2022 catalytic converter anti theft plate consensus

In New Mexico they just steal the whole truck.

 

I dunno. That mesh steel might slow a guy down a little, but if he's got a Sawzall...I'm not sure that's going to stop someone. Maybe it's enough of a deterrent.

Hell...you can buy a 4' x 4' sheet of mesh carbon steel like that from Grainger for about $170. I guess I could've just ordered that, a can of rustoleum, and used some security bolts with fender washers. Probably would've had enough leftover material to sell a second "plate." Gives me an idea!

 

Yes , I thought about that , but I was told even just having the front plate is usually enough, so I added the mesh in 1/4 " thick , so not going to cut as fast or as easy. Probably easier to cut the 2- brackets supporting the other plates on some of the other models on here. Just a deterrent for rear cats.

 

Can't they cut through the wire with a sawzall?

 

That’s actually an excellent idea

That’s actually an excellent idea! And no worries about heat buildup!

 

Remind me not to go there.

 

In all reality , they can cut thru anything, even the exposed bolts,or brackets. A good carbide blade would make short work of the entire plate, or just enough off the back to bend it down, most crooks aren't smart enough or take the time to do it. It's in and out, like a cockroach after dark. And if caught it should be the same TREATMENT AS A COCKROACH. Stomp em take the sawsall and cut there tires and tank and oil pan , and leave em for the cops. OH YA , bust the saw.

 

So I have a 2022 coming the middle of next month and I have ordered a cat shield from Talon's. The install instructions state they you need to install 3/8" bolts. Does anyone know if these are 3/8-16 or 3/8-24? I am having someone at work make me custom security bolts but not sure what the pitch of these bolts are.

 

The kit comes with the bolts.
I installed his plate on my 2022 4runner this morning. The instructions weren’t awesome so there were some guess work. There’s some leftover hardware that I assume would have been useful on different years of 4runners but not on mine. As the plate itself is wedged under a factory plate it was really difficult to get into place without really loosening all of the existing bolts. His kid includes some locknuts but they’re not usable on my vehicle from what I can see. So I’m heading out in a few minutes to buy a torque wrench so I can torque to the spec he recommends of 120 pounds.

 

As you can see here the factory plate has some tabs at the end that really interfere with getting the talon plate situated. I recommend assorted cans of food to assist with the installation

 

Just a quick update regarding the hex bolts included with the Talon armor plate. Install instruction say to torque to 120 pounds. Unfortunately every bolt head began to strip before my torque wrench would click. So I don’t think they are capable of being torqued to 120 pounds. I would expect the manufacturer of the 4runner bolts in the kit to be the same as the tundra bolts so wanted to give y’all a heads up.

 

120 ft-lb sounds way too much for those bolts. They would probably snap if not stripped. Even the TRD skid plate is only 22 ft lb for the bolts. Maybe a typo in the instruction and they added a 1 in front of the 20 ft lb?

 

Installed the Talon CAT Shield over the weekend. Worked well with the full TRD Skid Plate.

As one other has commented, you do have to have hammer down the helper tab on the TRD Skid plate. Other than that, the install went pretty smooth.

Since they have to drop the skid plate for each oil change, the addition of the Talon plate will cause a tiny headache because now the skid plate is attached with 2 allen head bolts. So the TRD Skid Plate is now secured with 4 x 12mm bolts and 2 x of the allen head bolts. Thankfully, the cat shield sits under the TRD skid plate so they don't have to remove that for maintenance.

 

Those bolts appear to be much closer to 120 in/lbs than 120 ft/lbs.

 

The bolts included are some type of alloy steel that's black oxide coated. Not to knock them, but the fasteners are fairly cheap steel & pretty soft. There is NO WAY those fasteners would handle that kind of torque. 120 ft/lbs is 3/4 or 1 ton truck wheel torque territory.

My trusted method whenever I don't care to look up the torque specs: Hand tighten and then do another 1/4 turn. Works for any non-critical components.

 

Thanks all. I was looking at the instructions on my phone while I was under the 4runner. Apparently, I misread the instructions. Easier to happen the older I get.I know you older guys know what I mean.

It's 120 inch-pounds. I tried to back out the hex bolts. About half of them are too stripped to back out and I have no idea how much actual torque is applied since it never reached the breaking point of my torque wrench. I'm not sure if there's risk with the remaining bolts being over torqued. Nothing snapped. I'm considering taking the 4Runner to my mechanic and having them remove the stripped bolts, but I need to drive it tomorrow, so I'm crossing my fingers and tossing a few tools in the back, just in case something goes awry.

Any thoughts or advice on this would be appreciated. I already feel dumb, so any comments to that effect will only tell me what I already know. lol.

 

Oof!

 

Some thoughts on removing those bolts...

1. They're fairly soft, so you're going to have to be fairly gentle. Otherwise, they'll snap.
2. Get a plumbers torch and heat up the bolts & surrounding frame.
3. Use a MAP Gas Torch (yellow bottle)...don't waste your time on propane (blue bottle). You can snag a kit w/ bottle at any Home Depot.
4. Use copious amounts of liquid wrench (or your penetrating oil of choice)
5. Get the bolt head nice & hot and use a bolt extractor...or take an old socket and smash it onto the head when it's super hot.
6. If you have an air hammer (or any hammer...it'll just take longer)...you can also bang the surrounding area to help loosen the friction hold on the bolt.

If you have none of these...then you can take it to a mechanic. In that case, it'll just cost a small amount of money and a small amount of pride. I've had to. We've all had to.

 

From Shaun at Talons:

The bolts are as follows.

3-3/8x16-4" long

2 M8x40mm

Do not put a 3/8" bolt on the slot on the drivers side. The front drive shaft is too close

 

I ordered from Talon's last week and it's shipping today. They (talon's) do not address the TRD skid plate option, which I have. Any issues with install?

 

Just noticed you have a previous Gen, but their plate mounts up just fine with the full TRD skid plate on the 3rd Gen. I did have to hammer down the helper tab on the TRD plate and decided to get my own hardware. I just bought some M8 1.25 x 40mm bolts and used those instead of the bolts they provided.

 

Sweet. Thanks for the help!

 

…same info that @KroppDuster posted also verified here

 

Waiting for mine also…hopefully local powder coating isn’t more than $100 or else it will go on as advertised

 

waiting on my Talon's as well...should have it on Wednesday

 

No issues with the TRD skid plate. You have to get a wrench on the nuts on top of the cross member to tighten them back down once you get the Talons skid in there. You have to access it from between the engine mount and lower control arm. Its very tight but can be done. I have extra large hands and was able to get in there with a wrench.

 

Got it, Fishn43. Thanks for the pics.

 

No problem. One thing that might be helpful: Get both skids in place and loosely bolted up. Then tighten the bolts down starting with your TRD skid and work your way back. Send me a pm if you run into any issues.

 

Very nice combo!!!! That is exactly what I am looking to install on my Tundra before years end. It's f'n wild that cat theft has become so prominent.

 

Side question .. what hardware did you use for your Talon plate install? The hardware that came with mine is black button head bolts and are already rusting after just a couple washes. I'd like to replace it with stainless hardware but notice you have some security washers on yours. Any help with where I can buy those?