Hello, My Freelander 2 is coming up for 12 years old, and I noticed some noises coming from the rear brakes, On inspection I noticed that on both sides the sheet of steel that goes behind the discs to protect them from mud and stones have rusted to the point that they are hanging off and touching the discs, hence the noise.

I have removed them for now and purchased new ones, but I cannot see an easy way to fit them?

I will need to remove the discs calipers, and handbrake components, I can see that, but do I also need to remove the hub nut and hub? If I split the hub, to remove it will I need to fit new bearings?

What I thought would be an easy job is looking a tad more difficult. Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

The attached may help - it doesn't sound as though you need to remove the hub, but it's not entirely clear.

http://www.freel2.com/gallery/albums/userp...0Brake.pdf

Or just leave them off - the only thing they really seem good for is trapping moisture against the back of the disks and rotting them.

An idea that worked with a previous vehicle that I owned for 21 years was to cut the guard and flex it into place without cutting it in half. I was able to then weld it back together. It saved having to pull the hub. Now, I have not looked at the thickness of the guard for the LR2 but this may work as the guard is simply to protect from dust and mud. Just a thought that simplified life for me previously.

Thank you for your suggestions. I have the same picture from the manual but what it doesn’t show is that the green hub ( with the wheel studs) is a larger diameter than the hole in the disc guard!

I don’t have access to a welder but as the guard also contains the plate on which the handbrake is mounted I think that would be a difficult weld to do in situ.

Appreciate your help though. I don’t mind removing the hub if necessary but having tried and failed to undo the shaft kit it may be a garage job to loosen then. However having read about bearing replacements it appears I need to replace the bearing if I split it it ? Is that true?

Thanks again.

You have to remove the hub to get the guard off, or (much easier) leave the hub in place and use an angle grinder to cut a slot in the guard so that you can bend it sufficiently to get it over the hub.

Obviously, you'll have to do the same with the replacements, which is a shame but you won't see it once the wheel is on.

I'm not convinced those guards do any good anyway!

Hi Tim,

That makes perfect sense - thank you.

the old ones are rsuty enough that I can bend them to break them quite easily and remove them. The new ones I will cut with a hacksaw, to allow enough bend to get them over the hubs.

I have already under sealed them before fitting in an effort to preserve them. I will re-underseal the cut section once they are in place, and report back with any tips tricks or lost fingers!

Thank you

McFreelander - a couple of pics would be useful too if you can. Cheers Jules