No-Weld CAT Protection Skid Plates that Fit with SDHQ Sliders?

Hi! I’ve poured over the threads for Valhalla’s Shield and Desert Eagle transmission and cat protection skids— and not finding what I need to know:

It looks like Valhalla provides better cat protection than DE… but less for a 2WD than a 4x4… but Valhalla doesn’t play well with SDHQ sliders due to shared mounting points.

I have a 2017 TRD 2WD with SDHQ sliders and an RCI front skid. I see several posts that reassure me there won’t be a problem marrying the Vallhala and the RCI.

Anyone out there that’s worked out adding cat protection to a truck with SDHQ sliders without welding? Or all else similar 4x4? What did you do? Thanks!

 

Maybe I should retitle this Valhalla vs. Desert Eagle…. Anyone ?

 

It would be easier to just call Tyler and ask IMO.

 

Right! Except I already read his answer on the Valhalla Shield thread… he agreed it was a good idea that someone welded to the SDHQ sliders mounting tab. That’s it. I’ve spent days catching up on the three threads I’ve found.

I’m hoping someone out here has SDHQ sliders and was able to affix the back plate.

If not, I’ll be looking for a far away pic and a close-up showing where to weld.

 

I had the DE cat skid and RCI skid combo, worked great. Still using the DE but made my own skids up front. I'm 90% sure you won't have an issue with the sliders, mine are WKOR.

 

Thank you for chiming in, Warren! I’ve edited my first post to focus on the SDHQ compatibility issue, which I learned about first in this post:

This thread reflects my fervent hope that someone has found an alternate work-around that doesn’t require welding. My main problem with welding is not understanding how/if I could remove it….

 

I posted w/o realizing you were the OP....... It's been a long day.
Anyhow, the DE doesn't attach to the frame rails, only to the frame cross members so I don't see how it would conflict with sliders.

 

Ok, I’m studying these pics, but I guess they depict work in progress:

I’m hoping for clarification. @What the!?, do you mean, you cut off the bracket that was part of the shield, welded that to the slider (instead of the shield)?, and then used fasteners to attach the shield to holes you cut in the bracket?? I suck at visual learning; is this what you did?

 

Since you have a 2WD, it does not seem that the rear cat plate will add that much benefit as without the transfer case there is a fair amount of access to the rear cats per other's posts. Since only the rear Vahalla plate conflicts with the SDHQ sliders and you are not interested in welding, it seems the best solution is to do the front plate only.

 

I think the front only would not be enough deterrent. But I’m starting to accept that I may need to make one.

 

is it that bad where you live ? I suggest investing in a rottweiler instead

 

I cut the L bracket that was included with the rear plate. I circled where I cut in the picture below. I then welded the flat part to the SDHQ bracket. I didn’t need to cut or weld any part of the rear shield. The only modifications were done to the rear shield side brackets.

This actually lowered the rear shield a bit so I didn’t have to use the spacers for the transfer case. (The SDHQ bracket was about the same thickness as one of the spacers. The SDHQ bracket essentially became the spacer because the rear car plate was welded on the bottom of the SDHQ bracket). It also allowed me to easily remove the rear cat plate by unbolting the horizontal screws from each side of the rear plate brackets if I needed to take the rear plate off for any reason. I came up with this as the best way to not have the rear plate permanent.

Hope this clarifies it a bit. Once you get the bracket down there you’ll get a better visual of what I did.

 

I borrowed Tyler’s picture of his brackets (hope you don’t mind).

I cut the part of the bracket off in red.

I kept the part circled in yellow. That’s the part that I welded to the SDHQ bracket. The welds were done in the green part.

This setup is very stout and supports the rear cat plate very well.

 

Yes, it’s off the hook. Dozens each night from the small cities here. Our trucks don’t live behind a fence, so I cannot use the Rottweiler defense. I currently have this truck parked in the parking structure at work, but that won’t fly for long… plus, I miss my truck.

 

THANK YOU!!!

I appreciate you breaking it down for me. I did not want to buy ‘til I could “see” how it would work. Now I just need to consider whether this is the best I can do or if I need to augment these plates or fab others so the cats of my 2WD can’t be reached over the back of the plate.

 

I think @What the!? has a really good solution here. You can still easily remove the plate with the inner bolts, the outer brackets just become part of the sliders. If you ever wanted to remove one or the other or all, a grinder would make quick work of removing that tab.

 

Anytime, my man!

for your 2WD, you could buy some of this metal grate: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbil...n-Plain-Expanded-Metal-Sheet-801427/204225784

and cover the rest of the exposed area behind the rear cats. Sure it’s not full proof, but I’m sure it’ll slow them down and it’ll be a PITA to cut with a sawzall if it’s loosely bolted in. The mesh would move around too much in order for the cuts to go smoothly.

 

I agree. But there’s still significant access from the back, so I gotta figure it out. I like Valhalla’s Shield but the back edge is cut in to accommodate various exhausts… and even though he’s posted that he’ll work on a 2WD version, waiting is a bad idea— once it’s stolen, insurance will replace with non-OEM… so why bother trying to protect when I can get those over and over? (rhetorical)

I’ve been researching all day in spare minutes… maybe I’ll transform this thread into Best Cat Protection Options for 2WD.

I like this idea! As long as it doesn’t rattle when the truck is moving….

 

Here’s the pertinent parts of the conversation on the Valhalla’s Shield thread… I don’t want to take that thread back to pages 6-11 when the conversation there has moved on:

 

Thanks Sunny,
I have a 3rd gen pro with Tyler’s front skid, the pro engine skid and SDHQ sliders. The situation is the same for me as you have described; mostly cat secure but some access from the rear. I’m in an area where I have limited risk of theft (it could happen when I park along the Wilson river to fish for steelhead) but not at home. If you get this worked out, I would like to hear

 

A lot of great info here! I completely missed this post…. Yes, the welded modified brackets is my suggestion. As for exposure with the 2wd, yes, the rear cats do have more access not having the transfer case, but to say the rear plate is useless is far from accurate. Yes there will be a 2wd version of the rear plate in the near future. But it isn’t here yet…

Think about it this way. There are 2 apples on a tree, one is easy to reach and the other one has a lot of branches to squeeze around to get it. Could you get it, sure! But it would be a lot of work and to add to the urgency, you have the bubble guts and you can’t afford to try and get it

 

It’s true, these guys are taking low hanging fruit. I saw a home surveillance video this week: from the time the thief got out of his driver’s door to the time he got back into his driver’s door tossing the cat in before him = 30 seconds.

Also, looks like cordless cutting wheels are the tool of choice around here… smaller than reciprocating saws, and better able to cut through CatStrap devices and what not.

 

What you could do In the mean time of waiting for my new rear plate is order my front plate and have at least the most important stuff covered. Or you can order my rear plate and build something on top of it to make access much harder

 

I finally got a chance to get under the truck and took a pic of the bracket.

 

I just loosened up my RCI skid.... since I already had spent the money on it and slid the rear Valhalla skid on top. I didn't attach the side mounts since I was only worried about the cats in that area and not concerned with anything offroad there.

 

I realize that it is just a deterrent and not fail proof but I welded 2 1#1 galvanized square rods from cross member to cross member and then screwed a sheet of expanded metal with about 20 screws to the welded frame, it completely covers all 4 of my cat converters with no problem. If someone wants to remove it they can but it would take more time than most thieves want to spend. I will have to remove it to service my center transfer case but no big deal. I will attach pictures when I get a few. It is a low cost remedy in my opinion, again, if someone wants to steal them bad enough they will find a way.

 

This reads like a great deterrent. I’m looking forward to seeing the photos, when you have time to post.

 

Looks good! Cheaper than full plates, less weight, and probably a good enough deterrent for anything parked in public.

Somebody farther up on this thread (you?) suggested using this material behind the rear skid plate for those of us with 2WD = no diff as a partial barrier. I was picturing attaching the front edge of this material to the back edge of the back skid plate after first “rolling” this screen material, so the roll would act as a non-rigid barrier to hamper anyone reaching in from the back.