I'm afraid I don't understand the lubricant here. The shims (actually vibration dampers in this case) have an adhesive that purposely binds them to the brake pad... lubricant will prevent this. The use of lubricant on our OEM brake pad installations is not a Porsche recommendation that I am aware of. Mine work just fine and have no noise with just the sticky shims and no lubricant.

BTW, the sticky shims can be popped off the pads with a long putty knife or other thin blade so they are not really permanently glued to the pads. To get the pads out without removing the calipers I've had to slide a blade in to pop the shims free of the pad since the shims will hold the pads locked into the pistons (unless you remove the whole caliper).

 

I think it works more as an insulator than a lube. One of my previous posts suggested it is not needed but wouldn t hurt if he felt inclined.

 

I think the key here is using a small amount to absorb vibration. There are a few indies that apply grease to the back of pads and also around the lip of the piston where it makes contacts with the shim/dampener.

Anyway don't the shims lock into place? Then adhesive isn't essential?

 

The shims have metal "*****" on them that lock into the center of the pistons. The adhesive on the other side of the shim then locks the shim to the pads.

I've certainly seen some do away with the shims since they aren't cheap and are a little annoying to remove. Then you just let the pistons contact the metal backing of the pads. If you do this, then the brake anti-squeal lube between the piston and the pad backing becomes desirable to prevent squeal... just like on most cars.

I'd recommend one or the other, but not lube AND shims. I decided just to cough up the extra bucks and stick with the OEM approach since it seems to work well. I was also able to salvage more than half of the original shims since they were still sticky after I popped them off and returned the remaining replacement ones to save a few dollars.

 

I've got shims on and my brakes squeal like a pig. I am going to try the lubricant. It is temp rated to 3000f so there is no chance of it running.

 

Dang, sorry to hear that. I've changed the pads on two different 997s without lube and never had a squeal. Did you follow a bedding procedure? If not, that could explain it. Here is the bedding procedure that I've used for my Hawk ceramic pads: