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do you really need the brake dust shields?

sloopy

2-digit whp
Joined
May 25, 2020
Location
Dallas, Texas
My brake dust shields are super rusted and probably going to fall off soon. Am I risking the biscuit by taking them off?
 
Nope


Lots of new car models does not have any dust shields at all.


Primary purpose is to shield the disc from water splash and keep the temperature up.
With a "sporty" driving style it is definitely better without.


YS
Jaybee
 
IMHO,,,, Dust shields, is not the correct nomenclature (and yes I know that's what they are normally called), they should really be called heat shields. From my perspective, they are the most useful by keeping the grease in your tie rods and ball joints from getting baked by the radiant heat from the rotors. If you remove them, they will not last as long. Probably less of a problem in cold climate areas but in hotter climates, if you have 100F ambient temps and have hot brakes and are standing still... the amount of temperature soak into the joints is less than ideal without the shielding.

edit: and heat soaking into your struts
 
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Good info. I didn't consider the heat radiating from the brakes. I'm imagining a 110 F day, exiting the 80 mph highway on a short downhill exit ramp and immediately stopping at a red light. Toasty!
 
Good info. I didn't consider the heat radiating from the brakes. I'm imagining a 110 F day, exiting the 80 mph highway on a short downhill exit ramp and immediately stopping at a red light. Toasty!

Not tooo bad. When racing we often have glowing orange rotors that are ~3mm from the outer tie rod, the tie rods last a ~500-1k miles of rally stage racing before they get replaced from being loose or the boots disintegrating.
 
They do keep rocks and dirt out. I know at work we get warranty with bent dust shields collecting rocks and making brake noises with our trucks.
 
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Not tooo bad. When racing we often have glowing orange rotors that are ~3mm from the outer tie rod, the tie rods last a ~500-1k miles of rally stage racing before they get replaced from being loose or the boots disintegrating.

Crazy. I would love to drive on a rally stage some time. I gotta find a $500 240 to abuse
 
what about that circular plate that's sandwiched on top of the dust/heat shields and goes around the axle? it looks like it would keep stuff from getting behind the hub and the wheel bearing. are they important? mine got destroyed on disassembly
 
They do keep rocks and dirt out. I know at work we get warranty with bent dust shields collecting rocks and making brake noises with our trucks.

I remember once finding out some bad sound my car was making was just a rock trapped by the heat shield.
 
what about that circular plate that's sandwiched on top of the dust/heat shields and goes around the axle? it looks like it would keep stuff from getting behind the hub and the wheel bearing. are they important? mine got destroyed on disassembly

Those I'd recommend to fix, a lot of junk collected on the back of mine when I had them off, so I put them back on. There should also be grease to keep stuff out, but on gravel/muddy roads it might not do enough, depends on where you drive/live
 
I would say you need the center section of the shields to protect the seals on the front, house the parking brake on the back.
 
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