Welcome to Talons Garage!

Well I got it installed. I did source some security hardware since Talon's was out of stock the moment I placed my order. It was a bit of a pain in the rear. Most of the pictures on here and the only video I could find are the 3rd Gen, which is different than the 2nd Gen Tacoma's. I did put copper a/s on all the bolts for lubrication as well as lock washers on the bolts that did not have a lock nut, (two up front)
This first pic and example in the instructions should really say, "loosely" install hardware. I installed the wings first off the truck, like the instructions seem to call out, but when I tried to put the whole thing up on the truck, those wings were hitting the frame, and wouldn't allow the back end to go up, so I had to take the whole thing back down again to loosen those 6 bolts up for adjustment.


The big aluminium washers included, it wasn't clear if two go up front, or 4 or as needed maybe none. So I put two on each side first, up front, and the back end had to be stressed badly to lift up and meet the cross member, so I thought no way that's right. I tried it with one on each front bolt then put the other on the rear bolts. The front skid plate did need to have my tab cut off as mentioned, so I did that no problem. I ended up putting one of the big aluminium washers on each of the rear bolts.

Attaching the back part was a bit confusing, because the instructions say to thread the bolts through the plate (cross member), that part should probably be removed because I kept trying to thread the bolts somehow into the cross member, whereas the next step say the bolts are placed through, which really is more accurate unless I am missing something.
I'm including a couple photo's since most of what seems avail out there is 3rd Gen installs, a finished picture of the back end would probably help take some of the confusion on how the rear is installed when finished.
Let me know if I've done it wrong somehow, and we'll work through modifying it.
Thanks...
Russ

 

I might place a order in soon

 

Ordered!!
Are people installing without painting?
Just curious
I was going to rattle can

 

You can, I've seen some pictures of black ones. I only painted my cat underneath it a bright green. I just expect heat and corrosion to take it's toll so I didn't get too crazy with it.

 

Cool
I hope you used high temp paint! Lol

 

Still trying pick choose from talons or another manufacturer. Going to order today and leaning toward Talons. Any one have any info user review on the the front skid plate as well?

 

@tacobelletx Ordered one and liked it, maybe she will chime in here.

 

Thanks @Talon2006 for tagging me!

I've been very happy with the front skid and cat shield! My favorite part is that it's much more manageable as two pieces. Super easy install and it all lines up great. I don't have any experience with other skid plates for comparison, but I don't regret going with Talon at all and would buy again if needed. Can't beat the less than 24hr from order to delivery either!

It all held up great to a few rocks at hiddenfalls, although I'm not a hard-core off roader so ymmv.

 

Thanks for the feedback. 24hrs? You can't best that plus he's active on here. He's won my business already

 

Well it does help that I live just on the other side of town from him. But I've seen people in different states comment on receiving it within 24-48 hours.

That was for the cat shield, the skid did take a little longer (less than a week, I think?) because he didn't have them in stock. I'm not sure if that has changed.

 

I believe he's in Texas. I'm in El Paso so it shouldn't be too long

 

I don't think I had them in stock at the time, or my wife was waiting for me to help her pack it... Which she got sick of waiting and just packed it, then we know what happened after that!

We have four on the shelf ready to ship.

 

P.S. I need to write a long post with a bunch of new announcements on things that have changed recently.... but Transfer case plate is going to get a look at again very soon. Not sure if I'll get the Tacoma or 4 runner one done first, but once one is done the other will follow shortly.

 

Ordered one for a 2005-2015 4x4 v6. Hopefully in stock.

 

Late to the party x a week, but I've been VERY HAPPY with the Talon Products. I went w/the Cat & Skid did not take but about 50 minutes to get the old TRD plate off and both new parts on! They have been solid and I have no doubt they will last the life of my Taco ENJOY!

 

yeah, he’s very responsive.

Happy customer here

 

Super happy with my skid plate. I bought this for Cat protection (a lot of thefts in the neighborhood lately) yet I run skid plates of the same nature covering the transmission on my other off-road trucks so essentially this was a something that met the bill. I love how the Talons plate matches the TRD skid in terms of thickness. The only thing is I didn't have confidence in was the Allen head bolts due to the "softness" and possible stripping them and ran anti seize on all of them. Torque on the instructions said 120 inches per pound which is 10ft pounds and even though I tried for a little bit more the allens did start to round. What I ended up doing was just alternated the Allen's and the stock bolts for a little bit more confidence yet still security. Overall though I'm super happy with this setup. Like I said it matches my TRD skid plate perfectly and I beat the crap out of that thing and it still holds solid so I think this should do the same.

 

Just ordered this bad boy . Can’t wait. Excellent customer service. I initially hesitated on ordering the security bolts but changed my mind after submitting the order for the catshield. A quick email and the company fixed it. Saved me the shipping cost of the bolts . Thanks. Highly recommended. Can’t wait. Got a road trip Coming and this will give me peace of mind when parking at night in some hotel parking lot . Nobody will ever take my cats lol. @Talon2006 thank you.

 

Happy with the quality and easy install. Just had my neighbor's CAT stolen from his Honda Accord a few days ago and this gives me piece of mind.

 

All painted up and ready to install..
I may have to modify my SOS ifs skid
We’ll see…