missing frt inner brake pad shims

[mjpxs11sh]

what up all!
i took my frt brakes apart looking for a frt rotating ticking noise when slowing down and found i am missing both inner pad shims that are not avail anymore. anyone, what is the purpose of pad shims?
i fixed the noise by putting some CRC disc brake quiet on the back of the pads. i guess the pads were moving around at slow speeds or at least thats the only time i could hear it. thanx
also, the rear pads have 2 shims together on the inner piston side, one is a small matte blac half the size of the pad and the other is a chrome half with an arrow pointing to the frt on top of the matte black one closest to the piston, but the diagram ,from what i can see, shows 1 full pad length shim on the inner and a half size pad shim on the outside. i think mine is obviously wrong. anyone know about the chrome shim with the arrow?

[DAVINCI]

Not sure about what you've got, I haven't had my SH for a longtime, you should follow the diagram in the repair manual for placement. BUT, that said, if you are missing some shims you can cut them yourself from flashing stock. It's less than $1 at home depot. I had a horrific squealing problem with my front brakes and the shims cured it. I put one on each pad.

[mjpxs11sh]

also, the rear inner pads have 2 shims together on the piston side, both are half the size of the pad, but together the 2 halves fit over the full width of the pad. one is matte black and one is really thin chromed metal with an arrow punched out in the upper corner pointing towards the frt. the 81 xs11s diagram doesnt show the shims i have and has one full pad length shim on the piston side and a half shim on the outer pad side. anyone seen the chrome shim with the arrow on it? had the diagram, but wont paste with the image.

[mjpxs11sh]

thanx Davinci, was that ur 81sh? did u just design ur own since u didnt have a template and create it from the diagram? u cant see the inner shim on the diagram. lets see if this link works
http://www.bikebandit.com/houseofmot...8246#sch220043

[DAVINCI]

The shims I made are similar, covering half the pad in a diagonal pattern. That pattern seems to work better than a full-pad-size shim. I think it has something to do with the piston making angular contact with the pad vs. full flat contact.

ALL my shims are angular, front and back. I see on the rear diagram that inner shim is full-pad size.

[mjpxs11sh]

ok, thanx for the reply! not sure how ill deal with this finding.

[DAVINCI]

If you don't have any squealing, you need not do anything.

[mjpxs11sh]

the frt are quiet after the disc brake quiet, but im lookin at all the parts on the rear cause the i think the disc is getting hot when it shouldnt probably be. its a long story of misalignment and i shoved a thin spacer at the rear collar to line it up. maybe 2 pad shims at the piston side are too much. i guess u never saw a chrome rear shim with an arrow punched out in the upper corner. why dont they stop redesigning everything.

[DAVINCI]

If the piston is relaxing properly when the brake is released, then the shims, no matter their thickness, won't have any effect. Be sure your brake actuating rod (at the MC) is not adjusted too tight, there should be some play (check manual for exact measurement). Second thing to look at is the caliper mounting bolt. That's the single 12mm bolt with the rubber booty on it. There's a slider inside that booty there that needs to be cleaned and lubricated, otherwise the brake caliper will drag.

If, after all these are checked out, you still have dragging brakes, it's time to take the system apart and clean it all.

[mjpxs11sh]

been there, done all that with the exception of the slider sleeve. had the whole rear system off, disassembled MC and caliper, blew out lines, adj pedal rod, spooge, all looked fairly new and clean. its better now than when originally the caliper was smokin about 40mi away from my garage, but not sure that its totally right. ill pull that sleeve out and clean it up. thanx

[redbone]

if it helps, i have in my posession front brake shim that was made for me by a tinknocker and it is 'pre-bend tab'. bend tabs (2) one way for the rite side and naturally opposite for the left. will be happy to trace and fax. this was for my 1980. don't know if same for 81.

[DAVINCI]

been there, done all that with the exception of the slider sleeve. had the whole rear system off, disassembled MC and caliper, blew out lines, adj pedal rod, spooge, all looked fairly new and clean. its better now than when originally the caliper was smokin about 40mi away from my garage, but not sure that its totally right. ill pull that sleeve out and clean it up. thanx

That slider should be clean enough and lubed enough to move by hand, just like on a car.

[mjpxs11sh]

redbone, are they half a pad width with the middle cut at an angle? heres the link for an 81 special. let me know. ive been out in the garage workin on mine, sorry for the delay. part 17-50
http://www.bikebandit.com/houseofmot...8246#sch219890

[ManagerMike]

The shims are for noise reduction and nothing more. They double the frequency of the vibrations to something outside the range of human hearing (in theory). If the crc quieted your brakes, you have instead dampened the vibrations and can live without the shims.
No shims on my bike at all or disc brake quiet, the rear brakes are quiet and the fronts are tolerable as they only squeal slightly during light braking.

They squealed like a stuck pig when the pads were new, but a few aggressive stops from road speed seated them and got them to quit complaining so loudly.

[mjpxs11sh]

ok, i pulled the rubber and the sleeve on the rear caliper. it was really stiff. washed and lubed the rubber insert with dish soap and lubed the sleeve with high temp red wheel bearing grease. i had to knock that sucker out with a hammer and socket. even with lube its a pretty tight fit,. i didnt realize the caliper floats on it. great tip. i researched the chrome shim that has an arrow punched out in the upper corner and found it on a 78-80 FSM. so i removed it and while going thru my bike parts box, ifound the correct missing shim. the inner piston side is a full pad width shim, and the outer is a half pad angle cut shim for anybody that this 411 would be helpful to. (not like anybody asked) anyway, im missing the 2 frt shims and their quiet now with the CRC disc grake quiet, so thats great. ill be testing the rear disc. thats my story and im stickin to it. thanx XS bros!