2002 Max with 201k miles. Recently, the shield behind a rear rotor was rusted and came off. Since installing a new one involves removal of the hub, I wonder if I can just drive the car without the shield (the FSM calls it baffle plate). What's the worst that can happen?

 

The shield is to keep stuff that is on the pavement from splashing onto the rotor. If the shield is missing, most of the time it won't matter.

But dirt with gritty stuff in it will wear the brake pad out sooner than normal and if you somehow got oil splashed on the rotor, you would loose braking power.

 

No problem, leave it off. There are new cars that are produced that don't even have a splash shield.

 

Thanks. I will leave it as is. Pads are cheap. I'll avoid oily puddles if I see them.

 

The hub doesn’t need to be removed …. Just some elbow grease.

Anyone who has the FastBrakes rear BBK knows this and obviously the OEM unit cannot be used since the rotors are larger.