Brake pad dampners...important?

So looking at the official parts catalogue they dont show these pad dampners, and they dont show on the brake pad box. But ive seen them in other parts catalogues. So are these neccessary? Thanks

I believe the pad dampeners with the little metal mushroom shaped buttons come on the car from the factory. I hadn't noticed that they don't show on the PET parts list. I have heard some say new ones come with the replacement pads, but that was not true of the pads I bought from an online seller. And I too see that they are listed separately on the online catalogues. Yes, they are needed to prevent brake squeal/squeak. Whether or not new ones are needed with every brake pad change I am not sure. They seem to be re-usable if removed intact from the old pads with a sharp scraper or knife.

Thanks Ya mine are all intact and they came off pretty easily. Was wondering if they were aftermarket as other brake jobs ive done on other vehicles didnt have these, and the diy stuff on pelican or youtube never made mention of them.

those brake pad retracting things aren't needed. I ditched mine so long ago, I can't remember.

You can order replacements from paragon or pelican...but they are NOT cheap. I was getting such bad squeal with my rear track pads, I tried to reuse my rear ones and it worked for awhile reducing the noise, until of course the adhesive gave up the ghost due to heat. They make the pads really tough to change, but yeah they aren't necessary per se, just reduce vibrations and noise.

yes and make sure you do replace them at the time of Brake Pad Change

I'm 95% sure I've got a set new in their bags from suncoast if you decide you want them. I'd be happy to sell them to you for half of whatever they cost me. PM me if you're interested and I'll track them down. -Shawn

I do not use them unless I'm running more aggressive than stock pads. With stock pads, without dampers, squeal on my '99 C4 is negligible. With a loud pad like Cool Carbon, you will go insane without the dampers, and only slightly less insane with the dampers.

I use CRC Brake Quiet on the back of my pads. It works awesome. Just put a bead of it in the area where the pistons meet the pad. It will "glue" the pads to the pistons so they don't chatter or rattle, but peels right off when you need to remove the pads.

^ That's one of the two products that Cool Carbon recommends on their site to stop brake noise.

I had half of the shims on the rear brakes come apart when removing the pads, and just installed the new pads without them.... brakes squeaed like a banshee.... had to take them out again and put some anti-squeal on them.

Thanks all Capt thats what i had always used too. The dampners are in good condition so ill do some prep and reuse em. Any recommended adhesive?

With the factory dampeners on the pads, you have to take the calipers off to do a simple pad change. The new pads come with those metal anti squeal buttons built in - shouldn't they do the trick?

Removed mine a long time ago. They will squeal occasionally but I use that red goop someone showed up above. Without those shims changing a pad is SO easy.

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Yup, I'm gonna do the same when I install my Akebono pads.

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LOVE Akebono pads. Such a great pad for the money.

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Love them in my BMW - almost zero dust, great performance. No noise, with ZERO orange goo! Hope the pads for the 996 behave the same.

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I reuse mine using this high temp adhesive with success (street use and no tracks) Thermo-Tec HeavyDuty Spray Adhesive : Amazon.com : Automotive Thermo-Tec HeavyDuty Spray Adhesive : Amazon.com : Automotive

I can tell you that a bit of orange RTV, even with good prep, didn't hold up to the track. So don't use that.