Brake Caliper Shims?????

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Dec 27, 2006 | 10:27 PM

Stealthy4

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Burning Brakes

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St. Jude Donor '06

Brake Caliper Shims?????

Question for you all.

I am cleaning my "new to me" calipers and when i took the caliper bracket off and removed the little brackets that are on the caliper bracket, I found these little metal shims. They were definitely coated with powder coating but what are they? Do they need to go back on the caliper bracket? Are they just there to keep the smaller bracket tight? See the pictures below to better explain.:

TIA

rian

Dec 28, 2006 | 12:21 AM

Dirty Howie

Team Owner

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From: SoCal

Ive poped those pad guides off before and didn't see anything else underneath attatched to the caliper. Have your brakes been workning OK????

Dec 28, 2006 | 12:25 AM

ajg1915

Race Director

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From: West Norriton PA

St. Jude Donor '08

They are used to keep your pads from rattling and moving around.

Dec 28, 2006 | 01:51 AM

Stealthy4

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Burning Brakes

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St. Jude Donor '06

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajg1915

They are used to keep your pads from rattling and moving around.

This seems like what they were used for. they kept those copper colored brackets in there real tight. They seem to still be tight even without those little shims in there...

Thanks

Dec 28, 2006 | 01:58 AM

Bill Dearborn

Tech Contributor

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From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)

They are called brake pad retainers and are required for proper brake operation. They provide the surface for your pads to slide on. Without that surface the pads can hang up in the caliper. The pads shouldn't fit very tightly in them.

If you buy an OEM brake pad kit from GM you will get 2 of these clips, the anti rattle spring and 2 thread lock covered guide pin bolts along with the pads. The only part not necessary is the anti-rattle spring since it is only to keep stupid customers from complaining about rattling noises.

Bill

Dec 28, 2006 | 10:53 AM

Stealthy4

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Burning Brakes

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St. Jude Donor '06

Just to clarify...I am wondering about this clear tape like stuff that was between the caliper bracket and the copper retainer. It was like a clear high temp tape that was right where i show the four arrows and it was powder coated over. I figured it was layered in there by the powder coater and then he forgot to remove it, almost like he put the tape there because he didnt want powdercoating to cover that specific area of the caliper bracket....

see, i bought the calipers used and already powdercoated. i just wanted to clean them and i came across this.

Also, just for S and G:

1. where can i get a caliper rebuild kit? Do most chevy dealers have these?
2. What type of grease is used on the guide pins?
3. Red loctite on the caliper bolts (15mm)? Blue on the caliper bracket bolts(21mm)?

Last edited by Stealthy4; Dec 28, 2006 at 11:00 AM.

Dec 28, 2006 | 11:02 AM

jon c

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From: guthrie oklahoma

my guess is someone put non OEM pads on and the brass peices were a little stressed so they jury rigged something to work as stated previously there are springs that come with new OEM pads

Dec 28, 2006 | 11:08 AM

Stealthy4

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Burning Brakes

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St. Jude Donor '06

Quote:

Originally Posted by jon c

my guess is someone put non OEM pads on and the brass peices were a little stressed so they jury rigged something to work as stated previously there are springs that come with new OEM pads

Good info. Thanks!

Im hoping that i can kind of see whats going on by looking at the calipers that are still currently on the car...and comparing them to these blue calipers