Install donor frt brake dust shields?

[AKASNAKE]

I've seen some picturs of the front brakes without the dust shields. Can and should they be left off.

Thanks!

Dennis

[Jonathan]

My bet is Ford put them there to minimize water splashing on the rotors. Water on hot rotors can lead to warping.

[NAGA]

There were a couple threads a while back on this. Best I can remember, there's no downside either way. I put mine on and don't see any reason not to other than looks. Unsprung weight? How much are we talking here? Not much.
The bottom line is going to be, "Do want makes you happy and it's a PBAR."
(Probably Be All Right)
d.

[bill32]

In Southern California where I live , you don't really need them because it doesn't rain or snow, but you live in NY and you do need them to keep the water, mud and slush off the rotors.

[Roger]

They make good frisbees to throw at the dumpster.

Some of them are hard to remove like the ones bolted to the IRS spindles.

[Misu]

Could not decide whether to leave them on or off. in the end, POR'ed them and put them back on.

misu(Allan) [img]graemlins/black.gif[/img]

[David Douglas]

A lot of times these are damaged or bent. I cut around the mounting holes to save the center section that protects the bearing seal.

[Kobra4Kris]

Just went through this decision yesterday (worked on my front donor parts). I was planning on leaving them off because they looked real bad but I noticed there is a small dish that looks like it seals the bearings (like David said). I decided to leave them on because of that. Here is before and after I prepped and painted them (with no-gloss black engine enamel). Looks pretty good I think (converted to 5 lug also)....





[ December 07, 2003, 08:08 PM: Message edited by: Kobra4Kris ]