Aftermarket cats, who has had luck?

Everyone knows that OEM Cats are the way to go, and shields are a great deterrent. With that being said let's do our best to stay on the topic of Who has had luck with aftermarket cats and what make were they.

If you replaced your cats with straight pipes or after market cats and have managed to avoid the dreaded CEL please share your story.

 

Napa cats after mine were stolen, working fine afterv5k miles

 

I’ve run magnaflow on multiple vehicles with good luck.

 

I have Magnaflow OEM grade cats on order. Mine were stolen in September in a small town south of Dallas, the story on that is here: https://www.tundras.com/threads/looks-like-i’ve-joined-the-stolen-cat-club.112859/ I decided it's better to give them a try than let the truck sit for months without being run and driven.

After researching as much as I could, I decided to order Magnaflow based on these threads on this site, and numerous threads on other sites:
https://www.tundras.com/threads/magnaflow-vs-oem-catalytic-converters.91543/
and
https://www.tundras.com/threads/magnaflow-cats.106753/

If you decide to go with Magnaflow, email them with your VIN and the state where you register the truck and they'll give you the correct part numbers.

One thing I've found is that no matter what brand you go with, the break-in period is critical. Basically, you start the truck for the first time after installing the cats and don't touch the accelerator. Let the truck idle for 5 minutes. Then turn off the engine and let it cool completely. I don't know the details on why, but many threads on other sites mention the importance.

If you don't have shields, there's a place in Ft Worth that makes a nice looking set. More detail on those here: https://www.tundras.com/threads/ins...great-inexpensive-option.116143/#post-2986047

Sorry to drift a little off topic, but, at times, it's nice to tie the threads together.

 

Never heard of cat break in. Mine get welded in and ran. Never had an issue. Also never kept one longer than 5 years. But with a heavy foot I’ve never had an issue.

 

What brand did they use, and what year is your Tundra?

 

They were magnaflow and I’ve run them on Chevy, Toyota, and Nissan.

 

Sadly, no luck with my Magnaflows. Guess I’m one of the unfortunate few since it seems many with Magnaflows haven’t had a problem.

Anyway, CEL came on a few thousand miles after install. It would go away for awhile, then come back on until eventually it just stayed on continuously (although I can always clear it temporarily with my scanner). I’ve now been waiting 9 months on the dealer list for OEM cats.

 

I would try the O2 extender’s on the downstream sensors and see that that would keep the cel off.

 

I had an Infiniti that was sensitive so I stacked two extenders and packed them with steel wool. That did the trick for that car.

 

Wait....what?

 

Extender 1 in exhaust pipe filled with 00 steel wool. Extender 2 screwed into extender 1. Fill with 00 wool. Screw o2 sensor into extender 2.

 

Are these the extenders that you had to drill out to 1/2"

 

Yes.

 

If a person goes with aftermarket cats do you have to go back with two cats on each side? I wonder what the downside would be? Im just thinking one less to start rattling.

 

Depends how picky your emissions testing facility is.

 

Oklahoma no emissions testing. If i knew of a shop that would install LT headers I wouldn’t install any cats. I’ll probably just go with universal cats so i can get it back on the toad.

 

The Magnaflow cats arrived today and the truck's in the air at the shop. Delivery was pretty quick, I ordered them on the 8th. I took the shields over for installation during the cat installation. I'll post pictures of the shields in place and report on any problems as soon as I have the truck back.

 

Sounds like you are getting close Randy, good luck!!

 

OP, I'm also in OK. You might want to talk to Big Giant muffler shop in Moore. Pretty sure they could get you set up with long tubes.

 

The cats are in, and the shields are in place. I'll update occasionally, and quickly if something goes wrong.

There are pictures here. https://www.tundras.com/threads/loo...he-stolen-cat-club.112859/page-3#post-3015161

 

So far, so good. No issues to report, but one odd thing. Since I put the shields on, the road noise has decreased. I thought it might be my imagination, but my wife agrees that it's a bit quieter in the truck.

 

Has anyone had luck passing inspection with this setup in CA ?