Axle shims

By shims I assume you mean the conical shim stock that is meant to space the hubs further out from the brake backing plates. The hubs and axles will wear when the nut is loose. The key gets worn too which makes the hubs and axles wear more. Most cars have this kind of wear. The shims correct this wear.

Some clues that the shims are needed are witness marks in the hubs that show that the brake shoes are rubbing or that the backing plates are rubbing, or that there is rubbing sound when the hubs are turned. The nuts should be torqued to hear the rubbing sound.

The cure, without using shims, is to replace the axles and hubs, but this is expensive and takes some effort. The way to prevent the hub and axle wear is to torque the nuts to 150 foot-pounds and check the torque once a year or more depending on how much the car is driven.

I have the shims on my car and they don't cause any problems if the nuts are torqued correctly.
 
Hello, I am currently doing this on my Model A , took off the high points on axle with a file and stone , this was from as mentioned in post , the nut was never tightened down. Then fitted the shims onto axle and used a new key also. It was fitted with shim before ,think they were damaged from nut not tightened. Drums were rubbing on back plate and wheel was loose on hub.
 
With or without shims, tighten nuts, run around the block a few times, re-tighten. Do this a few times to insure seating. Recheck from time to time.
 
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