Hi all...
I currently have PBS Pro Race pads on my daily.. I had noticed that they are in fact installed without any pad shims, and were relatively quiet. However after a good evening of blasting through the hills a few weeks ago, they are now squealing pretty much every time I brake. There's a possibility they may be glazed but on inspection don't look too bad. Possible light sand perhaps?
Piston condition is good (except for one has a slightly torn dust boot- not going to enjoy doing that and tempered to just replace the entire caliper) , caliper pins slide nicely and I had lubed all up. I replaced the rear sliders recently too as they were shot.
I'm not going to go titanium shims as it won't see the track, however, I've wondered about just fitting the standard honda stainless steel ones but cannot find them. The anti rattle shims may need a replacement as they are old, and may have lost their stiffness.
Do you think the regular pad shims are required? Is the cooper grease ok between the layers? I can't remember having them on my 06 reg s2000, when they wore ds2509 on the front, and they never squealed. TIA

 

I was told not to use copa slip(or what ever name you use) as it can affect the abs, I have a small tube of specific brake grease I put on contact area of piston/pad and a little on pad/guide area.
oe shims lying about someplace in the garage.

 

Track pads make noise sometimes. My GLOC's and Carbotechs I have run will all make noise on the street when coming to a stop. Sometimes they do sometimes they dont. But they are never up to operating temp on the street so i can make it worse. But even on track at temp they make noise.

You say it is your daily so track pads are the wrong choice. A good street sport pad will perform better on the street than a track pad will since you are not getting any heat into them. No reason at all to run track pads on a daily driver.

Did you bed them in on fresh rotors? That is a must, especially on track pads. If you ran the same compound before you can just bed on the same rotors but running track pads after street compounds on the same rotors does not always create a good transfer layer. A good bed in may help with the noise, but it may not. For the little bit of street driving I do on mine, with the track pads on they like to howl in the last 5 mph before a stop. Nothing to really do to help that. If I am going to be driving it more on the street, I swap back to my street pads with the rotors they are bedded on.

 

Never bothered with shims but yeah can get a clunk as a result
I use a dab of copper grease, no issues for me

And would agree with engi - I had track pads on my boosted car but never run them on road, they are ****ing horrible in terms of dust level, feel like wood and destroy your discs

Oh and they make a lot of noise

 

As far as I know, they were bed in on fresh discs. You know what, I'm being lazy here and just need to get new street pads. They're actually great the track pads on the b roads, as I really make them work. I suppose I can just swap them over when I'm over the hills playing. Why though I cannot find replacement standard 0.5mm shims is beyond me!! Shopping for discs and pads tonight, sod it ! The discs are ok- ISH, but ridged enough for me to change.
Any pointers on shims , let me know. I don't want 160quid titanium ones however

 

Don’t the shims come with OE pads? If they are shiny stainless steel shims you shouldn’t need any grease in there. However I use a little as my pads have some rust on the tabs. I don’t use copper grease on the brakes - as it has metal in it it shouldn’t be used on moving parts! (Metal on metal). I use CeraTec, it’s designed for brake slide pins and shims.

 

Id agree copper grease should not be anywhere near brake jobs, I use ceratec too. I did read silicone grease was the only thing that should be used on the slider pins but i have used the ceratec here without issue all be it sparingly.
Noises are usually crap quality components fitment wise.

 

Ceratec! That’s the stuff, in Portugal at the mo so a bit away from the garage to check the make yesterday.

 

It has been a very long time since I have dealt with noise from street pads. Like I said, track pads are track pads and noise is just part of the game sometimes.

I use a synthetic grease made for brake components on the slider pins, but just a small amount. Too much can cause the pins to basically hydrolock and not want to slide in all the way so it does not take much there. I have in the past used a grease on the backs of pads where the pistons contact them on street pads if they were noisy and shims did not solve it but like I said, it has been a very long time since I dealt with noise from my street pads at all.

 

Yeah. Due to the front discs being about 4 years old, I guess they aren't totally flat if I introduce new street pads. My thinking was to get new front discs for street, with Brembo or even mintex pads. Then when I'm out in the hills, swap to the current discs and use the wailing PBS pads. They are decent stoppers. Funny thing is, they never made noise at all 6 weeks ago until I went for a serious blast for 2-3 hours. I've probably glazed them in fairness , and might sand them a bit. All the pins are lubed fine, front and back with that synthetic clear brake lube.
Edit:
One of the pads (PBS) is slightly thinner than the other, only marginally. Nothing to worry about there.
I have noticed the drivers side front drop link boot has torn on the squealy side (the majority of squealing is on the o/s front) , so that in fact could change the angle of the dangle and could contribute to the noise. I haven't bothered to inspect further, and just ordered a new set for the front, they are pennies. It's not seen rain this car but possibly the ball joint could be goosed.
Don't you just LOVE 20 year old Honda's