Front brake splash shields are kicking my butt.

[Begle1]

I get the new rotors installed on the hubs, press on the wheel studs, get the bearings packed full of grease, install the seals, slide the hub onto the spindle...

And the rotor scrapes against the splash shield. I bend the part of the splash shield that is scrapeing, and that makes another part scape. I do that for twenty minutes, then I take the splash shield off and pound it flat with a hammer, and it still scrapeing when I put it back on.

Anybody else ever get their butts kicked by these flimsy pieces of huh??

And, more pressingly, is it that bad of an idea to run without them, like I'm doing now?

[Begle1]

What is the idea behind the splash shields? I imagine that the major thing they do is keep rocks and other debris from damaging the rotor?

[gear jammer 91"]

It's the middle of summer, who needs splash shields. When it starts raining again just duct tape some tin foil to the back of your wheels, it should keep the water out.

[mprmn08]

the splash shield actually keeps the brakes allot cooler. if you tow or do alot of stop and go driving i would deffinatly try to keep them on there.

[GO OVRIT]

I've run my Jeep without them for years, to keep mud from packing in between. I guess if the heat is an issue you should run them though. Did you check the new rotors to see if they are the same width? I've gotten some rotors before that in my opinion were nowhere close to factory specs.

[greasemonkey]

begle I had that happen to me when I changed the rotors on my dad's 91, drove me crazy trying to tweak and straighten them, left one side off, the other side squeaks now and then with the right amount of brake pressure. only thing I could find was the ID of the rotor was slightly smaller, just enough to rub on the dust shield.

we've been way too busy to jack it up and take another look at it. I guess I'll probably be playing the same stupid game when I change the pads/rotors on mine here pretty soon.

[MMiller]

I pulled mine off of all my trucks, as they get full of mud and then squeal like crazy when the mud dries up. They have been off my 93 for at least 100,000 miles, and I still have the original rotors at 250,000 miles. This winter I plan on new front brakes, rotors, and such. The dust shields will still not be installed. I've noticed no ill effects of removing the piece of tin.

Michael