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Should I care about rusted-out brake dust shields?

I have a 2005 Toyota and the dust shields are reduced to nearly nothing. Replacing them, especially, the rear ones, is a big job even though the part is cheap. Is there a strong reason to throw a lot of money at this "problem"?

Update:

Rear brakes are discs and installation of new shields requires disassembly of the hubs and bearings. There seems to be no parking brake problem. The car has only about 80K miles, so I'd like to keep it.

9 Answers

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  • Anonymous
    2 weeks ago

    Do those "shields" help with directing air into the rotors for cooling? 

    I'm curious what the "shield" is shielding.  Surely not dust.  Maybe something else?  A road hazard?? 

    I would think that if they were not necessary, the manufacturer would not install them.

  • 2 weeks ago

    DON'T think that is a TOYOTA PART! If you have DUST FREE PADS from CENTRIC or other you do NOT need SHIELDS! 

  • Anonymous
    2 weeks ago

    Leave it alone.  It is just a cover.  It is not an integral part in your car.

  • Anonymous
    2 weeks ago

    It is strange yours are rusted out.  Most are not.  It is not a big job if you have the right tools. Usually the rear have drum brakes so there are hooks and loops springs hook into to make it work. No dust shield means no rear brakes AT ALL. Really have a mechanic assess the situation.

  • 2 weeks ago

    Just break them off by bending them or use a sharp chisel. If you have drum brakes in the rear I'd leave them alone.

  • Why no; no you should not.

  • 2 weeks ago

    On a POS old Toyota, no.

  • Anonymous
    2 weeks ago

    They are only there to keep road debris from being thrown up into the brakes.

    If you drive on paved roads it's not a issue

  • y
    Lv 7
    2 weeks ago

    I have no idea about the set up in your auto, in my jeep however. The dust shields are also the mounting for the e brake, so when they rusted out. They needed to be replaced.

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