Generally described, dampers having shimmed pistons are configured for use with vehicle suspensions. The dampers generally include a shaft having a piston with compression and rebound valves extending therethrough. The piston interfaces a shim assembly at the valve outlets such that damping fluid flow is controlled through a set of valves in one direction, and the damping fluid flow is limited through the same set of valves in the opposite direction. In this regard, the shim assembly is configured to provide bleed relief of the hydraulic damping fluid at lower shaft speeds and deflect away from the piston higher shaft speeds. The shim assembly generally includes a ring shim that interfaces a shim stack to provide a configurable preload for the deflectable shims and a flow path for the hydraulic damping fluid during bleed relief.