2022 catalytic converter anti theft plate consensus

McMaster.com is your best friend for buying fasteners. For the threaded bolts, you'll want M8 1.25 x 40mm long. You can buy matching lock washers for them. For the non-threaded bolts, anything that's 3.5" - 4" (I think the Talon bolts are 4" long) should work fine.

If you live in an area with mild corrosion, I would get 304 (18-8) stainless steel fasteners. If you live in the rust belt or north...I might opt for 316 stainless steel. 304SS will work just fine for most applications but 316SS will out last the truck.

 

Absolutely agree! I have a cart with everything in it right now with 316 fasteners. The only issue is you have to buy in quantity and not single, so it brings it up to about $65 for everything needed, but then again I guess I'd have extras to share haha. I was more interested in the security washers as I can't find them anywhere in a size that would fit. Thanks for the suggestion though!

 

I replaced all the hardware with stainless steel. I had to source it from a couple hardware stores and Amazon. The bolt head protectors came from Barnes4wd. Link below. I had them powder coated with the plates.
https://www.barnes4wd.com/bolt-head-protectors.html

 

Dang. The head protectors are sold out. Thanks for the
Link though

 

They’ll probably be back in stock soon.

 

Any of you guys have any rattling with these shields? Wondering if some felt or plastic washers are a good idea when installing it. I have a Talons Garage shield coming in tomorrow and would hate to install it only to have to take it off to fix some rattles.

 

None here. The fit is great and the bolts hold it up snug to the frame. I don't think you'll get any rattles from this thing.

 

No rattles. It’s been 500+ miles and more than two weeks. When I checked all bolts were tight. Though I torqued them on pretty good.

 

I forgot to mention this earlier when we were discussing new hardware. I didn't explain why.

Did some fairly serious trails a couple of weekends back. When coming off the trail system, there's a poorly maintained fire access road that's is a poster child for the term "washboard." That washboard road is about 5 miles to pavement.

Noticed some serious rattles coming from the under carriage. By the time there was enough space to pull off the road, I noticed one of the two M8 allen head bolts supplied by Talon were gone and other hanging on by a thread. It was causing my TRD skid plate to rattle against the cat shield. Thankfully, I keep a tool bag in the truck for just such an occasion.

This wasn't but a few days after my dealership did the 10k service & oil change. I'm 99% positive that the lube tech at the dealership just hand threaded the bolts in. Maybe he didn't have a set of allen head sockets in his kit. I ended up going with some 304SS M8 1.25 (40mm) bolts off of McMaster-Carr along with fender washers and lock washers.

On a somewhat related side note: When I got underneath the truck to install the new hardware and check the rest of the skid plate bolts, I noticed some oil at the back edges of the skid plate & cat shield. It was a fair amount. I ended up dropping both the skid plate & cat shield. I thought, "Damn. If they didn't torque down these skid plate bolts...there's no telling if they forgot to tighten the drain plug or the oil filter." Thankfully, the entire undercarriage was dry of oil. Nothing around the oil drain plug and nothing around the spin-on oil filter. My only guess was the tech got trigger happy with the oil fil gun or he missed the funnel when refilling the oil. Just illustrates that the "experts" at the dealership can sometimes be as bad as your quick lube techs.

 

I watched this video a few times when I was looking…

https://youtu.be/f1h7xL4rS7Y

 

Has anyone ordered a Valhalla shield and received it recently? Just looking for some feedback as I am now 7 weeks in waiting and can’t seem to get a response from the guy. Im sure he’s crazy busy but would have liked an update from the original 4-6 weeks that he told me.

 

Did you PM him or posted on the boards? He's very responsive when I've reached out to him so kinda strange

 

I ordered one In February. Messaged classy63 recently and he got back to me a day later I think. Said they are a nightmare right now. And can't give me a date yet.
I should get my truck mid July. So hopefully it's made and shipped by then

 

I did finally hear back and sounds like he’s crazy busy as I had expected.

As thefts seem to be increasing up here in Canada, I need to get a plate installed asap. I wonder, does anyone know of a supplier/fabricator up here in Canada?

 

I don’t know about Canada but I feel your predicament…it lead me to having to go with a competitor though I would have loved to thrown my support his way

 

Valhalla just got another order.
Let's see how long the wait is..

 

Anyone looking for alternative solutions, I’ve been successful in installing Pir sensors underneath the truck hooked up to an arduino. I get texts and I have mine hooked up to a loud siren as well. Lots of work to get it figured out and working but definitely cheaper than a shield. I can also get texts if the cab or camper shell get broken into.

 

'Cut' catalytic converter ban passed by Houston City Council

I don't live in Houston, but this story got picked up on my local news here. Houston is making it illegal for any business or person to posses or sell a cut/used catalytic converter without proper documentation. I know serious criminals will find a way to fake the documentation, but if it stops even a few more criminals...I think it's worth it.

Hopefully, more places around the country will look into similar laws.

On a side note: I would also love to see manufacturers actually integrate cat shields, even if it was an option. I can select a skid plate as an option. Makes sense that a cat shield should be a factory option too.

 

Small steps, and this is a positive one. I agree that there will always be a way for criminals to be criminals but the more attention it gets, the better.

 

Employee of mine almost lost a cat yesterday. I was parked 3 cars down from him too. Luckily I already installed my cover plate

 

Well damn…someone was looking out for him.

I wonder if they (the thieves) got spooked in the middle of cutting it and moved on.

 

someone yelled at him and he took off...got a pic of the guy's avalanche and police report was filed. $50 later, the exhaust was welded back up. Dude was extremely lucky this time

 

Good start indeed…though I thought/heard that most of them end up being sold to the scrap metal guys who are looking for the rare metals in it?

I don’t know who they pass it on to do this (if they don’t do it themselves)

 

You're correct on the scrap metal recyclers.

Though, in the article is states that City of Houston already highly regulates scrap metal recyclers within the city. The article kind of implies that, because of their strict regulation on recyclers, the black market has moved to other businesses.

 

Lip service and really won’t slow down the problem. There are well established networks that ship these overseas. The solution is to minimize or eliminate their value.

 

got my 22 earlier this year before some of the other vendors had product so went with the one from add automotive. it's not beefy steel like desert eagles on my 08 but it's a decent deterrent for now.

 

So were the original TRD skid plate bolts long enough to account for the Talon plate as well?

 

Still waiting on my truck, hopefully this month, but just ordered the Talon cat shield.

My Tundra will have the TRD OR skid plate on it, and I saw all the info about the helper tab… but can the helper tab on the skid plate be bent down by leaving it on or do you have to remove that plate to accomplish this. Not sure about the thickness of the skid plate, thanks in advance!

 

I like this idea. Thanks. Might make an adaptation for my Softopper and RPi-based system.

Any pics worth sharing?

 

Yes, they were plenty long to accommodate the Talons skid.