Brake backing plates - necessary?

JustAnotherSaver

My car is getting on a bit now although i have no intentions of getting rid any time soon.
The front brake backing plates - the drivers side is no longer there & the passenger side has rusted badly and come off in sections.
The rear (brakes are discs all round if that matters) guards/backing plates have also seen better days.

If driving/journeys are a factor on the answer then this is no performance car. Just an every day daily drive.

My journey's pretty much consist of
* 10 miles to work on A roads (this is just the drive to work & then obviously the same back)
* 6.5 mile on those same A roads (50-60mph zones) followed by a further 6.5 mile motorway drive (depends how often i go to the gym).
* Perhaps 2 miles in to town of a weekend, if that.

Very occasionally there'll be a drive outside of that but i don't go driving just for the hell of it. Maybe an hours drive to Trafford Centre for example but like i say - occasional.

Are these backing plates absolute necessary and i should get them replaced asap or is it not really such a biggie and i could either A) leave it totally or get it done when my car goes in to the garage around next September for MOT.

forgotmyname

Seeing as car manufacturers skimp on anything thats not essential, why do you think they fit them?

A certain manufacturer removed a small rubber cap as a cost cutting exercise. Think what a brake shield would save them and why they dont stop fitting them.

JustAnotherSaver

forgotmyname wrote: »

Seeing as car manufacturers skimp on anything thats not essential, why do you think they fit them?

A certain manufacturer removed a small rubber cap as a cost cutting exercise. Think what a brake shield would save them and why they dont stop fitting them.

There's plenty of things that either don't make sense or that i don't understand.

Such as why one of the vehicles at work has a rear view mirror when there's a panel behind the headrests so you can't see out of it anyway. The rear view isn't needed, yet is included.

We don't need wisdom teeth yet we have them. It wont do us no harm if they're removed, they don't really serve any purpose.

So i thought i'd ask if they are absolutely necessary, or not.

I'm guessing it's something to do with guarding from brake dust and stones, beyond this i'm out of guesses.

reeac

Does it pass the MOT test?

jbainbridge

http://www.motuk.com/mot_manual/3-5.asp#Menu_Top

i. presence and security of brake back plates/callipers

Suggests it might fail the MOT.

Ask your friendly garage / MOT tester. Other than that I wouldn't be too worried about it.

tedted

only a mot failure if you have wheel cylinders fitted, with disc brakes it is not a failure

arcon5

It protects the brakes from !!!! covering the discs. But the reality is it should be fine. Removing it doesn't immediately create safety issues. So many cars out there without them anyway where they've corroded so people just broke them off to stop them rubbing against discs

Nobbie1967

I assume they are just there to stop to much crap getting onto your discs and then rubbed off onto your pads. If you're staying on tarmaced roads, I doubt you'll notice much of an issue, although you might get a bit more pad wear/disc corrosion due the extra crap getting thrown up.

JustAnotherSaver

Thanks for the feedback.

I'll take a look at the cost of them as to whether i decide to get them fitted again come MOT time but if it's not such a major thing (like say your brake disc being cracked) then i'm not going to book it in specifically for that to be done. If something comes up in the meantime that warrants the car being in the garage then i'd maybe do it then.

Herzlos

Replacing them should improve the life of disc and pads. If you're on the brink of scrapping it anyway it'd make sense to just leave it, but if you're wanting to hold onto it for a while I'd look at getting them replaced. Should be pretty cheap for parts & labour.

n217970

Depending on the car they should only be around £10 each, personally I would replace them but I would wait until I was changing the discs and do it then.