Advise Please

The guy I bought them from is from the west coast and I am in New York. I don't really feel like dealing with sending back the wheels/tires and waiting another 3-4 weeks to get a new set as we are already in the winter. I was thinking of taking the heat shields off for the winter but then figured couldn't I just bend them a little as the clearance needed would only be about 1/2 inch?
I searched the forum for anyone else who has run into this issue but didn't find anything. Any one have experience with this issue or some advise would be greatly appreciated?!?!
Thank you,
Dan.



