Valhalla's Catalytic Converter Shield Installation

bwh · Jun 15, 2021

No rattles on my install, after I used one set of the spacers. First install was without them (and removing the t-case sheild), but it rattled when sitting in reverse with my foot on the brake. Spacers took this rattle away.

Second, it was a major challenge to get the bolts tightened for two reasons:
1) You need skinny arms to reach behind the plates and get a wrench behind the bolts for tightening. Not the easiest. Bring a girlfriend or wife.
2) The holes in the rear brackets were not fully straight, so I had to spend a fair amount of time removing excess material before they would fit the bolt holes and the little bumps on the frame. Not a knock on the product, more of an FYI for people to check before climbing under the vehicle.

Cthulhu · Jun 15, 2021

3rdTundra said: ↑

I have summarized what I could find from other contributors regarding Valhalla fitment with various rock sliders here:
https://www.tundras.com/threads/valhalla’s-shield-theft-deterrent-skid-plates-info-and-ordering-post.84911/page-38#post-2269911
I have not seen anything regarding WKOR sliders yet.
Click to expand...

3rdTundra said: ↑

I have summarized what I could find from other contributors regarding Valhalla fitment with various rock sliders here:
https://www.tundras.com/threads/valhalla’s-shield-theft-deterrent-skid-plates-info-and-ordering-post.84911/page-38#post-2269911
I have not seen anything regarding WKOR sliders yet.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I added what Tyler told me about the WKOR sliders to the first thread you quoted.

Funnyguy713 · Jun 15, 2021

Your rear shield has a scratch on it.

engineer · May 16, 2022

thanks for the write-up.

clarkritchie · May 17, 2022

Cthulhu said: ↑

Do you, or anyone else that has installed the rear shield, know if the rear mounting brackets would interfere with the mounting points of a WKOR or similar rock slider?
Click to expand...

@Cthulhu I posted about compatibility with RCI sliders here: https://www.tundras.com/threads/valhallas-cat-plates-rci-slider-compatability-tl-dr-yes.96423/

blaserdude · May 19, 2022

In month 2 waiting for my shield.
bc

paknakal · Jul 2, 2022

I just finished installing mine and Tyler said the spacer plates are no longer needed. I have a 4WD and just took the stock t-case cover off per his recommendation.

mom going to buy the bolt head protectors for the 4 bolts on the front and rear plates. For the Z bracket to rear plate and Z bracket to frame I’m not going to bother since it’s more for protecting the bolt heads and less about theft. Besides a thief who gets the Z brackets off would still have trouble slipping the rear plate off I would think considering how tight the front bolts are.

I’m still waiting on the engine skid plate from Tyler as well, but that should be here soon.

ATV25 · Jul 2, 2022

I installed mine this morning including the front / engine skid plate. Only issue I had was the 3 plastic clips in the stock skid plate to hold the trim piece from the front bumper were all broken so I just rigged it with self tapping screws. Tyler makes a great product.

9DivDoc · Jul 5, 2022

Got my cat guard a few weeks ago and got my front skid plate this morning...these are awesome.

RusPro21 · Jul 18, 2022

Looking over this insulation for some help. My plates have been on for a few thousands of miles and only notice I’am having creaking or metal noise pulling in the driveway when truck is turning or flexing.
Under the truck yesterday and pulling and flexing the back plate it’s making noise on the passenger side. Not sure yet if any is coming from the Pro skid plate. Going to try and put a rubber or vinyl O ring in with the bolts and maybe put some insulation in the plates between the frame.
Going to stop today at my friends garage who did it and see about dropping the Pro skid plate and put insulation maybe in there if the plate is making noise?? I have not had any noise since they were on. I’m herring the same noise when I flex the plate on the passenger side as when I’m in driving the truck.

1lowlife · Jul 18, 2022

Netmonkey[OP] initial post: ↑

With all the catalytic converter thefts going on in Texas (and in my surrounding area) I figured that I should do something to deter someone from stealing my cats. So, I purchased the front and rear Valhalla's catalytic converter shields. I ordered the black powder coated, 1/8" steel plates on April 2nd and they arrived on June 13th. It sucked that it took 10 weeks for the shields to arrive, but, to Tyler's credit, he was incredibly responsive whenever I asked for an update. I know that he had manufacturing issues and he was apologetic about the delays.

With all the news broadcasts about cat thefts, this was one of the mods that my wife was super excited for me to do

I know that these are an easy install, but I figured that I would throw in my 2 cents on the installation. Maybe someone will find this useful

The plates arrived in 2 separate boxes:

The rear plate weighs about 22 pounds:

The front plate and hardware weighs 46 pounds:

The plates were packaged very well. There was no shipping damage. Here is the front plate:

Here is the rear plate:

Here is the box of hardware:

The nuts, bolts, and washers that come with the kit are very heavy duty:

Here is the additional hardware; spacer plates and rear plate brackets:

Instead of using the nuts, bolts, and washers that came with the kit, I decided to go in a group buy for the security bolts:

The tools that I used for the installation:

The first thing is to locate the holes in the cross members where the front plate bolts go through. This is towards the front of the truck near the oil pan:

This is behind the transmission:

Screwed the front cat bolts into the crossmember leaving a gap so that the plate can slide into the bolts:

I left the front cat plate in the packaging and used that to slide it under the truck. I then slid the front of the cat plate into the bolts and, using a home bucket (that fit perfectly under the truck), I propped the rear of the cat plate up:

The kit comes with 4 spacer plates. For 2 wheel drive vehicles, 1 plate is needed on each side so that there is a flat surface for the plates to rest on. You can see that the cross member is indented: (for 4 wheel drive vehicles, 2 spacer plates are needed on each side so that the rear cat plate clears the transfer case).

Installed the rear bolts with the spacer. You can see that the spacer fills the gap so that the plates can rest evenly on the cross member:

With the rear bolts in, the home depot bucket can be removed:

The next step is to install the mounting brackets for the rear cat plate. On each side, there are 2 holes in the frame. The mounting location is the hole towards the front of the truck. or, to the left of the brake line mounting bracket:

The shield bracket is attached right next to the running board mounting bracket. This meant that I could not get the impact drill in there and I had to manually drive the bolts:

Installed the mounting bracket on the other side as well. You can also see that I left the rear cat plate in the packaging so that I could slide it under the truck:

Again, I used the home depot bucket to hold up the cat plate. I then slide the rear cat plate in between the spacers and the front cat plate:

With the plates in place, there is still access to the nuts. Here is the rear bolt of the front cat plate. This is looking over the rear cat plate:

From the front of the truck (and without a front skid plate), the front bolts are easily accessible. If you had a front skid plate, you could go through the lower control arm to get a wrench in there:

I started to tighten down all the nuts and bolts, but the washers for the rear mounting brackets were pulling through the frame hole (these washers were not supplied in the kit. they came from the security bolt group buy):

So, I hammered out the washer and then used the washers that came with the kit. They are so beefy that there is no way that they would bend:

I probably should have used the washers that came with the kit for the outside of the frame bracket too. This one is slightly bending, but it is holding:

The shields all installed:

A couple of things to note. The rear cat plate came with a large gouge in it. It is more cosmetic than anything, but it might end up rusting? Also, there is a gap between the front and rear cat plates. This causes the plates to rattle of you bang on one of them. Although, I did not hear any rattling when I took a test drive with them. I think this gap is caused by a fitment issue with the rear cat plate. The width of the rear cat plate is not quite wide enough to mate up with the mounting brackets (maybe 3/4"? or maybe the brackets could be longer?). So, when I tightened down the bolts that hold the rear cat plate to the mounting bracket, it bent the plate ends out. This caused the center of the plate to slightly bend up. If rattling became an issue, I suppose that I could put some double sided foam tape in between the plates.

There is no way that anyone can get to the front catalytic converters. However, the rear cats are kind of accessible, but you would really have to work to get to them. Getting a tool up past the rear cat to cut the exhaust pipe would be difficult; not impossible, but a pain in the ass. That is really the point of these shields. They are not fool proof, but they make a very good deterrent. If you had 4 wheel drive, the transfer case would fill the opening near the rear cats. That would make getting to them even more difficult, but not impossible.

Thanks for reading
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting this.
I hope to get my truck back Wednesday morning, drive home, and immediately put my plates on.

paknakal said: ↑

I just finished installing mine and Tyler said the spacer plates are no longer needed. I have a 4WD and just took the stock t-case cover off per his recommendation.

mom going to buy the bolt head protectors for the 4 bolts on the front and rear plates. For the Z bracket to rear plate and Z bracket to frame I’m not going to bother since it’s more for protecting the bolt heads and less about theft. Besides a thief who gets the Z brackets off would still have trouble slipping the rear plate off I would think considering how tight the front bolts are.

I’m still waiting on the engine skid plate from Tyler as well, but that should be here soon.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads-up on the spacer plates.
I was wondering why I didn't have any..

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Valhalla's Catalytic Converter Shield Installation

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Valhalla's Catalytic Converter Shield Installation

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engineer Drive it 4ever

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ATV25 Young at heart

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