[garioch43]

Noticed a rattling noise which sounded like bag of spanners and got worse the faster I went.

Turns out that the thin sheet metal mud shields which sit behind the front brake discs have coroded and come loose.

They are held on by 3 bolts. The holes for the bolts have rusted round the edges so they have come adrift and clatter about.

You have to remove the caliper and brake disc to get at the securing bolts, so not a 5 minute job.

Anyone else experienced this phenomenon yet?

 

[arron]

yep mine did the same, scared the crap out of me the other day. nice hot day so i opened the window to be greeted by a right bloody noise, i fixed that problem straight away by shutting the window again. :lol: on a serious note though i took mine off completely when i changed the discs to some fancy drilled and grooved ones, to change them you need to take the bearing of aswel as the hole in the centre aint big enough to fit over the hub. you dont need them things realy, think of the fuel your going to save by reducing the weight and binning em.

 

[Locky]

Yup mine too. They didn't come loose but I noticed they were corroding through when I did my front wheel bearings. Bad news is you cant remove them without pulling the hub appart, unless you cut them. Which I did coincidently. When I get time I'm going to weld some washers into the corroded bits. I'm a cheapskate.

 

[L322Pilot]

Same thing on 2003 car with 90k, I used some large washers with the bolts, should hold it until the front brakes are replaced.

 

[garioch43]

I would appreciate others thoughts on discarding these mud shields completely.

Surely they protect the surface of the brake discs from damage and getting covered in crud. :think:

 

[arron]

i suppose if you actually use it off road they serve a useful purpose, mine never sees that kind of action so i cant see as they would help. if you look at a subaru impreza they dont have muck sheilds on at all neither do a lot of vauxhalls. cut em off and stop the rattle.

 

[wealy]

I have just cut mine off. I cant see the point if you don't go off road?

 

[diff]

I heard a crazy sound on and off and finally traced it to the drivers side shield. Could have also been the type of noise I thought the engine was making. Really scary, actually. I will have a look under and see about cutting them off. Does any one on this side of the pond have a point of view on the shields? Could wet weather braking be affected with their absence?

 

[Mrmerlin]

FWIW when you remove the brake disc backing plate you will then have the inner sides uncovered,
this isnt a problem till your driving in wet conditions,
then the tires will splash water at each other and also wet the brake discs, this could cause a loss of braking and cause an accident unless you ride the brakes when its raining.

Best hint buy new washers and bolts and fit them to the rusted shields.

OR buy new shields and cut the slot wider so it can fit over the axle , cut the old shield off

 

[Carpernorm]

I heard a crazy sound on and off and finally traced it to the drivers side shield. Could have also been the type of noise I thought the engine was making. Really scary, actually. I will have a look under and see about cutting them off. Does any one on this side of the pond have a point of view on the shields? Could wet weather braking be affected with their absence?

I do go off road in mine so I'm going to keep my shields on. I'll use the big washer trick if needed.

 

[diff]

I did wonder about wet weather issues. So if it can slip over (with some minor paring) without major disassembly that would be good. Thank-you for the view point.

 

[Mrmerlin]

sometimes the two design engineers dont talk to each other on the day they configure a part.
Having to remove the hub flange to swap in a backing plate isnt the smartest thing.

A lil bit of trimming that should cure the issue

 

[diff]

I finally did the work and a couple of reminder points. Make sure you have a fresh 15 mm socket to use on the small calliper bolt heads and/or have a new set ready to replace. The disc may also be badly stuck to the hub so pb blaster and a heavy ball peen hammer to tap the rotor should be available. The set screw on the rotor is a 30mm one so have a hex key on a 3/8 drive ratchet to ease removal. I had copper coated mine in an earlier year and it came out nicely. The 3 bolts that secure the backing plate-to my surprise came out without a fuss-tap the bit of metal off the locating hub which is like a washer but is part of the fractured plate. Install a large washer with a very small hole. The bolt head is 10mm. I reused the existing bolt but if you need a washer on both sides a slightly longer bolt may be required. Its tight now so now I can hear the next noise coming from the rear-bearing or brake pad or dry bushings.

 

[MARK_C]

There is a replacement 2 piece brake shield available from Atlantic British (maybe elsewhere), basically it it two halves that bolt together, and then bolt to the hub. So you can cut the old ones off,and then reinstall these without disassembling the whole hub.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plE-5u7lCcE

 

[diff]

That is a great idea.`When this fails i will go that route.