Dana 60 front axle brake tins/sheilds/covers

[cucvrus]

Quick question. Mr Rusty has lost most of the brake heat / dust shields on the front brake rotors. Do they really need to be there? I don't think so but wanted to hear any real reason why they would be required. Other then protecting the back side of the rotor from a splash of mud and acting as a heat shield to direct air in for cooling in the most adverse conditions. Do they serve any other purposes?

 

[welpro222]

Not that I can think of, I left my on to serve as a rock and debris shield. I couldn't find any replacements on the internet, so I assume they are not that important.

I like to put anything that came from the factory back on the truck. Kind of like the oil cooler lines, do we really need them? Some people say yes they are there for purpose (GM put them there) and some people say naaa its not a heavy duty hauler anyways.

 

[rustystud]

They are there of course to protect from road debris and such but also to protect the rotor from "cooling shock" . If your applying the brakes hard (building up a lot of heat) and then go through a mud puddle and splash cold water on the extremely hot rotors then they can have problems. Of course I have only seen this happen a few times in all my years wrenching so I really don't think it will be a problem if you leave them off.