What are shims and why you need em?

[Izigoth]

Hi,

I probably got a very silly question... what are shims and why do you need em?
As far as I understand you put the little buggers between the glow plug and the crankcase head, or am I wrong?
Forgive the noob question but I have no clue whatsoever

Thanks,

Izi

 

[ImBroken]

Read all about Head shims here...
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3825/is_200309/ai_n9295773

 

[Izigoth]

Thanks, excellent article, clarified a lot!

 

[Plaidfish]

the term is also applied to any spacer where you need to limit play usually on a shaft of some kind.....like in your diffs...when you put the Bevel gears on the shaft, you would usually "shim" the gear so it stays pushed into the spider gears rather than allowed to slip on the shaft and slide away from the spider gears....

 

[Diver6127]

They're also used in a centax clutch to get proper endplay. Also used in regular clutches to align the pinion on the spur.