Removing Brake Dust Shield

[Jstang23]

Hey all!

I recently attached some modified brake vanes on my non-pp GT. The vanes do provide me much better cooling but I wonder how much better they would do if I remove the dust shield. So, my question is does anyone have any experience with removing the dust shield and does it provide a significant difference in cooling?

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[JustSomeGuy]

Dust shields don’t exist in the professional racing world, I don’t have any measurement but I guarantee it makes a difference to remove them.

 

[Traffic22]

There’s a whole thread (can’t find it right now) about removing/cutting them to increase effectiveness of air deflectors. (According to that thread, it helps a lot.)

If it makes a difference to you, the Mach 1 HP cars don’t even come with them. And, we removed them from my Crown Vic lemons car, with no negative effects.

May want to hit up @GTP, he makes air deflectors, and I believe has experience with removing/cutting dust shields.

 

[luc]

There’s a whole thread (can’t find it right now) about removing/cutting them to increase effectiveness of air deflectors. (According to that thread, it helps a lot.)

If it makes a difference to you, the Mach 1 HP cars don’t even come with them. And, we removed them from my Crown Vic lemons car, with no negative effects.

May want to hit up @GTP, he makes air deflectors, and I believe has experience with removing/cutting dust shields.

R u 100% sure that the m1h doesn’t have small ones ?
Since it use the exact same Brembo braking system than bullit,pp1,pp2, etc
Btw on the Brembo cars they are not dust shields but rather heat shields for the ball joints

 

[Traffic22]

Don’t see any……

Not a great photo, but one of the backside…..

 

[luc]

Don’t see any……

Not a great photo, but one of the backside…..

This car is not factory original and has aftermarket parts such as the aluminum air scoop behind the factory plastic ones
I would be very, very surprised if ford sell the m1h without them
I will look at a parts catalog when I get some time

 

[Traffic22]

This car is not factory original and has aftermarket parts such as the aluminum air scoop behind the factory plastic ones
I would be very, very surprised if ford sell the m1h without them
I will look at a parts catalog when I get some time

Just to be clear, car is factory original, I ordered it and picked it up directly from the dealer. I added the Bramberg Engineering deflectors, and SS lines….everything else is as is from Ford.

 

[luc]

Just to be clear, car is factory original, I ordered it and picked it up directly from the dealer. I added the Bramberg Engineering deflectors, and SS lines….everything else is as is from Ford.

As I said before, the shields are very small and their purpose is to protect the ball joints from the heat when you track the car. Could that be a ford mistake on your car ?
Maybe some other m1h owners can check their car

 

[Traffic22]

As I said before, the shields are very small and their purpose is to protect the ball joints from the heat when you track the car. Could that be a ford mistake on your car ?
Maybe some other m1h owners can check their car

Okay, little miscommunication. Brake dust shields no, Mach 1’s don’t have them. Little heat shield by ball joint yes…..

(Picture courtesy of @mattlqx )

My car has those too, just can’t see them in the photo. (They’re so small, I do not believe they impact the cooling from the factory or aftermarket deflectors.)

 

[NightmareMoon]

OP: do you have a pic of your modified vanes? Not really sure what you're talking about there.

If you're talking about control arm mounted deflectors like those pictured above, then yes you want to remove your stock brake dust shields or switch to the smaller ones used on the mach 1 and Performance Pack cars.

 

[Cory S]

They aren’t dust shields. They are water spray shields. I’ve removed them on every performance car I’ve owned/built since 1994. Zero worries removing them, unless you drive in monsoon rain storms everyday and need to stop hard very very suddenly.

 

[Bitten in '69]

Without getting into whether or not they are present on the OP's vehicle... Every one I've dealt with was riveted in place. A drill or grinder will take the heads off.

 

[Jstang23]

Thanks for the responses everyone!

I will be removing them once I have the to get the car up on jack stands!

@NightmareMoon I decided to make my own air vanes since the non pp cars don't have them. I made them out of 1.2mm stainless steel and powder coated them. I used orange locktite, 60lb permanent adhesive tape, and the u bolts. After 500 miles of some seriously hard driving they are still rock solid. I do notice a difference in the feel (takes longer for the brakes to warm up) but I definitely think removing the dust shield would make a big difference!

 

[NightmareMoon]

Thanks for the responses everyone!

I will be removing them once I have the to get the car up on jack stands!

@NightmareMoon I decided to make my own air vanes since the non pp cars don't have them. I made them out of 1.2mm stainless steel and powder coated them. I used orange locktite, 60lb permanent adhesive tape, and the u bolts. After 500 miles of some seriously hard driving they are still rock solid. I do notice a difference in the feel (takes longer for the brakes to warm up) but I definitely think removing the dust shield would make a big difference!

Nice! You’re barking up the right tree.

dont be afraid to go bigger, but it really helps to channel some air up towards the deflectors from the back of the undertray.

Pictured: not-stock. These are Vorshlag’s deflectors and the splitter ducting is a lot larger than usual.

 

[Jstang23]

Nice! You’re barking up the right tree.

dont be afraid to go bigger, but it really helps to channel some air up towards the deflectors from the back of the undertray.

Pictured: not-stock. These are Vorshlag’s deflectors and the splitter ducting is a lot larger than usual.

Thanks man! This is my first edition of these. I just got access to a lot of carbon fiber and an injection molding machine at work, so Im working on a composite or carbon version

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