CMax, I've been away on business and I haven't been able to deal with this recently. It is still horrendously noisy- even moreso after in my last bout I didn't replace the brake quiet spray (since it hadn't worked previously)
Where can I get these shims? Should they have come with my brakes? Do you know where I can find pictures? (I didn't seen them on the Hawk webpage) Do you agree that I shouldn't have groves on my disc, but rather a cross hatched pattern?
Thanks for your help CMax.
Were your rotors brand new and freshly turned? Are you using Hawk HPS's? Are the rotors aftermarket?
Those shims are nissan products and can be purchased from the dealer, Pep boys, Abc Nissan, Courtesy nissan; but it's called a hardware kit and it's less than $20 I believe. The Hawk pads have some smaller noise dampering shims bonded to the back of the pad backing plate, but they need the other pieces to work properly (quietly). Go to Courtesy parts online and they offer an exploded view of the front brake assy in thier IPC(illustrated Parts catalog).
Once you gather all your necessary parts, remove your pads and clean the backs with brake cleaner, Mek, mineral spirits or acetone. Then apply the brake quiet spray evenly (don't be shy) and I normally let it dry to a touch and install the Nissan shim, then I spray the backs of the shims and let dry and then high temp grease the edges of the pad backing plate and install! good luck!
Cool- I'll give that a shot- I had new (unturned) Brembo rotors I purchased at the same time as the Hawk's - I don't have a Courtesy auto parts- but maybe I'll just bend over and walk in backwards at the dealer. As I said before- I'm getting pretty desperate. :P
Were your rotors brand new and freshly turned? Are you using Hawk HPS's? Are the rotors aftermarket?
Those shims are nissan products and can be purchased from the dealer, Pep boys, Abc Nissan, Courtesy nissan; but it's called a hardware kit and it's less than $20 I believe. The Hawk pads have some smaller noise dampering shims bonded to the back of the pad backing plate, but they need the other pieces to work properly (quietly). Go to Courtesy parts online and they offer an exploded view of the front brake assy in thier IPC(illustrated Parts catalog).
Once you gather all your necessary parts, remove your pads and clean the backs with brake cleaner, Mek, mineral spirits or acetone. Then apply the brake quiet spray evenly (don't be shy) and I normally let it dry to a touch and install the Nissan shim, then I spray the backs of the shims and let dry and then high temp grease the edges of the pad backing plate and install! good luck!
I was just thinking the same thing, as I had to use a shim from one of my stock pads on the back of my akebono pad because of a clearance issue, and I thought... why didn't I do that for my noisy @$$ hawk pads? Has anybody else seen success in using stock nissan brake shims in making hawk pads quieter?
p.s... i also had grooves in my rotors from hawk hps pads.. they were brand new brembo rotors
It just says "front brake hardware kit," and doesn't have any pictures.. maybe i'll give hawk a second chance with this shim kit... could i just use the shims from my old stock pads and see the same results?
Here is an image of the front assembly I found- I'm guessing he is recommending to buy those two parts- 5 & 6. I suppose I'll go down to my Nissan dealer and see if they sell those. Courtesy doesn't have adequate pictures or descriptions.
Somehow I'm concerned that this will still squeal since I've tried a few other things.
On a really disappointing note- Hawk did not e-mail me back when I asked them about the problems- they could have at least given me a stock answer and told me to go away instead of saying nothing. Honestly that is no way to do business.
So I bought all the stuff you suggested CMax- installed it the way you suggested as well- bought the full hardware kit (I guess that is how the shims are sold) which included new clips (top & bottom) for both corners. The I put on the 3 shims according to the instructions (two on the outside- one on the inside). I used squeal inhibiting paste as well as high-temp grease according to your description (and the pictures above in the service manual).
So I bought all the stuff you suggested CMax- installed it the way you suggested as well- bought the full hardware kit (I guess that is how the shims are sold) which included new clips (top & bottom) for both corners. The I put on the 3 shims according to the instructions (two on the outside- one on the inside). I used squeal inhibiting paste as well as high-temp grease according to your description (and the pictures above in the service manual).
I was just thinking the same thing, as I had to use a shim from one of my stock pads on the back of my akebono pad because of a clearance issue, and I thought... why didn't I do that for my noisy @$$ hawk pads? Has anybody else seen success in using stock nissan brake shims in making hawk pads quieter?
p.s... i also had grooves in my rotors from hawk hps pads.. they were brand new brembo rotors
I just replaced all 4 corners with the Brembo blanks and Hawk HPS pads last weekend, I reused all stock Nissan pad shims and I have had zero noise/squeals from the start. I also used a generous amount of the red goo that came with the Hawk pads, been very satisfied with the results and how quiet they are.
Hey remove those pads and clean their backing plates and buy the spray on "Brake Quiet" or "Quiet Brake" and also spray some brake cleaner on the piston and caliper's fingers. Let dry to the touch and all your squealing is gone! By the way are you using the Oem brake shims? The only place you should be using hi-temp grease on is where the pads set on the adapter spring clips/pad retainers. Do not put grease on the back of the pads, spray the "brake quiet" spray on the back of the pads, install the shims and spray some more on top of that and let dry to touch and install the pads into the pad retainers on the torque member/adapter! don't be shy with the spray either. If you have a squeal/squeak something is loose and vibrating. The spray keeps everything cushioned /isolated...check your PM
1. After installing new brake pads, make 6 to 10 stops from approximately 30-35 mph applying moderate pressure.
2. Make an additional 2 to 3 hard stops from approximately 40 to 45 mph.
3. DO NOT DRAG BRAKES!
4. Allow 15 minutes for brake system to cool down.
5. After step 4 your new pads are ready for use.
Yep, i had hawk hps pads on my car for like 3 weeks and the braking was inconsistent to the max... til i did a couple of 100 to 0 hard braking off an empty highway exit ramps at like 2 in the morning.. Now braking is decent when cold, and extremely good when warm
Thanks for all your help- sincerely appreciate your offer to help directly- what you're describing sounds exactly like what I did last time.
I-
1) Replaced the clips and put high-temp grease on the side that faces the pads as well as side the mounts to the torque member
2) Cleaned the back of the pads with Pyroil brake cleaner
3) Cleaned the piston with Pyroil brake cleaner
4) Applied Permatex Disc Brake Quiet to the inbound and outbound brake pads, waiting until dry, then placing the newly purchased OE shims on the pads and applying the Brake Quiet on the outside of the shims.
5) Applied high temperature grease to the top and bottom of the pads (inbound and outbound) that slide on the clips.
Do you see anything that I missed there that would still be causing me to have problems- it looks like the only thing I didn't spray clean is the caliper fingers- should I clean and Brake Quiet those fingers too?
This last install I was silent for almost 2 weeks which was the best. The new thing from the last time I've done this (I've tried doing this five times) was the addition of the OE hardware kit which included the new clips and 3 shim plates per side- 2 for the outbound pad and 1 for the inbound pad.
Last edited by duderiffic; 08-31-2008 at 10:46 PM.
It is still horrendously noisy- even moreso after in my last bout I didn't replace the brake quiet spray (since it hadn't worked previously) 
Has anybody else seen success in using stock nissan brake shims in making hawk pads quieter?
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