Brake crap guard removal!!!

[eefy]

Due to my crap guards either falling off or getting close I've got some replacements, so my question is firstly what size are the bolt heads???? they seem to be 9mm!!!! which is a pain as my spanner set doesnt have one :(

secondly due to the shape of the bolt head the use of a spanner would not be easy, and due to there position behind the hub you cant get a socket on it hmmm



any advice would be welcome :)

[Risocco]

You need some Irwin Mole Grips in your life.

[MacColl]

I actually resorted to welding another bolt on the the rounded bolt they were that bad, the heat helped them come away pretty quickly after that. The guards were non existent. These were on suspension that I was refurbishing off the car..

[james butler]

out of curiosity,
do you need these guards behind the disks?
are they a legal requirement?

[the edmundator]

No, they're not essential, but they're a very good idea.

[PeteGLi]

The only problem is that you cannot fit them with the wheel hub in place, and you will destroy the wheel bearing when you remove the hub. You will then need to fit a new bearing, then fit the guard plate then re-fit the wheel hub.

[The Autoad]

Bolts are 10mm. Although rust may have afftected the heads!

If the guards are very rusty you can remove them with tin snips and brute force, then replace when your bearings need doing.

You will pass an MOT with either both guards present, or both absent. But the car will fail an MOT if only one guard is present with the other absent.

[go-for-it1]

You will pass an MOT with either both guards present, or both absent. But the car will fail an MOT if only one guard is present with the other absent.

Mine didn't fail with only one fitted through 2 MOT's.

[eefy]

Thanks for the advice, just had one wheel bearing replaced :(

might see if my t-bar socket set, will fot through the wheel boly holes as it seems, looking at the picture, to line up. Will be having another play at the weekend and will let you's now how i got on with some pics.

oh mine also went through its MOT with one on place.

just cant believe these are such a pain to fit, i would class them as a regular part that need replacing, what a daft place to put the bolt heads behind the hub!!!!!

[Nate]

You will pass an MOT with either both guards present, or both absent. But the car will fail an MOT if only one guard is present with the other absent.

sorry dude, they'll pass whatever. they're not a testable item. you might get the odd anal tester who will advise if one/both is damaged or missing, but there's no reason in the manual for them to be a fail

[The Autoad]

I stand corrected gents

Was failed a few years ago and that was the reason given. Naughty.

[fonzooorooo]

When they get REALLY bad, you can remove them with side cutters. I took 1 off the passat like that... I left the bolts in - life felt short!

I bought some new ones for my old 'rocco... took the hubs with new shields and bearings to my tame garage guy. Left them with him. Went back later to pick them up... Only to find he'd fitted the shields BACKWARDS!!!!! (so it'd be impossible to fit a disc(!) Had to chop through my shiny new shields to get them off, then re-fit them and weld them back together.

[wasted]

Both of mine fell off a while ago... rusted through at the bolts I think. The bolts are presumably still in there.

What's so important about them? Do they just protect your brake disks?

[Nate]

they just stop crap from the road (water, salt, grit) getting on th disc and theoretically extend their life.