I don't know exactly what they are called but they've given me grief even from the moment I bought my xc70 in Sweden. The first mountain pass we drove over, during a rain/sleet storm gave us a treat in the way of a loud, high pitched squeal.

OK, so this is a 2004 model. The shields are back behind the brake assembly and are designed I guess to keep out gravel, dirt and snow or anything I suppose. They cause squealing, often. Usually, I get in there and bend the plate a little so it doesn't make contact with the rotor but there's not much tolerance in the design. Recently I changed rotor discs and now they squeal when I make tight turns. We're really tired of it.

So, what would be the real consequence of getting rid of them?

Thanks,
Arne

 

Bump. Anyone have an idea what might go wrong if I simply remove these guards or shields or whatever they're called?

Thanks.

 

They are called dust shields.
You can remove them, but than you run risk of getting dirt into your brakes and even worse grease from torn CV boots. (would not recommend).
They are touching discs mostly on the bottom side so I use flat tip screwdriver to bend them out.
They should be turning with the disc and if they are touching on tight turns something is wrong with your installation, or it could be your wheel touching inside wheel well liner

 

Are you sure its coming from your brake shields? Sounds to me that its your exhaust hitting your drive shaft. If after you hit a big puddle or go though a very rainy area you hear a High pitched siren sound that seems to stop when you pull over and will just go away completely till next time you hit a puddle again. Check your rear drive shaft about the middle of the car where it runs next to the exhaust . Look at the drive shaft closely if you see a rub mark thats where its at. Whats happening here is the exhaust is run to close to the drive shaft and does not have enough support as you hit water the water cools the pipe and causes it to warp or bend from rapid cooling.