I have new Bosch rotors at all four corners and EBC Red stuff brakes. However there is no way on earth that the little plastic clip on shims that were on my old pads will fit. I can just barely get the EBC pads to fit on the new rotors (yes the piston is all the way back - the calipers are completely drained of fluid). Are these things absolutely necessary?

They were on the pads I took off and I understand their value, but like I said with the new EBC pads and new rotors I can't get everything to fit together. Without the shims the brake pads are already tight on the rotors.

Anyone else installing new rotors and pads at the same time run into this with EBC red Stuff?

I also measured the widest point of the old rotors (the unused top edge) and the new rotors are the same spec.

 

I put on new rotors and the ebc red stuff pads about six years ago. The rotors were not the ebc brand, can’t recall who made them.

I didn’t use any shims.

That was 80,000 miles ago and I’m on my second set of red stuff pads with no measurable wear on the rotors. I didn’t expect the red stuff pads to be so easy on the rotors.

Z

 

I discovered that there are pads with different thickness out there.

Read this old post to learn what I discovered back in 2016.