'01 Suburban 1500 4WD ..... 160+K miles

I replaced all brake pads and all rotors this weekend. While swapping out the rear rotors and e-brake pads, I noticed that the backing plates are all rusted around the perimeter. So there isn't any "seal" between the backing plates and the rotors.

Are these backing plates hard to replace? It looks like I have to pull the axles to replace them. Does anyone make an an aftermarket backing plate that is two piece? How important are they?

Thanks

Bill

 

Did them on my 01 Tahoe. I got a scraping sound when I would go around a turn. They started bubbling then would contact the rotor. They don't really seal anything, they are just a splash guard IMO. They are not that difficult to replace. You have to pull the axles (I replaced axle seals while I was in there). If you have an open diff, super easy. If you have the locker, you must remove the screw that holds the center pin in place, slide the pin out PARTIALLY and then you can push the axle in a tad to get the c-clip out. Confusing the first side and it took about 40 minutes. The second side took about 15 once you can see how it comes apart.