trying to make.

To get your brakes working properly you should be taking temps, both rotor and caliper. Unfortunately the price of the rotor temp paint and the caliper temp stickers cost as much as just buying the Ti heat shields. However once you have the rotor and caliper temps you will have the information you need to select the right path for your money.

More often than not you will find that your rotors are running too hot, you will either have to improve the cooling to the brake rotors or upgrade the rotors themselves. It's more expensive but IMO it's the right way to do things - as an added bonus if your brake rotors run cooler you typically won't go through pads as fast and that in turn saves money.