What do you all think about this???

[bad5300]

On the inside rear wheels.....rust...the truck came from columbus, OH, so im guessing the harsh weather up there did this...what are your all thoughts/opinions???

[mehoff400]

could be from salt on the roads in the winter i dont know how bad the weather gets in OH but i know salt isn't good at all for cars

[CarpenterGuy]

i think as long as it doesn't hurt anything, leave it. do they salt the roads in kentucky? i know down here the ONE time we had to salt the roads in the past 8 years (since i can remember) they had to take a dump truck and mexicans and the mexicans shoveled the salt onto the roads. we dont have those fancy salt sprayers.

[bry2500]

That is very common up here in the north east. We have the salt on the roads and the city I live in is on the coast so we get the salt air too. Lots of rot boxes up here. That piece of sheet metal is not structurely important but if you drive on dirt roads alot it is helpful. It will help keep any road debris from getting between the pads and the rotor.

If you want to replace them you can find replacements pretty easy. I found 1500 Silverado 02-07 for $18 each on Ebay. Not sure how extensive a job it is to replace them though. Some came as 2 pieces so they are like a clam shell and you don't need to remove the rotor while others are a full piece and the rotor has to come off. Hopefully someone here can shed some light on it for you.

[tlperry68]

It looks like residue from salting the roads. I'd spray it off and clean it up. Maybe spray some WD-40 on the metal after its all clean.

[TRPLXL2]

I live up in the snow belt of Ohio, and they salt the roads before it snows as a precautionary measure! I just washed my dad's 2500HD today, and I swear it looked just like those pictures you took thankfully it was 53 degrees today! This year the state of Ohio started adding molasses of all things to their salt, so instead of the salt evenly coating everything it was stuck in big clumps around all of the suspension parts. That junk on your truck is definately notorious up here in Ohio, welcome to the Buckeye state..........AMY

[ct9a]

Agreed, salt from the roads. Does some nasty stuff to metal.

[cascott325]

yea it is common, with the heat from the breaks, and salt from the road, it doesnt take long for that little piece of metal to rust out

[tbplus10]

Is the rear drums or disks? (sorry my eyes arent what they used to be and I cant tell).
Either way the concern I'd have with this is water and debris getting to the discs or shoes (if their drums). This could create a hazardous condition during spring when you get a lot of rain. And it'll promote more corrossion if not taken care of. Is it critical? Not yet, but left unattended it'll only get worse and create more problems so put it on yor list of things to do this summer. Replace brake backing plates!!

[bad5300]

Well yeah I knew it was from the salt lol....I was just getting opinions on the backing plates and if you all thought this was harmful in any way...thanks for the replies, from what it sounds like, this happens often up north, so I guess Ill just replace em...