Brake pad shim question

[Edmond]

I don't know if it's actually called a shim or not but it's the little metal plate between the pad and the caliper piston.

I have two very thin plates on the front of my Camry. Am I supposed to have two or just one plate?

[robehsi]

2 pads per caliper, 1 shim for each pad so 2 shims each caliper = correct. my aftermarket brakes have a small underneath shim and a top shim for each pad.

[Edmond]

Originally Posted by robehsi

2 pads per caliper, 1 shim for each pad so 2 shims each caliper = correct. my aftermarket brakes have a small underneath shim and a top shim for each pad.

Mine has two shims on each pad, 4 on each caliper. Think that could cause some squeaking?

[Eye8Pussies]

it depends on the gen of camry you have


Yes, the gen3s (at least hte v6s, don't know about the 4bangers) have 4 shims to each brake pad. Two on each side, same for front and back.



squeaking can becaused by either rusty/old shims, or a lack of anti-squeal oil stuff (forgot what its called)

if your shims are in bad shape, get new ones from the dealer- it will come with anti-squeal stuff
if they're in perfectly good condition, then go to your local auto shop and ask for anti-squeal lubricant - it usually comes in small packets

[Edmond]

I was getting this annoying squeaking for the past few weeks and finally got around to doing something about it last Friday. I just blew some air into the rear brakes and that seemed to solve the problem for a few days.

It came back a couple days ago and I thought that it could be the front brakes since I blew some air onto the rear brakes so there shouldn't be any dust or anything like that back there.

I'll have to pull all 4 tires off this weekend and examine the problem. The squeaking is getting on my nerves.

[88 LE]

^ Remove the brake pads. Clean the pads, shims, and rotors with brake parts cleaner.

Apply disc brake goop onto the back of the pads and shims. You can buy it in little packages, bottle, or spray can.

Reinstall.

[Edmond]

Originally Posted by 88 LE

^ Remove the brake pads. Clean the pads, shims, and rotors with brake parts cleaner.

Apply disc brake goop onto the back of the pads and shims. You can buy it in little packages, bottle, or spray can.

Reinstall.

Thanks for the advice. I will do that tomorrow.

It was just having the squeaking when I didn't step on the brake. But today, I noticed that on occassion, it would also squeak from the other side when I stepped on the brake.

They're Bosch brake pads, if that would have anything to do with it.

[fe519]

it might be your brake pads. I got a 98 camry v6 and bought pads from kragen (and not even the cheap pads) and they squeaked like sh*t! This was about 3 years ago when the car was relatively new. I got so fed up that I bought OEM pads and they dont squeak at all. You might just wanna go with original pads. Sometimes the rotor is not even and cause it to squeak but when I installed it in my camry, it only had about 30k on it.

[Edmond]

I just put the pads and rotors on last October. It didn' start squeaking until a month ago.

How much are OEM pads? I don't really want to spend much.

[steve97]

OEM pads $45 + shipping. Not bad
Akebono ProAct Ceramic pads $61 + shipping