Are disc brake dust shields necessary?

[ddicosmo]

I'm in the process of rebooting my CV axles and noticed both front disc brake dust shields are crumbling from rust. Is it ok to remove these all together or should I replace them? Are they necessary? I live in the northeast US with lots of snow so I don't know if these are necessary to protect the disc brakes or not. Also, does anyone know where to get a replacement set for a decent price? Thanks,

Dave.

 

[firebirdguy]

yes they are needed to keep water & debris off the rotors.. you can eliminate them & the brakes wont instantly fail but they are there for a reason & especially in crappy winter weather its best to have them. should be able to find some for fairly cheap at a junk yard or check ebay etc. otherwise call a dealership & see if they sell them new.

 

[AuSeeker]

You can still get new ones from some dealers, they list for $75 each for 16" wheels and $92 each for 17" wheels....BUT many dealers sells online for less than list price so you should be able to get the 16" for around $50 each and the 17" for around $62 each.

 

[Bernardchan96]

I'm in the process of rebooting my CV axles and noticed both front disc brake dust shields are crumbling from rust. Is it ok to remove these all together or should I replace them? Are they necessary? I live in the northeast US with lots of snow so I don't know if these are necessary to protect the disc brakes or not. Also, does anyone know where to get a replacement set for a decent price? Thanks,

Dave.

I got new dustshields from Toyota for $17 Cad each at the local dealer, replaced the Wheel bearings while i was at it, since it had to come off anyways

 

[ddicosmo]

At this point, since the truck only has 120k on it, I'll wait to replace the dust shields when I have to do the bearings next... Even though the shields look like crap, they still function and I'd hate to have to pull the hubs just to put new shields on... Doesn't make sense at this point for me... If I find a neat trick to get new ones on w/o having to pull the hubs, then I may try that... I can't believe that Toyota couldn't come up with a better design after all these years for these dust shields. How dumb is it that you have to take the hub off to replace a sheet metal part that will fail well before the hubs do?

 

[Bernardchan96]

At this point, since the truck only has 120k on it, I'll wait to replace the dust shields when I have to do the bearings next... Even though the shields look like crap, they still function and I'd hate to have to pull the hubs just to put new shields on... Doesn't make sense at this point for me... If I find a neat trick to get new ones on w/o having to pull the hubs, then I may try that... I can't believe that Toyota couldn't come up with a better design after all these years for these dust shields. How dumb is it that you have to take the hub off to replace a sheet metal part that will fail well before the hubs do?

Yeah i live in the Rust belt so my dust shields were like 30% left it was falling apart week by week... i have 300k Km on mine so i figured its time to replacing the bearings anyways. Yeah no other trick i could find to replace them without removing Bearings, maybe if you do your brakes or something next might be worth to swap the whole thing out?

Heres a pic Imgur: The magic of the Internet

 

[MikeinNH67]

I also replaced mine when I did the wheelbearings. No aftermarket ones as I recall. They really do help with braking in sloppy conditions. I've ripped them off other cars in the past, now I replace them. I don't think they are needed for state inspection in NH though.

 

[ecally]

I live in northeast also was getting abs codes in slush, replaced mine and no more problems.


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[triethylborane]

I can't believe that Toyota couldn't come up with a better design after all these years for these dust shields. How dumb is it that you have to take the hub off to replace a sheet metal part that will fail well before the hubs do?

Its not the design, its the steel that Toyota used which is the issue. Many other makes use the same design, I have several BMWs from the 80s and 90s that have been driven in winter conditions, including several winters in MI, which have the original shields. They are not pristine, but they are not what I would call rotten with corrosion which plagues the 4th gen 4Runners.

You could weld on plates but honestly pulling the hub is preferable IMHO as the hub assembly is not that difficult/time consuming to remove.

 

[techno]

Replaced mine a few weeks ago. Very easy to do. Pulling the hubs is easier than you think. I found a set on Craigslist for $80 from a guy who green Rust-Oleum'd a brand new pair because he didn't trust the Toyota paint anymore. He sold his 4th gen before installing them.

 

[ddicosmo]

From what I read, pulling the hubs is easy. That's not what I'm worried about otherwise I would probably just do it. The issue is the bearings. Once the hub is pulled, supposedly the bearings get damaged in the process and need to be replaced. This opens up a whole can of worms as now you need to press new bearings in and I don't have that specialized equipment... Just doesn't seem worth the hassle to go through all that just to replace the shields... I think I will try and do a little bit of TLC on them by repainting them with rust restorer and rust oleum. That may give them a bit of additional life until I get around to having to replace the bearings.