Do you guys use brake pad shims on the track?
 

When you are using your track only pads, do you use the shims that are included with the OEM pads.

I'm referring to the shims on both the front and rear pads.

Also, can these shims be purchased from the dealer without buying a set of pads? If so, anyone know how much.

I use the shims on pads that don't have an integral shim.

the side shims and end clips can be purchased as a stand-alone combined kit for the front brakes, or also included with the pads for the front brakes

I seem to recall that the front shim/clip kit is approx. $20 MSRP and maybe $13 or so through Motorsports

on the rear the end clips are available separate, or combined with the side shims as a kit, or the kit with brake pad

so side shims only; no

see attached

I don't use it, because they dont fit my brake pads for some reason

depends on how much rattling i can take:)
olddragger

I don't use them...but I put up with more noise than most. I also don't have stock front caliper anymore....

Just got off the phone with the people at CarboTech, because I had an incessant squeal from the brakes. Took them off and put the stocks back on and the squeal disappeared and my mileage has gone to 21.5/22, up from the usual 20mpg. This has been consistent for 5-6 tankfuls without any other changes.

Carbotech said that they build their brakes to a thicker dimension to compensate for the stock shims and said that I should not be using them. That is probably what caused the squeal and the poorer mileage. I won't be able to check it out until our next Trials event on 10/18&19, though.

That seems odd to me. If they were that tight you would have had trouble putting them in. If you can withdraw the piston enough to get the pads in there without hammering them in I would not think they would be dragging. I installed my Cobalt XR2/XR5s last night in anticipation of a HPDE this weekend at Sebring. I had to push the piston ALL the way in to get them in with the shims but they went in without pushing. I lubed the backs and shims with moly brake grease and they are perfectly quiet today on the street.

A 1.5 mpg increase is pretty small when your measuring accuracy is probably +-0.5mpg. The actual brake compound mu (coefficient of friction) may have more to do with dragging than the pad thickness if there actually is some dragging.

I use the shims even with my track pads because in addition to helping keep things quiet its an additional insulation between the pad and the piston/brake fluid which keeps the fluid temperatures down.

The pads didn't squeal after the initial installation, not until after a couple of months. I had to turn the piston in all the way and it was tight, but the pads and shims did fit. I am giving Carbotech the benefit of the doubt and will reinstall them as they recommended. Than I can see what happens.

The 1.5 to 2 mile increase is significant: 7.5-10 % and it was consistent on every tankful. I had never gotten that previously. I did not include on tank that I got 23.5 mpg because it was mostly highway miles, even though it was up and over the Continental Divide.

Which Carbotech pads are we talking about? I'm assuming its one of their street pads since you said it took a month to start to squeal. I've used their track pads (XP10/XP8) and left them on the car (with factory shims and moly lube) for a week because I was lazy and never heard a peep out of them. My experience with squealing is that most squealers can be quieted with shims and appropriate use of a synthetic molybdenum disulfide brake grease on the top, bottom, and backs of the pad and shims. Neither my street nor my track pads squeal.

I am talking about the Panther Plus (first set) and then the AX6's. When I ordered the second set, I explained the problem with the first set and they said to smooth out the ears on the tops and bottom because the backing pads sometimes have a lip after the molds are used a lot. I filed them and greased them and I had no problems for a month or more where I used them at autocrosses, time trials and street driving. I was surprised that I never experienced any fade while on the track and so I kept them on all the time.

After feeling that they had too much initial bite, I went back to the stocks for autocrossing and I liked the modulation much better.