So I'm doing a complete redo on my 1996 brake system. The front rotors have gone bad, so I bought new ones and pulled the old off. Behind the rotors though, I discovered this circular plate, held on by two bolts. Both plates, on the right and left, are halft rusted off, but it appears that the whole plate would have had four or five quarter sized holes in it. It also looks like a gasket or seal of some sort was on it at one time. I called Autozone, Autovalue, and O'Riley's, and no one at any of those stores had any idea what I was talking about. Does anyone here know what that part is?

1. Is it aftermarket?
2. Do I need it?
3. If I do need it, where could I get a new one?

Thanks!

 

It's called the "splash shield" and it reduces the amount of water that the tires throw onto the (presumably HOT) rotors. Personally, I like having them. Some other people don't care about them, and many of those have brake problems. You can only get it from Ford, a Ford parts dealer (like FordPartsGiant.com & TeamFordParts.com), or a junkyard. Where are you? (Put it in your profile.) If you live in salt country, you won't find any good used ones.

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Thanks Steve, I appreciate it. I think I'm going to just put everything back together without them for now, since they seem hard to find. I'm in MI btw.