Annual Brake Maintenance late 2021 Model S (Tech Note 19-33-004)

[MikeGracz]

I took delivery of my new Model S September 28, 2021. Tesla recommends cleaning and lubricating the brake calipers every 12,500 miles or annually where salt is used on roads and with muddy/dirty/gravel road conditions. I drive in that climate and in those conditions and I have > 13,000 miles and almost a year on my car. We have only one service tech in our geographically huge state (no offense, but chop Alaska in half and Texas would become the third-largest US state). So to help out, I wanted to see if I could perform the service myself. Tesla opened access to their service manual and other docs for free to owners sometime earlier this year. I was able to locate the service note about this maintenance, and very clear instructions with lots of pictures on how to perform it. There are also several videos elsewhere that show what's involved. It doesn't look that difficult for someone who has a few tools and a little experience... However, step #30 requires replacement parts: rear brake "abutment shims" (not brake pad shims). I can't seem to locate these "abutment shims" anywhere. I tried searching Tesla's parts catalog and online searching with terms like Brembo/Tesla brake shims..I even wrote to the Tesla feedback email address in the service manual.

[While I was writing this post, I received a reply from Tesla:
Thanks for reaching out. Currently, the shims are included with a new set of rear brake pads. We are actively working on making the shims separately orderable. I’ll follow up with you when a part number is available.]

(You'll probably need to sign-up with your account to access the free service manual and parts catalog at the links I highlighted above)

Are there any brake pros on this forum who could offer some solid advice? (i.e. I'm not looking for speculation from backyard mechanics, such as myself ...) Here's Figure 24 from the tech note showing the shims:

 

[MikeGracz]

So now you need Tesla software to do a brake job on your car. Will Tesla allow outside access to the software? So much for doing your own brakes or having a third party do them. So much for right to repair.

Yeah, it doesn't make sense. I hope that someone here can report back about trying to do brakes using tow mode, like the tech note describes. Maybe the service tech was in error?

 

[vcor]

Yep, something doesn't sound right. The tow mode will release all the brakes. I can't guess why any other special mode might be required instead of tow mode.