Front brake shield - removal?

[Philippe]

The shields on the front knuckle, what the heck are they held with? Seeing the "bolt" head was hollow, I thought it was a Torx bolt (the whole set-up is very grimmy, so I couldn't really see). It's obviously not a Torx, but the "outside" of the bolt is round.

Please help.

Thank you.

 

[Killercanary]

I thinks it a rivet. I just tried to remove mine to paint it and saw the same thing. I just used cardboard and paper towels to "mask off" what I didn't want sprayed. I know the back ones can be removed with 3 bolts.

 

[Philippe]

Rivets? Darn!

I'm going to have to drill them out? And what? Use a nut and bolt setup to put them back up?

I'm changing springs, balljoints and tie-rods, so I really need the extra clearance.

Anybody's done this?

Philippe

 

[baglock1]

Rivets? Darn!

I'm going to have to drill them out? And what? Use a nut and bolt setup to put them back up?

I'm changing springs, balljoints and tie-rods, so I really need the extra clearance.

Anybody's done this?

Philippe

Yep, they're rivets. You can drill them outr or use a cold chisel and hammer them out (which is how I took mine off). But if all you're doing is swapping what you listed, you'll have plenty of room without having to remove them.

 

[urban96]

is there any benefit to keeping them on? one of mine fell off and i planned on removing the other one... will it hurt anything?

 

[baglock1]

is there any benefit to keeping them on? one of mine fell off and i planned on removing the other one... will it hurt anything?

It just helps to keep water off the rotors. I haven't had any problems with mine being gone though.