I noticed a rattling noise from the back left wheel on my way home from work today.  When I reached home I had a look and spotted this:

 

 

The ring in my hand is loose.

 

Here's the other side to compare:

 

 

 

Is this just a cosmetic cover?  What is the function of the ring?

 

 

Thanks for any info you can provide.  My car is a 55 plate Octavia II Tdi Elegance with ~75k on the clock.

hi this is just a dust cover for the shockabsorber the ring holds it in place without it debrit from the road can damage the seal on the shock and cause it to leak all you need is a new boot and bump stop to fix it nothing too serious

Yes its the dust cover that protects the sliding shaft that goes into the shocker. Get it fixed, because what will happen is that grit/dirt will stick to the very lightly oiled shaft and will knacker the upper seal of the shocker causing it to leak and fail.

 

Been there, done that, got the bill.....

Edited 30 July, 201312 yr by xman

Thank you - appreciate the quick response.

 

I found the dust cover had dropped down, so have put it back into place and secured it with a cable tie.  No apparent damage to the bump stop.