charlieaf92

When I replaced my front brake pads I found that the shims had rusted into the pistons and were totally stuck. I ended up having to get new pistons - and since you can't buy just the piston from Porsche, I opted for stainless steel pistons from Racing Brake. They're awesome, and since they're stainless they are able to be thinner walled than stock. Well, as a result the shims/dampers don't fit in them, so I left them out. No difference. At. All. I haven't noticed any more (or less) squealing from the brakes.

Cheers
Charlie

Splitting Atoms

One piece of empirical data I have is from my brake pad change after I purchased the car. Three of the calipers had the shims. One did not. The brake pads were well worn and had been on the car for a couple of years. The pads were all evenly worn and I could not detect a difference in performance or noise. One thing I did notice is that the rubber seals on the pistons were in obviously better condition on the three calipers that had the shims. There was clearly more heat transfer to the piston and seals in the caliper that did not have the shims. Based on that observation, I purchased a set of shims and installed them with the new pads.

Jeff95M030

Old thread, but I purchased these OEM shims and just used some acetone to remove the sticky goo from the pad-facing side before installing them. The shims stay inside the pistons on the caliper and the pads (Pagid yellow, typically noisy) slide in and out quickly. Used a touch of hi-temp brake grease on the backs of the pads as well for good measure.