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

I could not agree more @Phantom Lord

 

I also agree, not concerned about any thief getting past the plates.

 

Ya’ll are probably right but the bolts are just added insurance to the overall equation. With $7500 in cats and $750 in plates underneath there, $75 for security bolts is fine with me.

 

Same thoughts here!!

 

Im jealous of you guys getting your plates lol

 

Yours is coming

I went to the powder coaters shop yesterday and all my plates were still sitting there untouched, I fired him on the spot and took them to another place, I should have 49 plates ready next week

 

Same here. Ordered mine on 4/4/21 for the 3/16" aluminum. Looking forward to being able to sleep at night. Lol.

 

Well, FEDEX is at it again. Tracking said mine were on the truck out for delivery on Friday.
Friday came and went, no delivery. Now its saying on the truck out for delivery today, but the expected delivery date is Monday, April 19.
The FEDEX guys around here are not very good at actually delivering stuff on their trucks.
They probably offer the best rates for large stuff like this, and that's fine as even small savings per shipment add up over time, but man, they are not very good once they have the package in their possession. Its not the shooting or weather, this is a common thing with FEDEX around here.
Just aggravated because my plates are somewhere within about five miles of my house, the weather is perfect, and I have nothing else to do today, ideal time to mount them up... just need FEDEX to come through.

 

I saw this, they said they couldn’t read the label so they had to replace it, this always seems to happen on delivery day... I think it is a way they can make an excuse why it didn’t get delivered

 

Fed-Ex sucks in VA as well.

 

Well, as we're discussing this the FEDEX truck showed up and I met him in the driveway. He gets out with a Hello Fresh box, and I asked if he had anything else on there and he said yes, a big package. He goes back to the truck and comes back with the front plate and says OK have a good one. I told him there should be one more package like this one. He looks puzzled, then goes back on the truck and I can hear him digging around and moving stuff and he comes back with the rear plate. He said it was buried under a bunch of other stuff since its been on his truck since Friday morning. I just said thanks and left it at that.
I just think too many companies and trades are using COVID as an excuse to suck at their jobs. I understand supply chain issues and workforce shortages in certain industries, but deliveries from USPS, UPS and Amazon have been great this whole last year, FEDEX not so much. If Tyler can design, cut, weld, sell, package, label and deliver to the shipper by himself, you would think an entire worldwide organization of literally 10s of 1000s of employees can get them to your door in a timely manner.

Anyways, all is not lost! My plates are here now, the sun is shining and I'm about to go break them out and get them installed!
And when ya'll see the packaging job on these things you'll surely be impressed! The time and care that went into just that part of it is pretty amazing, so I know the stuff inside is sure to be of the highest quality.

 

Better than it disappearing and a claim needing to be filed...that brings up a question - do you declare a value on the parcels you ship out?

 

Ground or Express? FedEx Ground has always been "less than Express" because the Ground side are contractors. A little history here...Roadway started a package service (RPS) ~30 years ago to compete against UPS. Actually, RPS was pretty damn good and then Federal Express decided to get into the ground game and purchased RPS...and FedEx Ground was born. FedEx did the same thing with LTL carriers, purchasing Viking and American Freightways (was known as FedEx Freight West and East, respectively) in the 90s. FedEx overall is a good carrier, they just struggle like UPS does at times because there's always a crappy driver that doesn't give a shit. [No, I don't work for either but I've been a Supply Chain and Logistics Manager for 30+ years.]

 

I hunkered down and spent a few hours on the front skid plates, I was able to complete a 1/8 front skid plate and I weighed it, should be about 50 pounds with bolts, which means the 3/16 will probably be over 70 pounds.

 

@Classy63 - Thank you for an AWESOME product. Had mine color code matched to the truck. Damn these look good! Too bad they are under the truck... I'm now showing them off to anyone I can get to look under the truck!!

 

I need to make you a front skid plate to match

 

THAT IS BAD ASS...NO DOUBT!

 

Same here. I'm already dreading having to pull the plate to get to the transmission drain/fill.

 

Screws should be there Monday!

 

My plates are in and installed! Need to figure out what I'm going to do for a front plate, still rocking the stock TRD OR "skid plate".
Couldn't help myself and decided to hit the plates with some metal polish and a high-speed buffer (well, got my son to do it). Not a mirror shine but pretty dang shiny!

Install was pretty simple and straightforward... much easier with two people for sure.
I will say the left rear bolt that holds the front and rear plates together is a bear to get to. You pretty much have to use your Jedi skills and some faith to get a wrench on the nut to tighten it down. A little hint, reach from the back of the rear plate with a closed end 14mm wrench and you'll be fine. @MoonRock2021 I'll swap the screwd bolts out when they get here, thanks!
Great product and great company to deal with!

Here's the before and after from delivery to install:

Unboxed:


Polished: (got my son to do the work)


Installed:

 

I love it polished up, I thought it was dirty installed until I realized it was your driveway

I just finished the 3/16 front skid plate, it tips the scales at 62 pounds without bolts, I should be able to ship this in one package, now that I have weights, I can calculate shipping and plan on releasing them in the very near future

I am welding at least one more today. I might be hiring a helper who went to welding school that would greatly increase my productivity.

 

Sweet! Will you be making an aluminum front skid? About to order your other skids in aluminum.

 

I haven’t committed to it yet, but there is no reason I couldn’t, it would probably have rivnuts for all the points that I currently have welded nuts

 

Thanks to @OnespeedTRD for his pictures of the aluminum plates on his truck! It helped me to index where the bolts align and answer will they fit Cali-Raised sliders. The answers are yes and no.

Here is Onespeed's picture of the mounted plate - I've marked it up a bit for point of reference. The yellow arrow is approximately where my wedge bolt is located.


Here is my picture with the installed Cali-Raised slider


So, the plate will fit but I do not believe the bracket will - there must be some kind of allowance for the wedge bolt (maybe another slot cut to bolt through it) and the bracket must have a larger radius to wrap around the extra steel to reach the frame bolt. I'll have to reach out to a couple people here to see if they could fab a design...which I would be willing to share with @Classy63 (unless he already has a solution).

 

It has been done, the bracket just goes on the outside of the slider bracket, you may or may not need a spacer between the bracket and the rear plate

 

Which plates are you getting? There are no nuts welded to the crossmember. The 4 inch bolts with the plate will have as standard nut and washer. I swapped mine out with nylon insert locknuts.

 

The nuts that came with the hardware I received were nylock nuts - no need to order them separate. I think the washers that come with them are fine too.

 

Correct, all plates come with hardware including washers and nylon lock nuts

 

The washers will be fine.

 

So, I just finished packing everything up I can ship right now, this upcoming weekend I have a group buy in San Antonio, but I am hoping to spend Sunday starting to power through 54 plates coming back from powder coat along with a lot of aluminum and some bare steel for shipping. I am trying to catch up on aluminum orders, steel won’t be far behind with the new powder coater