Brake Disc Shields

[vox]

Hi Guys

I seem to have a problem here, my brake discs are going rusty. The rears are

quite bad and may clean up, or a new pair will be in order.

The reason is all this wet weather and me not being able to get out every

day. I live on a fairly steep hill with a very narrow road and when it
rains, cars and trucks splash water in to the offside discs, hence rust! What
makes it worse is the salt gritters chucking the stuff on to my wheels, you can
imagine what that does.

I tried putting a wheel cover on my old Smart, but these were stolen or
removed within a day or so. What I need is some shields to stop the water splashing
in through the wheels. I've hunted the net, but to no avail. Has anyone an idea
where I can get something to bolt on to the calliper, or clamp between the
wheel and hub.

I found some for the rear of a MK1 MR2, but I doubt these will be of any use

on an IQ

Thanks all,

Vox.

[Guest]

Don't know about those kind of covers, however, you could get a car cover, then all of your precious metal is... erm, covered.

[vox]

I've already tried that Bob, I had to cut out a hole and fix some clear plastic over it so our local traffic warden could see the tax disc and the whole thing was stolen about two days later.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

[Soeley]

In the 80's I think it was, you used to be able to buy discs made from rubber/plastic that fitted between the hub and wheel. The idea was to keep brake dust off the wheels. They probably didn't do much good for the cooling of the brakes, I would imagine they caused more overheating problems.

I just did a quick search and found these that have directional vents to aid brake cooling whilst doing the same job. http://www.rowand.net/shop/ForSale/index.htm

Forum discussion http://www.mdxers.org/forums/12-detailing/12581-brake-dust-shields.html

The other alternative sound similar to what you have tried in the past. I regularly pass a car parked on a busy road that has plywood discs cut to the size of the wheel and a loop of thin rope that drops over the top of the tyre to hold them in place.

[vox]

I will see If I can make some wheel covers out of aluminium and see if I can
lock them in place and hopefully easy for me to remove, but hard for the thieving
gits around here.

I would rather use aluminium as it's very light and thin so I can keep them

in the car.

The brake dust wheel protectors are only made and sold in the US and only

for standard wheels, not 7.5" wide ones. I don't really think I like the
idea of blocking the airflow over the brakes either.

Thanks for your efforts Guys, it's appreciated.

[sweet-dentist]

I would think... do not care... use them and replace if necessary... there not expensive... and good to do yourself..

And the metal nowadays is more rust-prone than in former days... do not get upset about it.... replace if necessary. They WILL rust...rain / splash / etc. When you drive again it's worn away...

For the rest: Have a nice day...

Keep the wheels clean every week with a cloth and soapsponge... but the discs... pfftt... leave them...

[vox]

Hi Peter,

a set of discs and pads every year to me is expensive. When I say rust, I

mean deep rust so bad it can't be worn away and just goes shiny and black. This
drastically reduces the brake efficiency an when it's MOT test time it will
fail if more than one third of any disc is severely rusted.

As the car was only bought at the end of December 2013, the MOT test is

three years off yet, but I don't like driving around with brakes that don't
work as well as they should. Of course you can donate some money to help me buy a new set evey year. ;)

[sweet-dentist]

Hmmm... sounds weird to me... Mine is now about almost 4 years... just a little 'fly'rust on the discs...

Maybe look for other brand discs... or other breakpads..

Strange that they wear so badly... does not seem normal...

Anybody any ideas about this "deep" rust????

Didn't the beginner models have terrible disc metal alloys??? Remember hearing this somewhere... The models from 2009 and so...

Peter

[vox]

Peter,

Try reading my first post about this and you will see what my problem is caused by.

[sweet-dentist]

I did read it :-P... And we here in Holland have a very lot of rain.... so nothing new...splashing same here...

But now reading it for the 4th time...I read now that it's more the mess that is splatterd on to the discs... salty or aggressive splitt? Doesn't this damage your paint / body / alloys / everything else also???

And "steep hill" and "narrow road" ... and still very busy with cars and trucks? Where do you live? Where in greater London?

Not possible to, park the car elsewhere... (guess probably not... DUH..)..

So actually you have to replace only the outer discs every year :-)...

Anyways... it's a problem...

Well... idea... couldn't you dig a little away from the sidewalk and park your car perpendicular to the road? With the bottom sticking to the traffic???

If the road is that bad... maybe connect with the City Road People ... and file a complaint of this not well kept maintenance of this road..

Sorry... I am not psychic.. and am trying to imagine what is going on there... :-/

[s44gtw]

How long have you had this car & has it had replacement discs already?

They must be Salting the roads or treating lots down in London in a very mild winter now if that is where you park.

george

EDIT, sorry, i missed that it was a 2013 car.

Toyota really must have changed the discs fitted last year.

The do usually stay ok for at least 3 years,

just the usual surface corrosion.

[vox]

It's mostly the large vehicles driving past my car in the wet weather. The
hill I live on runs with water and if I watch what happens a heavy wave of
water is thrown in to the side of my car.

when the road has been salted the saline eats at the discs very

rapidly. My old car was green and the offside used to turn white with the
salt spray. Smarts only had discs on the front, so in the late spring I had to
replace the discs. Now I have discs front and rear on the IQ. fronts are ventilated
and not cheap like the Smart discs and I have now to add the rears as well.

So you see why I need something to protect the wheels. Toyota's discs are

the same as most cars just high grade cast iron. The discs fitted to my car are
the same as the ones fitted to any of the earlier cars. If I was able to drive
every day, it would probably be OK, but I can't. so the discs suffer, so does
my wallet!

[Soeley]

Is it not possible to just go for a leisure drive more often? Just spend the money on petrol instead of new discs, plus you get more enjoyment out of the car that way??

[vox]

I wish Mark,

for reasons I don't want to broadcast on a public forum, I have to stay in a

fair bit. This give me little time to go driving.

I get out as much as possible, but on occasions I can be stuck indoors for

over ten or twelve days. Even weekends can be difficult.

The fuel isn't really an issue, the IQ just sips at fuel. My Smart with all

the tuning used to eat the stuff wholesale.

I'm phoning around for a company that can supply a couple of sheets of 1mm

aluminium at a sensible price, then I can make some splash guards to stop the
problem.

Of course the metal will be coated with a non ferrous primer and several

coats of smooth Hammerite in white to match the car and I'm drawing up a
simple, quick way of removing them that I can do but, no one else can easily.

Err, leisure drive in west London, no chance!

[sweet-dentist]

something like this... ?

I was looking for wheel covers and hoodies....

Also look at "wheel sun protection" ... there is a lot of this.... :-)

And lots for the caravan...

[vox]

Thanks Peter,

I've found a similar thing to the top ones on eBay at only £12.99 and free postage for four of them. They will fit my 205 16" wheels OK.

The caravan ones only go up to 14" It's knowing what to ask for on the net, that's the trick. Wrong question, wrong answer wrong result.

That's brilliant, what a great bunch of Guys you are on here. :D

[sweet-dentist]

Finally... ;-)