5th gen brake upgrade - what to do about dust shields?

I'm waiting for the last caliper to show up to do the 5th gen brake upgrade on my 4th gen SR5, starting with the front and doing the rear later. I'm going from the smaller rotor to a larger, wider rotor and to 5th gen calipers that have larger pistons and don't have the random stuck piston issues that plague the 4th gens. Everything I've read is that it's a bolt on swap aside from needing to clearance the dust shields.

Anyone that has done the swap have any experience to share on if they bent the shield, cut the shield, or removed the shield? Looking at replacement shields that will clear it's $100 per side and that doesn't seem worth it.

 

I've done this upgrade, and the larger caliper/pistons have the exact same problem. I'm now deciding if I want to replace the 5th gen front calipers or go aftermarket. The problem is the materials, not the environment. In 5 years and 15k miles, these have already gone bad. This truck mostly gets driven in the summer months in the Seattle area - in the winter its rarely used...and Seattle doesn't salt streets.

I don't mean to bash on your project, do the upgrade - I did notice better brakes and less fade with mine. Regarding your specific dust shield question, just bend them. You can go so far as to cut them if you have the tools, patience, and skill.

 

Bummer to hear it still happens, but I've anecdotally heard less about it happening on 5th gen, fingers crossed I'll be one of the lucky ones. I'm on the east side of WA but I'm the opposite, truck is normally the winter ride, the other 3 seasons I commute on a motorcycle.

And yeah, excited for the overall bigger brakes, mine can definitely use more bite and who knows what the previous owner has or hasn't done, this is just another step in trying to work my way through the whole vehicle replacing consumables as I go.

Was 80% leaning towards bend, thanks for the vote in that direction hah.

 

Bend.

As in I did the swap and initially did nothing, was driving to work the first day after finishing it all, and heard this horrendous squeal... Betcha cant guess what it was

 

Update: I bent them, it was super easy, thanks all. Forgot to take pictures during the entire install, of course.