WXman

I'm moving to some property that's down a 1/2 mile gravel road. During the construction process, there's been a lot of mud around the site of course. I've noticed that if my muddy tires start picking up gravel when I leave, this truck has a propensity to get rocks stuck between the brake rotor and dust shield. This results is horrific squealing and scraping noises as I drive down the road.

I'm getting really sick and tired of jacking up the truck and pulling the wheels off to inspect for debris. I've rarely ever had this issue with prior trucks before this. What's the deal?

Would it be beneficial for me to remove the dust shields? Or alter them somehow?

SteveLord

I had this once and just made sure to target as many potholes and bumps as I could until the noise stopped.

Tothemax

I drive on gravel roads all the time. Never really had a ongoing issue. I usually just drive the truck and work the brakes a few times to clear it out.

WXman

I think I'll go out and grab the dust shield with my fingers and see if I can work it back and forth until the rock falls out. This weekend I'll make some adjustments and hopefully keep it from happening so often. :\

Daniejw

Pull the shields off all together and avoid having to remove rocks in the future.

RockyMountain

This is an annoying problem. I have had to take my tire off three times now due to a rock stuck in the same spot. I am thinking of putting some high temp silicone between the steering knuckle and dust shield to prevent this.

jhelrey

When you drive in reverse and go to stop, hit the brakes harder than usual. Works every time for me.

fang2015

The reverse works for me too. This is not a new problem with newer trucks. My 2003 Ranger 4x4 is prone to this type of problem most likely due to the dirt, mud, etc. that it drives constantly. All I have to do is drive it slowly in reverse for about 15 feet and hit the brakes normally. You are right about the noise though - quite alarming until you understand what is happening.

WXman

Well here's the little culprit that caused all my problems today. Ended up using a cutoff wheel to make an incision in the dust shield at the bottom so that any rocks that get in there now will fall right out.

fang2015

That looks interesting to me. I think most of what I have encountered is smaller, doesn't take much rock to create a problem stuck in brakes/wheels. Wonder if you are on some kind of blasted road? Or one with blasted material distributed? Just doesn't look like my normal gravel road rock although guess gravel pits all over the country come up with different stuff. Hope your fix works.