I am getting ready to do the rear brakes on my 01' Trooper and will be doing the front brakes later on. I ordered both front and rear pad sets from St. Charles. They each came with pads, shims, clips for the ends of the pads and two packets of what appears to be grease of some sort. I have the CD version of the shop manual, but it was not very helpful on how/where to apply these compounds. It just says ôInstall pad assembly with shim and apply special grease (approximately 0.2 g) to both contacting surfaces of the inner shims. Wipe off extruded grease after installing.ö It does not say which grease packets to use and I am not sure what ôboth contacting surfaces of the inner shimsö means. Does it mean both sides of each shim? Does it mean only the side that contacts the pad?

The rear set of pads came with one packet of an orange substance and one packet of a copper colored substance that looks like metal flake paint. It sparkles.

The front set came with one orange packet as well, but the other packet is black.

So, how and where do I use these substances? Any pictures? I know this is not a difficult job, I just want to make sure I do it right! Thanks in advance for the assistance.

Anyone? I am sure that someone here has used the original factory parts kits. No takers? Any suggestions for another source to find the answer?

If you do a Google search for "brake grease", it'll come up with some good answers to your questions.

Whatever you do, DO NOT APPLY THE GREASE TO THE SIDE OF THE PAD THAT CONTACTS THE ROTOR... but I'm pretty sure you would know something like that. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

You could also check with a couple of auto parts stores or give St. Charles Isuzu a call and talk to Merlin (SP)... http://isuzu.stcharlesauto.com/Department-Parts.aspx

HTH
Van <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

I want to say the flakey stuff goes between the shims and the pads. There should actually be a plastic slit shim between the metal shim and the pad. I can't remember if the shims were included in the kit.

The non-metallic grease goes in the boots for the slide pins. You want grease on the outside of the pins, not in the middle.

Good Luck,
Michael

Yes on the placement; and my OEM brake pad kit came with everything, including new shims. And the shims were thin metal, not plastic.

Oh yeah. That's right. They should have been rubber/plastic covered metal slit shims. I distinctly (well, in a foggy kind of way) recall them having a coating.

m

Thanks for the replies!<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> I tried calling St. Charles and they were not interested in helping. Merlin was not the one that answered the phone but I have talked with him in the past. I may try again. I also spent a lot of time on Google trying to get some ideas. The only thing I could find was that the pins need greased (I already new that). I just did not know which grease in the kit to use on the pins. Both front and rear kits did come with slotted shims and also shinny (stainless?) covers that go over the shims.

So, should the copper colored "grease" go on both sides of the slotted shims? What about the black "grease" that came with the front pad kit? The front pad kit came with both black and orange "grease" packs. Is the black grease also for the shims? It seems strange that they would not use the same high-temp grease for both front and rear.

Again, thank you for the replies!

I think mine just had a "blued" appearance (like gunmetal).

Regardless, the orange pack is for the pads/shims. I put it on the pad side of the shim only and no issues with squeaks; but I don't think it'd hurt to put it on both sides if you had enough.

Just smear it on the shim. Let it fill in the slits a bit. It is less about squeeks, and more about dampening any harmonics. Between the shims and the grease, it works very well. Trust me, aftermarket pads without the Isuzu shims can be heard from a mile away.

Michael