Kleen Dust Covers... Info & Questions...
 

I HATE the large doses of brake dust that glaze my beautiful alloy rims after washing my car (a short drive after). I seem to be compulsive about them, and I will wash them every other day. I think that if the rims begin to get dirty and dark, it brings down the whole clean appearance of the car.
I have read all archives regarding dust shields, and have finally ordered them. I ordered a pair (for the front) last night (Sat), with 2 day express, so I'm assuming they should be here on Wednesday.
Anyway, I have heard the stories about premature rotor warpage due to excess heat build up, etc. But my 1995 C-class has vents directly from the front bumper to the brakes, which were purposely designed to help cool the brakes. Without these vents, I do not think I would have ordered them. Another concern was blocking out the looks of the brakes on the inside of the wheels. But, I have the 8-spoke wheels, and decided it would not make THAT much of a difference:

(The picture is kind of a weird one... but it's the best pic of my rim that I have... and I can't get new ones because I lost my USB cord for the dig cam!)

http://www.a-p-group.com/cklasse/Rim.jpg

Again, not the best picture, but the only one that I have to show the vents... and they do go DIRECTLY to the brakes. Sorry to be redudant, but their purpose is to cool the brakes, soley.

http://www.a-p-group.com/cklasse/BumperOff.JPG
The vents on either corner (the holes) are where the air enters.

Don't have any other good pictures, but I think you get the idea.
When I have them installed, I will show pictures and repost an update. I'll let you know how it all goes. I will be extra careful, and be sure to spray up, in and behind the front wheels from under the car get as much brake dust out as possible every time I clean the car (1 X week). I also think I will remove them every few months or so to clean them.

Anyone have any thoughts or concerns? Open to ideas. Thanks buddies!!
:D

(I'll keep you all posted.)

I have had the dust shields on my 8 hole wheeels for 2 years and no problems, also no dust, be sure and get the turbo vents pointing forward(get them on the correct side of the car), and put the turbo vent into the hole area of your wheel and you should be fine. I just do normal driving with the car and have not had any problems, just changed pads and the rotors were ok. When i wash the car i squirt water into a couple of the turbo vents and this gets out the dust. Muke

Thanks for the info Mike. That's good to know. What model Mercedes do you have?

I was thinking of getting them too. My 8-holers are chrome and MAN, do they show the dirt!

I figure they are safe since they do have the slotted cooling vents. A tip for others considering the purchase is to take a look at the design of your factory wheels...if you have very open wheels (like the MLs), I probably wouldn't get them. The factory put them on for a reason, and it's probably because they need all of the cooling they can get!

I have them on all four wheels on a '94 wagon and '97 sedan. We live in the "hills" so a lot of down hill braking. So far no problems. Note however, these are not 100% clean. I use a simple green or other cleaner every couple of weeks to keep them up. Ed

I used them on my wife's old Maxima. Problem with the 2 wheel approach you are taking is that sooner or later, you will need to rotate the tires. The Kleen Wheels are NOT meant to be removed and replaced as they are a kind of press fit inside the wheel. Do yourself a favor and go ahead and order that other set.

Kleen wheels
 

I have used them one the front wheels of both my 98 e430 and 99 ML. Total of over 60,000 miles with no problems. No rotor warp at 40K on the e430. When I rotate the tires I take the kleen wheels off by gently pushing them out from the outside after the rim is removed from the car. It s worked fine for me. I also find you really do not need them on the rears since they only do about 30% of the work as the fronts ,they stay clean enough for me. Good Luck, Mark

Took Mine Off...
 

Depending upon the ones you get, you may be better off without them. The ones on my car were fine with me until I had to descend a steep grade one day, and I smelled that smelly smell of hot brakes!:eek:

I had reason to remove them shortly thereafter as part of an inspection I decided to do, and found that most of the "cooling" fins or openings in these cheap-a**, rinky-dink thin-lookin' sheet metal jokes were closed, and not cooling. I also discovered that the sheet metal was so thin that I could "adjust" it by hand with no tools. Not a confidence builder...

Oh, and then there's aligning the holes of the rotor, wheel and the "Kleen Wheels" if you have to change a tire on a dark road at night by yourself. I will guarantee that they will at best end up in the trunk, and under stressful conditions, in a ditch.

The quality was on a par with a TV dinner tray (well, nearly), and I decided to remove them at that point to allow better cooling. But I have the 16 hole wheels. Remember: Hot brakes = brake fade = no brakes...:eek: Also, brake cooling is so critical that several manufacturers have built their rotors with a double wall construction that incorporates a series of cooling fins cast right into the center of the rotors between the two braking surfaces on each one...

. . . yes siree!
 

Scott is on the money! Couldn't have said it better myself! Pay attention to his last paragraph!

On my trip to/from Napa, after going 110+mph in almost 100F weather, the MB brakes got hot and did fade abit. My wheels are also 8 holers. Dust covers are best left in the trunk!