So my dust shields - or what ever you call that hunk of tin on the back side of the rotors - are hopeless and I'm thinking why do I need them at all? Do they do anything useful or am I facing certain doom to leave them off?

 

They keep brake dust and heat off your suspension bits and water and gravel out of your disks. Keep em. Better yet find a DYI brake duct project to occupy your need to mod.

 

Throw them in the trash.

 

Yep that is what I found on the web too! Some say keep, most say toss but I wanted to see what you guys think about it. My rotors are quite a bit larger than the shields and I'd rather not trap heat in the bearings so I was leaning toward tossing them.

 

sounds like a whatever makes you happy deal.

 

If you have larger brakes, that must mean you plan on working the car hard. If so, keep the shields, and make some brake ducts for them.

 

Roger that. I tore it down tonight and those dust shields are behind the bearings and hub so no way am I taking them apart in the back at least. Thanks guys!

 

Mine are long gone. The only downside seems to be if you are driving in the rain on the highway for a while they start to rust up. If the above rare situation occurs I just remember to periodically tap the brakes before I actually need them.

I think taking them off lets the rotors cool better. Replacing them with ducts would be even better.
-Jason