Rear brake splash shields, use or leave off??

[chrismorse]

74 coupe, restomod, 90 % DD, 10% max track.

Is there a downside to leaving the splash shields off?
I’ve been through the front and rear suspension and brakes and trying to get the car back on the road.

Use em or loose em..

chris

[Solamar]

90% daily driver? Id probably use them.

Mine is solely a fair weather fun car so I planned to leave them off. But after they came back from the zinc batch they looked so good I put them on anyways. Solid logic...

[Trackrash]

Probably a good idea to leave them on for a DD. They will help keep water and mud off the brakes when you drive in the rain.

That said I left mine off many years ago and have had no trouble, but I RARELY drive in the rain.

[kltarga72]

check out this URL

https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/top-3-reasons-brake-dust-shields-are-necessary

Lash

[Flojo]

there are even modern cars that don't have them, e.g. Peugeot 308

mounted they sure do no harm and yes they are a "shield" to the brakes.
makes sense.
but they shield only on side of the brakes.
ok, the exposed side.
makes sense as well.

for sports purpose handled cars, that are being looked after way more than your daily, leaving the shields off improves cooling, some (minor) weight reduction and you can easily detect something wrong on the inner side of the set up, which you can't when mounted (view blocked).

[chrismorse]

Thanks guys,
I’ll save the blast and paint for a winter day. This rehab needs to finish,
I’ll save them for this coming winter.
Chris