rear brake plates

[white van man]

Not sure what their proper name is but when my mate put my rear hubs back together he forgot to put the brake plates back on.  Are they essential or will the car happily run without them. the front on the right of the picture are on its just the rears that arent.

Thanks for your help

Alex

[lukeyboy]

Not done a Mazda build but I would hazzard a guess that they aren't required and are only a cosmetic feature (possibly keep brake dust down / water splash off the discs?) - Unless they are used as some kind of spacer when bolting them back together!

Fix the brakes back together with out them on and see if the brake work ok and make sure that nothing moves or rattles and clearances are good