Valhalla’s Shield theft deterrent/skid plates info and ordering post

So, onto work news, I am very excited projecting where I am sitting with catching up. In about the next week I will ship the only order from May, all the rest of the orders from June, and July once the Aluminum order comes in. Then I can power into August and September. This dark cloud is disappearing!

 

Considering the delays in all shipping/delivery that affects almost all purchase levels, I'm lucky to live "close" to Tyler (about 1 hour-one way away). So as soon as I got his email today that my order was finally ready, I went to pick up my 3/8" plates. Got a nice new Z brackets too. I guess that I won't need any spacers with this new version of the plates/brackets. Nice Job Tyler! Pleasure to meet you today. Best wishes and hope a fast recovery of your wife.

 

I’m a framer. What am I going to do if I cancel? Nail a sheet of OSB under the truck? That’s probably more expensive anyway. I waited for suspension parts, I waited for wheels and now I’m waiting on tires. Heck, my kid got a ps5 game from Santa last Christmas with a promise of a ps5 console…he is still waiting on that.

 

While Tyler makes a fine product and supports this community, there are other vendors filling this void with immediate shipping. Heck, I just ordered cat plates for my son’s Tacoma and my daughters Prius and both were at my door in less than a week.

 

From the guy that stole his template file?

If so, no thanks.

 

Yea, I’m aware of that one, but not who I’m referring to. There are others. Cat security is a hot topic right now and companies are stepping up to meet the demand. I’m not trying to steer anyone but just explaining why some are threatening to cancel orders due to the long wait. There are options now even though I think Tyler’s plates have the best design.

 

I think we all understand that could be one of the reasons why orders are being cancelled...the real problem IMHO is we (Americans) are a consumer nation now...because we sure as hell do not manufacture diddly anymore and I'd hesitate to say we are moving to a service-oriented workplace now because folks cannot hardly get a fast food drink order correct today. Add being dependent on consumers needing "more" all the time, the famous Amazon experience of 2-day at-your-door stuff is simply making people impatient.

Those are, of course, the greatest parts about our country - free market, competition, capitalism, and free choice to spend your money whenever and however one feels.

 

So, in better news, here is a 1/8 steel front skid plate that is getting picked up in the next few minutes. I have deleted the 3 bolts holding the plastic tabs from the front bumper, now they will be plastic push tabs, this is t structural by any means.

Also, you may notice that there are no cut lines and that edge is sooooo much smoother!



I am looking for someone preferably local to Houston with a BDS 4.5” lift for me to test the fitment with my new adapter

 

Nice! I like the idea of using push tabs for the front stock bumper connection.

 

I get this, but, it's obvious from reading this that Tyler has a real dedication to his trade and customers. Just got my shipping notification after 3.5 months and I am perfectly fine with that. Id rather wait and buy from a guy who has shown he will right any wrong and help his customers if needed.

 

I waited three months + for my Dobinsons springs FWIW.

Things are backlogged right now in every area.

 

Am I crazy or is this a direct knock off?

Looks just like mine.

 

That is my old plasma cutter who stole my plate designs. It is nice to how my plates have evolved and he has stayed the same

 

Get a rope!

 

I thought it was pretty cool to see your “ad” on my Facebook marketplace feed tonight.

 

Today I installed my third plate, despite all the delays if I had to buy another plate I would not hesitate. The quality is A+ on these plates and I always received a response when I inquired about the status of my order.

There was a noise coming from my rear cat plate which I installed weeks ago, it was making contact with the transfer case. Luckily, I had to go again to pick up another plate. Without asking any questions, Tyler got under my truck, checked and fixed the problem in less than 10 minutes, probably I would have spent hours trying to fix it.

Installing all the plates was pretty easy, except for the last bolt when installing the front skid plate, it's like you and your truck become 1, it's a PITA to get your hand in there!

While I was waiting for the plates, I took the time to paint and engrave the cats. Also, after reading the comments from others in this forum, I got the bolt head protectors from Barnes4wd.

I am planning to buy another vehicle, but there is almost nothing at the dealerships ... delays everywhere, I hope Tyler continues to make more plates for other vehicles so that we can negotiate again.

 

It was a pleasure working with you sir!

 

props to anyone who was able to bolt up the front driver side with an rci skid plate. it was damn near impossible to stick my arm and hand in there to bolt it up and i almost gave up after 2 hours. i was about to call my girlfriend to do it for me since she has skinnier arms. my arms ended scratched up to hell and i do not look forward to taking it off to service the front diff and transfer case lol. great product

 

I feel this pain, it is what my hands look like after installing the plates on a TRD PRO.

 

I'm in this club. It was no fun but worth it!

 

I am so looking forward to getting my plates with yalls wonderful reviews……

 

Just installed a full plate package!

 

I am thin and it was a bear to tighten the driver side bolt with the RCI skid. I could get my hand in there with no problem but the position of the wrench in order to get leverage was the difficult piece. I feel your pain brother.

 

And installing mine was so much easier even with the TRD front skid.... I have the RWD so the front is so empty that my cat can sleep on the cat plate(?)

 

After 4 month wait, they are finally here.
And whaz better than the Tyler deliver to you in person and set it up for you.
Thanks, boss.
"Thought you are located in Mid-West for some reason"
"Heck no" lol

Sure enough, today, there was another cat stolen incident in town center by my neighborhood. It's crazy out there, man. Be safe y'all.

 

So, I have ball park pricing for the aluminum front skid plates, it looks like $550 for 3/16 and $700 for 1/4” aluminum. These would be the exact same as the steel, but aluminum, I am trying to decide whether I should weld on aluminum nuts or use rivnuts

 

Ok! I have finalized pricing and I have added it to my website, I am officially making an Aluminum front skid plate! I am going with aluminum weld on nuts instead of rivnuts. I am really looking forward to seeing these out there!

Also, I got this great action picture of the full plate package

 

How difficult is it to change the transfer case fluid with these installed? I ask because I dropped my truck off to have that and the differential fluids changed today. So I probably won't need it done for another few years, but I'd feel bad if the mechanic has to drop a plate each time.

 

The plate will need to get dropped. @Classy63 I was thinking about this the other day. The skid/cat-plate bolts are apparently the hardest to deal with. Maybe the only ones that are hard at all. Would it be infeasible to add a nut to the bolt above the plates? So, bottom to top you'd have nut, washer, skid plate, cat plate, nut? Maybe add a lock washer or loctite, and torque the top nut down tight so the bolt is effectively permanent, and you can remove/replace the plate without having to deal with that bolt anymore? The diff and xfer case will only need service every 40k or so, but it might still be worth it.

I can imagine the bolt hole in the skid will need a minute or two with a die grinder since the angle would change a whit. It might enable a little more rattle. Could cause a rift in spacetime...

 

So you're saying if a bunch of people in SoCal order plates and buy @Classy63 a plane ticket, he'll come out and install our plates for us?