I found that my anti-squeal shim piece was missing from my brakes on the front of the car. I am not sure how it could have come out, as I haven't been tracking it or anything, but when I changed pads, it was gone. My question is do I need this peice, or is it just to keep noise down on the brake assembly.

Here is a picture of the piece.

 

you do need it as it holds the break pads in place.

 

It does more than supress noise. Put it back on.

 

Naw man, leave it off....oh by the way, put me as beneficiary of your will first...




j/k...put it back on.

 

You definitly need it.
It keeps pressure on the pads and the locking pins. If one of the pins would pop loose and a pad got wedged you would be in all sorts of trouble.

 

There should be 2 sets of shims..



And I highly recommend you put that otherp piece back in.. here is a pic