As Wrenchbender posted, the thick part is to the rear.

Here are some photos of an original shim. There is a hole in the middle to clear the spring-pack center-bolt head. There is a "locating pin" on one side and a slight dimple/indentation on the other side of the "pin". I found a few shims in my parts box that had the pin sheared off and almost no indentation on the backside of the pin.