Whenever my brakes start to squeel (on good pads) I just go to the DIY carwash in town and hit my calipers with the pressure washer (not too close) and spray out the brake dust. I'm sure I don't get as much as I would if I removed the pads to clean out the slot, but I get enough to keep them silent for a hundred miles or so.
I have slotted rotors ready to go on when I'm due for a brake change, I wonder if this will make things better or worse.

 

ALMOST everything you need is in a forum somewhere.
However the best way is to just jump in.
Things can be intimidating, but the best way to learn how something works is to take it apart and put it back together. Start with something simple like a tv remote. LOL

 

Shims may vary on different pads. I had OEM shims behind my Racing Brake ET500 pads all around and it would squeal at ALL application of the brakes, at ALL speeds, and it would be louder than a train pulling an emergency stop. I applied brake grease the the backing of the pad and the shims where it meets the caliper, and it was a temporary fix for some situations. The squealing came back within days.

I removed the shims, applied grease onto the back of the pads and reinstalled the pads. Almost zero squeal, and when there is, the sound is very mild. Also my brake feel has improved since the shims have been removed.

Like I said, the usage of shims varies on the pads.

 

Sorry guys but this type of product has been on its way out of professional use for several years. It really only lives on in some shops because the guys that swear by it are still relatively new to the industry and bring it with them from their amateur days or from the older guys that haven't had a refresher course in the last 10 years.

The standard practice in most professional shops is lubricate brake parts with high temperature brake parts silicone GREASE. This includes cleaning the caliper slide pins and applying grease to them and ALL caliper to pad contact points.

The idea behind all this lubrication is to eliminate vibration. The more rigid a bond between the caliper and the pad the better opportunity there is for vibration to be transmitted from one to the other. a quality lubricant will stop this transmission in its tracks.

To gain a better understanding think of how you make a wine glass "sing" by rubbing your finger over the rim. now try doing that with petroleum jelly on your fingers, it just won't work.

Our shop uses silicone grease on the slide pins and a specific blend of Moly Lube made for brake parts. NEVER under any circumstance use a moly lube or other petroleum based lube on a brake part that contacts rubber (mainly the caliper slides) as petroleum will cause the rubber to swell and seize the slides.

Finally, anti-seize is NOT a suitable lubricant for brake parts. Anti-seize is not rated to maintain its properties at those temperatures while exposed to friction (and i don't mean the main friction surfaces of the pads/rotors). You will notice that anti-seize products become ashy after used in that type of application. Anti-seize is really just teflon and will burn like your kitchen frying pan and become more of a hindrance than a help.

Ray

P.S. I've been in the professional auto service industry for over 10 years. if you have any questions please feel free to ask.