Bart-Jan

Is it as in it's name to keep away dust from the brakes? Since I live in The Netherlands with usually enough rain to keep the country free of dust (although it hasn't rained for weeks now; rare), they'll have little function here.

Or is it also to keep away water during driving through the rain?

Reason I'm asking is that the mounting points of mine are toast, due to years of salty roads in winter. I won't use the car in the winter anymore, so can I remove them or is it wise to buy new ones (I think they're quite expensive)?

BigAl1

Curious here too....

MG944

Part of their purpose is to keep brake dust off the suspension parts. Brake dust is harmful to anything it gets on. When it is not cleaned off wheels for an extended period it can ruin the finish. Same would go for other parts.

Bart-Jan

Sounds realistic. Is it still the case with modern friction material, e.g. Redstuff of which they claim, leaves less dust?

123quattro

Really they are for keeping water and stones away from the disks.

SteveG

English PET calls it "Protective Plate" I always heard it called splash shield. Not much to do with brake dust. If you drive through water that is higher or hydroplanes past the shield, you should test brakes lightly to heat them a bit and/or get the water to go away. Otherwise you may have little or no braking.

James Bailey

If water were an issue why would the SCCA allow water cooling of brake discs with a water spray ???? That would seem odd ! Drum brakes tend to trap water but disc brakes do not have such an problem. My guess is to keep stones from getting wedged between a caliper and the disc.....

depami

I agree that they are to keep debris out.

I hit a frog at about 130 and it bent the shield causing it to rub on the rotor and squeal like crazy.

Really freaked me out till is realized what it was.

Also had a frog get in the electric fan and stop it from turning.

These weren’t very big frogs either.

Speedtoys

Water cooling is not...really liquid, and its not ON the brakes.

Its a high pressure mist INTO the brake rotors via the hub from behind.

It evaporates instantly, which increases the massflow of air THRU the channels (which is proportional to how well air cools things it passes over), and as the mist evaporates, greatly cools the air charge as well.

Its not water ON the brakes.

76FJ55

I've been curious on the effectivity of the brake shield with the installation of oversized wheels, or over sized rotors. Seem that in order for the shield to work efficiently it needs to be larger than the rotor and in close proximity to the inner edge of the rim. When people install larger rotors and bigger wheels do they also install larger shields?

blown 87

Let that be a lesson to you, don't be out at 130, try to be home by ten.

James Bailey

Rarely because you cannot really SEE the shields and 99.9% of the "upgrades" are for how it LOOKS.....

123quattro

Lots of water into disk brakes will decrease their output noticeably when they are cold. Some stability control systems are tied to the rain sensor and lightly pulse the brakes to dry the brakes during wet weather. I believe BMWs specifically do this.

Speedtoys

I believe that BMW thing is a gimmick.

I cant see any rotor on a moving car down a highway/etc, being wet...short of burying the wheel at slow speed in a deep hole.

GregBBRD

Snow shields.