Catalytic converter skid plates & theft deterrent

It might be prudent to reach out to the staff and check up on Vendor status...

 

Yea I will be picking mine up locally, can't wait. It's nice that it works with my 6" Pro Comp lift. Thank You

 

It is a simple plate to adapt. The procomp and ready lift almost all use the same thing so I made a plate for it, I can make them for the rough country lifts, but that adapter gets weird. BDS cuts too much away and leaves me nothing to bolt a plate too

 

I'm waffling a lot on installing the DE plate. The bolt seizing really threw me for a loop. I had threaded it by hand and it wasn't even close to being tightened. Still waiting to hear back from the Service guy at Don McGill which doesn't make me too happy. Carlos in the parts department said it's the same price to install ($78) whether it's a pro or not and said the service department does it. Service department told my wife that they don't do it, Make Ready does. He was supposed to doublecheck the price last night and we're still waiting to hear back. Our dealer in Austin, Charles Maund, said they've installed plates under the Prius (apparently they are the gold standard in cat value) but never for a Tundra. Said it'd probably be anywhere from $100 to $300 to install, depending on how long it takes them.

But again, I'm worried about putting the plate on there and then something happening where it needs to be removed to get to whatever needs to be fixed and the bolts seizing up. Somebody earlier in this thread said using stainless could cause a reaction blah, blah, I don't understand but they could fuze or something. @crewmaxlmt said something similar. So the easy solution would be swapping out the bolts.

But then there's the install with the TRD skid plate (which many of you Tundra ninjas were able to do). I hate to pay somebody to do it and then get dinged later on because if I have to pay extra as some kind of covered maintenance was required on my Tundra and the plate removal wasn't covered.

At the same time, I'm tempted to call a buddy who can cut a hole in the plate to make it easier to get to the top of the crossmember the skid plate is attached to... Or maybe I should just take the loss.

I'm probably thinking too much. The only plus I have going for me is that I have a zillion cameras outside. If they try to take mine, they'll probably get caught.

 

Is there an issue with the skid plate on a SR5 TRD package, NOT a TRD skid plate? I am going to be traveling south this summer and want to have piece of mind when I'm in my hotel room.

 

You shouldn't have any issues installing the DE skid.

 

If I remember correctly, the stock skid plate does not go all the way to the crossmember like the TRD Pro skid does. You will just mount the DE skid using the 4 mount points and there should be no issues and nothing to modify.

 

Wowser Joel - you are over thinking it. That's ok though - we all do that from time to time, and having a bolt cause issues doesn't help.

On the stainless bolts - there's two things to consider.

One is that dissimilar metals (such as the stainless in contact with bare aluminum) can cause galvanic corrosion where the differences in electrical "potential" of the two metals causes them to react and transfer metal from one object to the other. This is really only a serious problem in situations where other factors like constant moisture or presence of ionic catalysts (think salt or similar materials) - essentially it is the process of electroplating, only done when you don't want it to happen. It's a common problem in piping systems, but in this case I'd have a hard time expecting it to really present a problem.

The other is that threaded stainless steel has a tendency to gall when the metal is tightened and the mating surfaces pass over each other at the faces of the threads. It's actually an issue with the microscopic structure of the surface of the metal and the concentrated stress that is present where the two surfaces of the male and female thread pass over each other. Think of it like trying to force two pieces of 60-grit sandpaper to slide over each other. The metal will catch and tear, which then creates more friction and effectively the two surfaces bond together. The solution here is to use a thread lubricant that will fill in the microscopic pits/gaps and keep the surfaces from galling on each other. "Never-Seez" and other brands are out there - and different formulas are used for different applications (such as what metals are being joined, or what temperature/conditions the joint is being used in, etc.). It just takes a little to coat the threads before making the joint up, and that will improve your chances by 1000% that you can easily break that joint free later. It DOES, however, change the amount of torque needed to correctly tighten a joint (reduces it dramatically), so if you use never-seez on a bolt, never torque it to the published torque values unless that torque value is listed as being a "lubricated" torque value.

Hope that makes sense...

If it were me, I'd bust the rest of those bolts off your TRD skit plate, figure out what new hardware you need, and get to putting the new one (and the DE skid) back on! You're probably looking at <$20 in new bolts and a small tube of neverseez, and you'll be good to go.

 

correct, if you have the stock skid plate, just bolt on the DE plate.

 

Just use a grade 2 or 5 bolt and you won't need the anti seize. Stainless bolts have their place, on boats and in clean rooms.

Stainless bolt tensile - 75KSI Min, non heat treatable stainless steel
Grade 2 steel - 74KSI Min, non heat treatable steel
Grade 5 steel - 120KSI Min, Quench and tempered steel
Grade 8 steel - 150KSI Min, Quench and tempered alloy steel

 

Thanks Casey, for breaking it down. That makes a lot of sense and I've learned something so we'll call today a good day. I tend to over think, especially when I don't know what the hell I'm doing.

I'll have to look for somebody around here with a lift because I won't be climbing under for a while. One of the side effects of my military disability is that I can clot or bleed a lot. I'm not supposed to do things where I can get really bruised up. Rolling around under the Tundra on a blanket over pebbles and brick wasn't the smartest move. I've got marks and bumps all over my body.

 

Thanks Scott!

 

That sucks you guys have to pay for so long for the commitment you gave. If I was closer, I'd offer to help.

 

Thank you - I have it so much better than a lot of Vets as far as disabilities go. I appreciate the offer. I plan on storming Canada soon with @Azblue so maybe we can swing by Washington on the way up and I can take you up on your offer...

 

Thank you for your service sir.

 

Yep wish I was closer, I’d give ya a hand. Free work for bacon burgers.

 

Just ordered a plate from Tyler..


Damn this site..

 

I have the DE skid and ordered the rear plate from Tyler. Cheaper that replacing the cats.

 

I almost don't care if someone gets my cats. I have comp on my truck. My deductible is less than what most of the good shields will cost with installation. I could probably use new cats by now since my truck has over 140K miles.

 

Suppose someone cuts em out. What would you do for the two months or more it takes to get replacements?

 

I have another vehicle as a back up so that wouldn't be too big an issue. I would still contrive a way for my insurance to provide me a free loaner.

 

unless you have a rental coverage add on no insurance company is going to pay for a rental vehicle for a comprehensive repair. Your insurance company will pay out what your policy says is covered and no more.

 

And then your rates will magically go through a "market adjustment" to account for the fact you now cost them more money.

 

If that happens, my insurance agent will have to do some work finding me a better rate. There are plenty of other insurance companies that want my business.

 

Nope. I filed a comprehensive claim last year, large tree limb fell across my truck hood during a storm.

My rates have actually dropped.

I notified my carrier, state farm, started a claim, they said pick a body shop, one I chose was highly recommended by toyota and state farm, they did the estimate, sent everything to state farm, I had the OK for work to begin in about a week, money deposited into my account, truck in body shop week and half. I paid the shop my deductable and the funds state farm gave me.

 

Saw this in another thread.

 

Damn sure hope this Thug, thief, PoS got reported and arrested - Wheres the video of that?

 

I just scrolled through this entire thread and I am assuming I simply missed it... but what contact info/website did you order the plate from? I’d like the piece of mind as well.