2016–2023 Tacoma Catalytic Converter Shield – Bolt-On Theft Protection by Cali Raised LED

Yeah, looks like you were right. I guess that what I get for assuming...
I'm like you though, just glad to see they are moving along. Since you and I are only a week apart from when we ordered, I'm hoping it won't be too much longer.

I'm still a little anxious to see if I have the "rattle" after installing. Seems like at least half the installs have had that issue. Washers seemed to work for some, others bending it a bit/a lot worked, while I guess others live with a little rattle from time to time.

 

Ordered Jan 9th, arrived Feb 24th. 47 days. Almost 7 weeks. A bit long, but I didnt have my cats stolen in the meantime so I guess no harm.

Ill fit them up tonight.

 

Sadly, this is my first mod. Hopefully it will arrive before my cat disappears.

 

As info for the 6 cyl 4wd guys. I ordered mine on Jan 12th and they were delivered Fedex today Feb 24th. Only took a couple of days once I got the ship notification.

 

Does anyone have the instructions handy? What is the rubber grommet for with the installation hardware?

 

Installation video in the first post.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...d-fits-2016-2022-tacoma.784146/#post-28048271

 

Did you ever sort out your rattling issue? I'm wondering if 1/2 inch thick washers would work.

 

Kind of pissed off right now. Snapped a bolt getting the brace reinstalled. The 35ft/lb figure for the braces floating around are incorrect. The wrong information is in a number of areas where the actual figure is 24ft/lbs. I really wish the main post included the torque figures and the installation kit included them well.

Such a stupid problem that would be resolved if the torque figures were listed here. Worse that the wrong figure is higher than lower. Glad I didn't strip out the nut in the frame and instead the bolt snapped.

 

Yeah, I made the mistake of using a torque wrench to tighten and now one of my security bolts are stripped and one of the bolts that secures to the brace snapped today when I was trying to remove it. I suggest anyone planning to install is to tighten it and then 1/4 turn.

 

I'm sorry that happened, but thanks for coming on here to help the rest of us that have yet to install. Are you saying that you stripped the bolt or nut that is below circled in red?

Thanks for getting us the right torque specs, sorry you were mislead and are saving the rest of us this headache. Just so I'm clear the the bolt below circled in red should be 24ft/lb? Do we know the correct specs for the bolt circled in blue?

 

Red is 30, blue is 24

Source I found from here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...2016-2022-tacoma.784146/page-16#post-28182850

"I found a torques specs guide here on the forum, listed under the Engine Assembly page. The torques specs for the 4 bolts for the Cross brace are 24ft/lb or 33Nm. The torques specs for the 2 Transmission subframe bolts are 30ft/lb or 40Nm."

 

No, I stripped the security bolt circled in blue and one of the bolts on the other end of the brace snapped.

 

Jeez. That stinks. Just tighten that junk, its not a turbine jet part, its a stinking guard. Forget the stupid torque wrench.

 

I did. I'd bought DEI exhaust wrap tape and DEI silicone spray. Both are rated for 1500° direct contact.

Cut a small amount of exhaust wrap tape. Then I'd used painter tape to mark off the ends of the exhaust wrap where the silicone spray will be applied. Once the silicone spray has been applied to both side of the exhaust wrap tape, let it cure/dry for a day. Remove the painter tape once the silicone spray has cured/dried. Used scissors to cut the excess leading edge exhaust wrap tape so it does not fray above the area where silicone spray was applied. I'd then folded the exhaust wrap in half, loosen up the driver side catalytic guard, slide the exhaust wrap tape over the area where the catalytic guard touches the catalytic converter. Tighten the catalytic guard back up. So far...I'm good. No smoke, no fire, no overheating. There's still a little amount of rattling, but not enough to annoy the living shit out of me. It's very slight and I think I can completely get rid of the rattle with a slight adjustment with repositioning the exhaust tape.

I like this method so much better than using washers/spacers or completely taking off the driver side catalytic guard and bending it to create a bigger gap between the cat guard and the catalytic converter.

You don't need alot of exhaust wrap tape and don't need alot of silicone spray. In the end the cost of materials and time consumption was worth it. Much quieter and peace of mine that shit won't catch on fire either.

Hopefully this will help others and if anybody don't like this method then don't use it.

 

I would not put a torque wrench on the security bolts, personally. Its a delicate enough fitting that any oblique force, like from a slightly misaligned long handle device, is going to run a large risk of tweaking it. The weak link is going to be the interface between bit and bolt, not between head and thread. Therefore, I have a greater chance of getting it right with a tool that keeps my hand square with the bolt, like a power tool.

I used a battery impact driver, and stopped when it visually started to snug up. Same with the hex heads, I just used a standard 3/8" socket wrench, stopped when it gets snug. They aren't critical or load bearing, you just want them tight enough to not rattle loose. I think in this case, torqueing to spec is causing death by overthinking.

 

Nah, the right spec of 24ft/lbs was right on the money. That 35ft/lbs was causing the bolts to shear. You can find on a few past pages where some were saying don't go over 30 on the torx bolds cause they were breaking. This was just caused by a bad figure floating around that was breaking bolt factory and security torx screws lol.

 

I'm exploring this option as well. Couldn't you also just heat wrap the cat?

 

I looked at doing this once and seems it could overheat the cat(s) shorting their life expectancy

 

I don't know exactly. Someone in here had suggested it wasn't a good idea to contain the heat in the catalytic converter.

 

That's why I had only used a small amount of exhaust wrap tape and only have it over the general area where the cat guard touches the catalytic converter. Nothing is wrapped either, so air/cooling can still take effect.