Thoughts on removing brake dust shields

[JT_4Runner]

I daily my 4R but I also wheel pretty regularly. When I do go wheeling things get pretty nasty and technical rather quickly. I live in the mountains of North Ga and its nothing but mud and clay. Im tired of having to dig out mud/bend the shields back to prevent them from rubbing on the rotors. My question is does anyone have any thoughts/reasons as to why I should leave them on? I cant really think of anything detrimental happening due to the removal...

 

[fdbyrne]

I daily my 4R but I also wheel pretty regularly. When I do go wheeling things get pretty nasty and technical rather quickly. I live in the mountains of North Ga and its nothing but mud and clay. Im tired of having to dig out mud/bend the shields back to prevent them from rubbing on the rotors. My question is does anyone have any thoughts/reasons as to why I should leave them on? I cant really think of anything detrimental happening due to the removal...

I don't off-road mine, but I've been running without the shields for a few years with no problems. Mine rusted through and looked like Swiss cheese so I just removed them when I did my front bearings.