I'm changing out the front brake pads on my 95 ES300. Do I need to put any sort of brake quiet or brake grease between the shims and the pads and between the shims and calipers? From some of the DIYs I've seen here and elsewhere, that is what people are doing. But the factory service manual and Haynes manual does not mention putting anything on. Also, I look at a bottle of brake quiet, and it says "not for use with shims". Can anyone clear up this confusion? Thanks!

 

I usually put some silicone RTV sealant on the pads (where it mates with the calipers) to prevent slight movements of the brake pads when going from Drive to Reverse or vise versa. It will also prevent squealing noise.

 

I wouldnt use silicone sealant. I would use a brake specific lubricant or disc brake quiet spray on in between the pads and shims.

 

Put some brake quiet between the back of the brake pad and the shim. The one I used comes in little packets and it's just labeled Brake Quiet, got it at a local parts store.

 

I looked at the factor service manual for a few other vehicles, and Toyota/Lexus factor service manual says to use "Brake Lubricant." I guess this might be slightly different than brake quiet. There's actually a couple of different Toyota part numbers for this lubricant, but I called around and it only comes with the shim kits. For some reason, when I ordered my kit, it didn't come with the little pack, so I ended up getting one from Autozone - it says "Brake Lubricant" on the 4 oz package.

Interesting, the FSM and various TSBs say to only put the lubricant on the front and back of the "inside" shim (the ES300 has two shims). I've seen some people say to put it on the outside of the "outside" shim - where the pistons contact the shims. Toyota says specially not to do this.