brake heat shields
 

When i step on the brakes it makes a crazy sound. I don't feel anything in my brake pedal, and the car stops great. I am thinking it is the heat shields. Is it ok to remove the heat shields. any help would be great.

I have brembo crossdrilled and slotted rotors and hawk pads.

Thanks,
Jay

Did you put some grease on the shims for your brake pads?

no i dont think so

I've heard that it will cause some strange and annoying sounds if they aren't greased; but I've always greased mine so I don't know what the sounds would be like. ;)

i tried putting grease on them but still the same noise. I am still thinking that it is my heat shields rubbing the brake rotor. I am going take them off tommorro and see. I just need to know if it is ok to take the heat shields off.

if the pads are new, the squealing sound would be normal. hawk HP+ pads are known to be quite loud under moderate pressure. i know mine are. if they're rather old, you might look to see if the wear indicator on the pad is getting into the rotor

I presume you're talking about the dust shields? The only reason they would be touching anything is if somehow something big came up in the wheel well and hit them, bending them toward the rotor. Easy enough to put the front of the car up on jack stands, take the wheels off, and turn the hubs/rotors by hand and see if anything is touching the rotor.

You haven't recently changed brake pads, have you? Not meaning to imply you would do something so stupid, but brake pads have been installed backwards before (backing plate, rather than friction material touching the rotor). Don't ask me how I know. It does make an awful sound, but the car still stops fairly normally in non-threshold braking situations.

yea i am probably talking about the dust shields. hey Macdaddy do you ever go to the char-grill meets in raleigh? I just put in a new motor 2 days ago and i am going to the meet this saturday. shoot me a pm if you are intrested in meeting up. and plus it would be a good break-in drive to raleigh.

thanks
Jay

I forgot to grease my shims when I put my Hawk HPS+ pads on and they make strange noises occasionally, but nothing major.

Jayseven, I have removed the dust shield from several of my other cars, with no apparent detrimental effects. I have to agree with the other guys though, if your dust shields are rubbing, you should be able to see a deformity or a place where they are rubbing. Other culprits may be more likely. Personally I am going to remove mine when I do my rotors and pads this week. That is unless someone knows a reason that I shouldnt.

Good luck with the brakes. look forward to seeing you at the meet this Saturday.

Dust shield removal:
Pros- probably improved brake cooling - dust shield isn't bouncing radiated heat from rotor back on rotor, also allows more convective cooling (at least at rest - see below). also decreases unsprung weight (minimal).
Cons- no protection of brake rotors/calipers from water/dirt/debris. The OEM dust shields do have a bit of a forward-facing "scoop" to increase the amount of air flowing over the brakes at speed - removing this without replacing it with some other brake ducting might actually be a net negative with regard to brake cooling, depending on how hot your brakes get, and how often you are at a stop with hot brakes.
Bottom line: for a street car, I'd leave the shields on. For a pure track car, I'd take 'em off. If you do both, you have to compromise depending on what you do more of, and what risks you want to take. Not hard to do - just have to "un-stake" the rim around the hub retainer nut , remove the hub to get to the bolts that hold the shield onto the spindle, remove the bolts and shield, replace the hub/torque the nut, "stake" the rim again.

What kind of grease do you put on the shims?

"brake grease" - little tube from Car Quest
(high temp grease) - use it on caliper bridge bolts, as well.
got to be careful on the shims - don't want grease to get on the friction surface

If the dust sheild are rubbing on the rotor, it will usually only happen with side loads (turning), and not brake application.

Hawk HP+'s...great pads when you beat on them, but noisy around town...and then there's the dust......life's a trade off.