Rear Dust Shield Delete?

[AWE46M3]

Hello Group,

I am installing a 4 piston BBK in the rear (not the Porsche 996 retrofit kit). My rear rotor are not clearing the dust shield well. My installer has been hammering and bending the dust shield to increase clearance but it's not quite enough to be a permanent solution. Even after achieving clearance with the car on the lift, the dust shield is starting to scrape during test drives as soon as we make our first turn.

I was doing some research and noticed a few installers have cut the dust shield off entirely. Munich Venom cut his dust shield off to accommodate his Stoptech kit.




I noticed FPC Euro also has their rear dust shield cut out for their rear rotor install video:




Before commissioning my shop to cut the dust shield off, I wanted to check with the sub and see if anyone had a strong opinion one way or another.

Thanks in advance

[bigjae46]

The shield keeps water off the rotor and protects the outer rear ball joints from heat. Not a huge deal, just need to replace the ball joints more often if seeing track time. The dust boots fail due to heat.

IIRC...you need part of the shield to retain the e-brake. The brake shoes are mounted to the shield.

[mrgizmo04]

The way it's cut in the first pic is enough. If it's not perfectly flat, it will rub on inner parking brake surface or parking brake itself won't sit straight. Long story short, it requires some adjustment after partially cutting it off.

Put some aluminum tape on balljoints to protect from heat.

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[Maxima SE]

I completely cut both my front and rears and got rid of them when I was installing my stoptech kit. cutting them partially didn't get rid of the noise. Get a grinder and get rid of them !

[AWE46M3]

The shield keeps water off the rotor and protects the outer rear ball joints from heat. Not a huge deal, just need to replace the ball joints more often if seeing track time. The dust boots fail due to heat.

IIRC...you need part of the shield to retain the e-brake. The brake shoes are mounted to the shield.

Thank you for your input. Good to know about the ball joints. Appreciate your feedback

[AWE46M3]

The way it's cut in the first pic is enough. If it's not perfectly flat, it will rub on inner parking brake surface or parking brake itself won't sit straight. Long story short, it requires some adjustment after partially cutting it off.

Put some aluminum tape on balljoints to protect from heat.

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Aluminum tape on the ball joints - great idea. I recently noticed aluminum tape cover the wheel weights on a GT3 RS that is routinely tracked. Great idea. I'll mention that to my shop.

In regards to the parking brake adjustment, you're suggesting folding or filing the cut edge away from the e-brake boot, correct?

[AWE46M3]

I completely cut both my front and rears and got rid of them when I was installing my stoptech kit. cutting them partially didn't get rid of the noise. Get a grinder and get rid of them !

HAHA! Nice - this was the nudge I needed. I live in SoCal and don't drive the car when it rains - not too worried about the water. My main concern was the heat damage to the components behind the wheel, but the aluminum tape over the ball joints trick may address that concern.

Thanks for your input

[mrgizmo04]

Aluminum tape on the ball joints - great idea. I recently noticed aluminum tape cover the wheel weights on a GT3 RS that is routinely tracked. Great idea. I'll mention that to my shop.

In regards to the parking brake adjustment, you're suggesting folding or filing the cut edge away from the e-brake boot, correct?

Yes alu tape is also used for keeping the wheel weights on. It can withstand quite a bit of heat especially if there is an air gap between it and whatever gets really hot.

The adjustment is not made to the parking brake per se, but to straighten out the remaining shield so 1) the shield doesn't rub on rotor and 2) so the parkikg brake shoes don't drag on the rotor. Especially if the shield is cut with wire snips, it will inevitable be bent and requires some massaging to straighten it out. As Jae mentioned, the parking brake shoes are attached to the back of the remaining heat shield so if it's not "perfectly" straight after cutting, problems 1 and/or 2 can arise.

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[Maxima SE]

HAHA! Nice - this was the nudge I needed. I live in SoCal and don't drive the car when it rains - not too worried about the water. My main concern was the heat damage to the components behind the wheel, but the aluminum tape over the ball joints trick may address that concern.

Thanks for your input

Your calipers aren't going to produce that much heat during street use to be honest. If you're going to track it then maybe. The front shields are easy to completely remove from what I remember.