To cat shield or not to cat shield?

The owner of a large multi location Toyota dealership here in Miami and told me they have had 4 trucks hit recently while they were on the lot. They are considering cat shields of some sort as a dealer installed option.

I put T*** T**** cat shield on mine. They were on sale with free shipping. I wouldn’t want to deal with the hassle of having to replace the cats. An easy 5 minute of install gives me plenty of worry free piece of mind.

 

The dashcam shows front and back, and that's only if you get the 2 channel version. Many only look forward. Mine shows front and back, but that's no help. They pulled up to the side of mine and the alarm (Viper with glass breakage sensor) didn't go off until they almost had the second cat cut free. They probably banged the saw against the frame or steps at some point and set it off. The saw didn't. Even the video surveillance from the hotel parking lot was useless. This isn't some random crackhead with a hacksaw, these are pros. The cuts were clean and straight, and from start to finish it took 4 minutes. Spend the money elsewhere if you choose, but a little insurance will go a long way to protecting you in the future.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/looks-like-i’ve-joined-the-stolen-cat-club.112859/#post-2913092

 

I think I finally have the other 1/2 convinced to proceed. I do need to answer to her if having the cat shields in place causes difficulties with any routine maintenance, like oil changes etc.

I would kinda like powder coated aluminum, but effectiveness and ease of installation are tops. Any experienced feedback would be much appreciated, mostly because, across the family, to do all I would need...

2021 Tundra crewmax trd pro
2021 Sequoia TRD pro
2021 Highlander
2020 Tacoma DBL 4x4 TRD offroad
2019 4Runner
2022 Venza

Not sure that the lower clearance vehicles need them.
Valhalla doesn't seem to do the 4 runner or taco?
I am trying to finally move on these and get this done, but can't find a one stop ordering location, or who is best (and if multiple pieces, for example the rear coverage) are needed.

 

Exactly. They're efficient in their thievery. Also even with 4k video, they're impossible to identify. At least here, the cat thieves always have good ol face masks on, covering as much of their faces as they can, and they're driving either stolen cars or generic Nissans with stolen plates.

and they've gotten pretty bold. local lots have had cats stolen, same with broad daylight in the mall parking lot.

these days, cat shields are pretty much a must-have.

 

We have a 2020 4Runner. Searching for plates for it was a pain. There is a company that makes them, but IMO, they look like crap and also defeatable. I ended up going with a full set of CBI skids from the engine back. They were the best coverage that I have found as a full set. I have pics if interested in what coverage they provide. Some Tacomas have been hit, and any vehicle is a target.

 

Man, I wish I could convince my wife to do all our vehicle maintenance!!

 

What brand cat shield?

 

I park at a lot of empty boat ramps. I don’t have any guards…I wish I did.

Edit. My wife is all for it. She had a coworker months ago get his Cats stolen off his tundra and it’s been forever since he’s been able to drive it.

Maybe after the new year when our budget gets reset.

 

agreed. a dash cam might be great in proving fault in the event of an accident where both drivers claim to not be at fault but in terms of theft it only really assists if the perp was physically caught and they need proof for court.

 

Get some shields

 

I like my Vahallas but there is certainly a wait time.
Any shield will be of some deterrent.
You don't want to come out to your truck and find this..



As to the lower clearance vehicles, the Prius is the most stolen catalytic converter according to my dealership.
They say it has the most precious metals in it per part.

 

Just to add to this...I purchased the cat shield months before getting my truck. I installed the cat shield the next day after purchasing the truck. The only reason I didn't install it the same day was because I was sick as a dog. I only had enough energy to go to the dealership and get the paperwork done and drive it straight home.

 

Dealership is offering Toyota cat shields for a number of vehicles. Has anyone compared them directly with the independent fabricators' products?

 

I think different dealerships use different sources for their shields.
There is no 'one' Toyota cat shield.

When my truck was in the shop waiting for cat parts my dealer offered these and I told him I wanted one.
I have no idea who makes them, but they wanted $600 for the part and installation.
As you can see there isn't much to it.
Then again this was almost a year ago.



Fortunately, with delay after delay in getting the cat parts, I ordered a set from @Classy63
I was a little paranoid I wouldn't get the shields before I got the truck back, but I did.
I actually had the shields sitting in my garage for 2 months waiting to get the truck back from the dealer.
Very happy it all worked out the way it did.

 

Screw it. Straight pipes and headers it is!

 

Verified dealership is selling cats by millercat that ARE on the difficult to navigate Toyota parts website, but at a $269 upcharge over msrp.
Going with Talon

 

My local dealership sold me a Miller a few months back. They had one in stock and let it go for ~$520 out the door.

I ask if they are able to make me a sweet deal literally every time I'm at their counter. They ALWAYS swing me some kind of discount.

I recently had another local dealer attempt to charge me $17 a quart for WS ATF. I waited a week for my usual dealership to restock, and have still not paid over $10/quart for the stuff

 

Not pleased with the engineering on it versus other options. Have gone another direction and we will see how that goes.

There are none for Highlanders or Venzas. Thinking about trying the catstrap on those...

 

.... This was for the main plate with no rear wings.

 

I was too paranoid for my truck to sit around waiting for the perfect design to be backordered, built, and shipped out to me.

The single plate does not completely cover the rear cats, tho they do have an add-on for this purpose. Also, getting at and cutting the pipes upstream from the rear cats would be awkward, time consuming, and loud even without the rear add-ons.

The 3/16s aluminum plate is quite beefy and all of the security hardware is of very high quality.

I guess my point is, don't wait around so long for the "perfect option" that your truck gets hit before you have a chance to protect it.

I think ANY plate is a good deterant, as they will probably just move on to the plentiful, unprotected targets in your area as soon as they spot the protection.

 

I'm extremely happy that our vehicles are parked inside securely overnight, for this reason in particular.
So far our area hasn't been much for brazen daylight thefts, and I think these should help.

 

A local woman posted on nextdoor, her Highlander cats were stolen in an hour while she was in PeterPiper during the day on a Saturday.

The deductible is not the thing, it's the national backorder. My Sequoia is inside 99.9999999% of the time, they can take them in under 2 minutes in the grocery store parking lot.

I like not worrying about them.

YMMV.


A better question is can you do without the vehicle for 6-8 months?

 

I sincerely hope your luck continues.

I also sincerely hope you take delivery of your chosen shield(s) ASAP.

Let us know what you think/ post some pictures if you can. Don't believe I've seen the Talon piece before.

 

I got the one from Taco Tunes it was in stock and in my hands within a week for $350. That included he security screws.

 

Looking at shields I'm honestly not satisfied with the protection they provide. Yeah, they're a deterrent (I guess), but they're not hard to remove, especially if you have a brain.

I'm paranoid enough that I've thought strongly about sourcing steel rope to attach the cats to my frame (such that they'd have to be cut 10-15 times per cat to remove), then covering the spiderweb of steel in barbed wire, with a thin cat shield with a big statement "DANGER, BARBED WIRE, PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK" (or something similar to avoid liability), marked on it, VERY clearly.

You'd probably have to have a personal vendetta against me at that point to still try and steal them. I really have no confidence in plates on their own.

 

The shields act as a deterrent. The give the thief incentive to find a softer target. They don't want complicated disassembly processes, they want four cuts and run. If they're dedicated, they'll just steal a wrecker and haul the truck (if there's an alarm they'll stop long enough to open the hood and cut the battery cable) to some backroad and strip it for whatever's valuable. If it's push button start, they'll copy the code and just drive it away.

 

My point is that a lot of these shields are a pretty soft deterrent if some are just removing them and stealing cats anyways. It's not like the hardware is non-standard. Security, maybe. Anyone can buy or steal security drivers at a home improvement store. It's a pretty limp deterrent, but great way to earn money in a small fab shop.

 

Then don't get any security plates and everyone is happy.

 

I always think about a shield, but I live in a quiet mtn town and only use my truck for camping in the mtns/desert. Only time I was a bit uneasy was in a sketchy motel parking lot in St George, UT. Didn't sleep super well that night as I got up to check a few times.

 

Life’s a gamble. I’m gonna keep my $600 and easy access to my trans/TC. Might come back to bite me but I’ve thought long and hard about it. If I get hit I’ll burn in janky filler pipes while waiting for replacements. At least until my neighbor who parks outside gets hit. That might shift the odds enough for me.