Well, (sigh) the problem has reoccurred. I know the final solution will be to take off the rotor and push back the shield, but until I can do that I would prefer to do something to stop the scraping noise and abrasion. Is there any reason why sliding a wire behind the shield (in the narrow gap) and using it to pull the shield away from the rotor would be a bad idea?
If you take the wheel off you can probably use a (clean) screwdriver to pry the splash guard back 1-2mm away from the rotor. That should solve your problem.
Cheers,
C
I finally got a chance to do this the other day. I protected the rotor from damage from the screwdriver and gently pried the splash guard farther away from the rotor. It is now about 1/8 inch instead of less than 1/16. Also, I cleaned the rust and dirt from the gap. However, there is nothing that will keep this guard from rusting again. The good news is that the noise is finally gone! Thanks Bill and Chris.
Now I am having another problem with the door....but that's for a new thread....
Good news!
If the rust bothers you that much, if you have an opportunity to have the rotors off someday, just wire brush, clean, and paint those suckers (the guards) - hey the rotors too - I'm sure they're rusting (or get plated ones, that eventually may also rust). 8^)
Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")
To be sure, the rust doesn't really bother me per se, but I figure this problem occurred because of the shield rusting, which filled the gap between the shield and the rotor, thus causing the contact. Hopefully moving the shield farther away will prevent the contact though. I'm not in a hurry at all to take this apart to paint the shield so we'll see what happens over time.
I've heard that painting rotors is a very bad idea because it will negatively affect the rotor's ability to dissipate heat. Just like painting an old steam radiator, even though the paint won't act as much as an insulator to stop convection, it will significantly affect the ability to radiate heat directly.
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