Strengthening official catloc

[Steven83]

Has anyone attempted or considered this?

as you can see on the pick below they cut through the 4 area of the catloc that connect to the car. 

I was thinking it may be worth have some thicker metal welded to what would be considered the weak points of the catloc. 
 

If it meant a minute or 2 per connection and excess noise and possibly sparks it may deter them further.

 

any thoughts? 
 

 

[flash22]

The bracket looks like stainless, it needs to be something hard, maybe weld in some tool steel either side of each bolt

 

catloc should step up and send you the replacement part as a gesture of goodwill imho

[Steven83]

Yeh I agree, and I did contact Toyota but no help was offered. They do say on the info about the catloc that it is only a preventative and will not stop those with the correct tools.

They also state that it is the best possible design and is only sold at cost.

well how this costs £280 to make I will never understand.

Also anyone can look at this catloc and instantly see its flaws and how it could be improved. 
 

Almost makes me wonder if Toyota don’t want to lose the profit from selling all these replacement cats. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

At the end of the day, it is a preventative measure, in the same way that alarms, steering wheel locks, etc are. Nobody can guarantee that any security device will stop all thefts.

[TonyHSD]

Or perhaps just buy an eBay one. Something like this or similar https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284139255197?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=58zWZ8UxSwu&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=p34UK1z2T4m&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[Steven83]

50 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

At the end of the day, it is a preventative measure, in the same way that alarms, steering wheel locks, etc are. Nobody can guarantee that any security device will stop all thefts.

I totally agree. But I think it could be much more improved and the cost of it doesn’t make sense to me. 

[Steven83]

On 4/28/2023 at 6:09 PM, TonyHSD said:

Or perhaps just buy an eBay one. Something like this or similar https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284139255197?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=58zWZ8UxSwu&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=p34UK1z2T4m&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I didn’t even know these existed tony. 
Thanks for pointing it out. 

do we know if these are any better than the Toyota ones? Would these have an impact on warranty?

[TonyHSD]

9 minutes ago, Steven83 said:

I didn’t even know these existed tony. 
Thanks for pointing it out. 
 

do we know if these are any better than the Toyota ones? Would these have an impact on warranty?

I have no idea about any impact on the warranty, most likely not unless the cat plate cause any particular damage to the car and you claim especially on that. I don’t know if they will protect any better than the Toyota ones.
I have one like this from the link since 2020 and I had driven the car for over 100k miles ever since without any issues. I also installed a secure bolts too. 
Here how it looks on the car. 

[Steven83]

That looks good tony… how much do you charge? 😉 😁

oh and out of curiosity, what are those arms that it’s attached to?

[TonyHSD]

2 minutes ago, Steven83 said:

That looks good tony… how much do you charge? 😉 😁

 

oh and out of curiosity, what are those arms that it’s attached to?

Thanks 👍  These are for structural rigidity brackets, the car comes with them and all you need to do is to undo them and place the cat plate and then put the bolts back in and tighten them up. And the security bolts are from Peugeot wheels. It’s an easy job for diy as long as you are fit and you can lift up the car and secure it on stands. Any local mechanic can do it for you and won’t charge that much, perhaps half an hour labour.  

[Steven83]

On 4/28/2023 at 6:53 PM, TonyHSD said:

Thanks 👍  These are for structural rigidity brackets, the car comes with them and all you need to do is to undo them and place the cat plate and then put the bolts back in and tighten them up. And the security bolts are from Peugeot wheels. It’s an easy job for diy as long as you are fit and you can lift up the car and secure it on stands. Any local mechanic can do it for you and won’t charge that much, perhaps half an hour labour.  

Thanks Tony that’s great info. 
ideally I would like to keep the car and as it stands I think your setup looks more secure than what Toyota fitted.

Knowing my luck at the moment the thieves would just cut away the rigidity brackets take the cat and leave me with an even more damaged car 🤣

It’s not been decided whether my insurance will just replace the cat or will also put a catloc on, the garage are waiting for the reply. 

I do have a concern that they may refuse to pay since the catloc isn’t listen on my premium under modifications.

I’m pretty certain I did tell them over the phone when I bought the car though. 

[AisinW]

I thought Catlock has so many rivet points, probably 18 and will take much longer time to drill the rivets one by one before can open the plate. Even if they can cut the rear flange, the rest of the plate will be glued on the underbody. 

[Steven83]

10 hours ago, AisinW said:

I thought Catlock has so many rivet points, probably 18 and will take much longer time to drill the rivets one by one before can open the plate. Even if they can cut the rear flange, the rest of the plate will be glued on the underbody. 

Well they only had to cut the 4 contact points on mine to bend it down far enough to access the cat.

[Steven83]

On 4/28/2023 at 6:53 PM, TonyHSD said:

Thanks 👍  These are for structural rigidity brackets, the car comes with them and all you need to do is to undo them and place the cat plate and then put the bolts back in and tighten them up. And the security bolts are from Peugeot wheels. It’s an easy job for diy as long as you are fit and you can lift up the car and secure it on stands. Any local mechanic can do it for you and won’t charge that much, perhaps half an hour labour.  

Morning Tony.

With the cat lock you use only being 1.2mm having seen one yourself do you think it would be possible for 2 or more of them to be welded flat on each other? 

I’m tempted to give my auris one last chance but I want to make sure I do all I can to protect it.

if it was possible to have 3 welded together then 3.6m of metal would take much longer to cut a whole out of and much more noise. 

I just know It is stolen again I won’t want to go through my insurance so it would be a massive bill.

I also looked at tilt alarms but in all honesty they weren’t any louder than the noise the thieves made grinding the catloc off, noise doesn’t seem to be a problem to them. 

[TonyHSD]

5 minutes ago, Steven83 said:

Morning Tony.

 

With the cat lock you use only being 1.2mm having seen one yourself do you think it would be possible for 2 or more of them to be welded flat on each other? 
 

I’m tempted to give my auris one last chance but I want to make sure I do all I can to protect it.

if it was possible to have 3 welded together then 3.6m of metal would take much longer to cut a whole out of and much more noise. 
 

I just know It is stolen again I won’t want to go through my insurance so it would be a massive bill.

 

I also looked at tilt alarms but in all honesty they weren’t any louder than the noise the thieves made grinding the catloc off, noise doesn’t seem to be a problem to them. 

Good morning, 

yes it will be possible to do two or three of these together even only with the bolts no need welding. There are also thicker one in similar description available on eBay. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255827534693?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=F1_PMNI9QU6&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=p34UK1z2T4m&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
I have not tried these so can’t comment on quality or fitting but looks good to me. You will need to use washers to lift up from the frame to allow a gap between the plate and catalytic converter. Either of these will be as good as Toyota or even better imo. You can also add a security bolts and remove all hybrid badges from your car. https://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/192002-was-your-auris-catalytic-converter-stolen/

[Steven83]

Thanks Tony.

I wasn’t sure if the form factor was such that they wouldn’t fit flush on top of each other.

I did look at the thicker one but as you say there was a need for washers to create the needed gap. So it made me concerned they could just cut the washers from the side to remove the cover. Also I found a review saying it was poor quality metal that quickly rusted. 

If 3 or more of the ones you have can lay flat on each other I think that might be worth a shot 👍
 

As regards the de-badging I have done this on a high powered older bmw I had, but I’m reluctant with the Toyota as I think it will lower the value a little if I was to trade it in at a dealer.

I know badges can be put back on but it’s never as neat as it was originally. 

[TonyHSD]

3 minutes ago, Steven83 said:

Thanks Tony.

I wasn’t sure if the form factor was such that they wouldn’t fit flush on top of each other.

 

I did look at the thicker one but as you say there was a need for washers to create the needed gap. So it made me concerned they could just cut the washers from the side to remove the cover. Also I found a review saying it was poor quality metal that quickly rusted. 
 

If 3 or more of the ones you have can lay flat on each other I think that might be worth a shot 👍
 

As regards the de-badging I have done this on a high powered older bmw I had, but I’m reluctant with the Toyota as I think it will lower the value a little if I was to trade it in at a dealer.

I know badges can be put back on but it’s never as neat as it was originally. 

Hey, not to worry about badges or lowering the value. You still gonna keep the emblems at home, add a new double sided tape and put them back on when the time to trade in comes in. I have done this too. You can’t really tell ver been removed. 👌😉 Here de badged Auris again, back to hybrid 😂

[Steven83]

Fair play tony, might be worth it.

Since you have a different shape auris to me would the cat lock you use still fit?

also what do you do about the blue badges front and rear?

The only issue with the auris is that it’s so obviously a hybrid as soon as you look at the gear stick. 

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, Steven83 said:

Fair play tony, might be worth it.

Since you have a different shape auris to me would the cat lock you use still fit?

also what do you do about the blue badges front and rear?

The only issue with the auris is that it’s so obviously a hybrid as soon as you look at the gear stick. 

If you click the links in the previous posts we had discussion about these little things. You can throw a blanket over the gear lever when the car is parked.
Front Badge leave it alone as in some models there are sensors built in, but rear one you take it off remove the blue tint and put it back, when the time comes return all the badges and the blue tint to the rear emblem. Easy job indeed. The idea is to make the car look like a non hybrid, diesel or 1.33 or 1.2t as these 3 models aren’t affected. , their catalytic converters aren’t easily accessible. Thieves should not stop by and continue to look elsewhere., that’s the hope.
 The cat plates between older and newer Aurises are different, make sure you buy for 2013 onwards. The links a have give to you are exactly for your car. The security bolts are the same. 

[Steven83]

6 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

If you click the links in the previous posts we had discussion about these little things. You can throw a blanket over the gear lever when the car is parked.
Front badge leave it alone as in some models there are sensors built in, but rear one you take it off remove the blue tint and put it back, when the time comes return all the badges and the blue tint to the rear emblem. Easy job indeed. The idea is to make the car look like a non hybrid, diesel or 1.33 or 1.2t as these 3 models aren’t affected. , their catalytic converters aren’t easily accessible. Thieves should not stop by and continue to look elsewhere., that’s the hope.
 The cat plates between older and newer Aurises are different, make sure you buy for 2013 onwards. The links a have give to you are exactly for your car. The security bolts are the same. 

Thank you Tony. 
I really appreciate the help 👍

[TonyHSD]

4 minutes ago, Steven83 said:

Thank you Tony. 
I really appreciate the help 👍

You are welcome. 

[Saxmaniac]

I made laminated catloc badges for front and rear screens in the hope that might be a mild deterrent. I fitted a pretty good eBay plate called Catloc-d, 1.2mm stainless I think, but not seen listing since. I was wondering whether welding lengths of steel rope to the plate might make it harder to saw through? 

[Auris James]

17 minutes ago, Saxmaniac said:

I made laminated catloc badges for front and rear screens in the hope that might be a mild deterrent. I fitted a pretty good eBay plate called Catloc-d, 1.2mm stainless I think, but not seen listing since. I was wondering whether welding lengths of steel rope to the plate might make it harder to saw through? 

I have an eBay cat plate on my Auris Hybrid. I had welded 16mm steel bars welded across both ends of the cat plate to make it harder to cut. So far, so good. Been fitted 3 years now. I do not leave it unattended for too long at supermarkets etc and park in a prominent space in public view. Multistorey car parks, train station car parks are a big no no, same as some Hospital car parks. Unfortunately you can only do so much. 

I suspect the worst case if you live on a new build estate, as thieves can drive around and scope out a lot of cars in one hit to target. 

James

[Steven83]

1 hour ago, Auris James said:

I have an Ebay cat plate on my Auris Hybrid. I had welded 16mm steel bars welded across both ends of the cat plate to make it harder to cut. So far, so good. Been fitted 3 years now. I do not leave it unattended for too long at supermarkets etc and park in a prominent space in public view. Multistorey car parks, train station car parks are a big no no, same as some Hospital car parks. Unfortunately you can only do so much. 

I suspect the worst case if you live on a new build estate, as thieves can drive around and scope out a lot of cars in one hit to target. 

James

That sounds like something I was thinking about.

which eBay cat plate did you go for James? How was the clearance with the 16mm bars added?

[Auris James]

7 hours ago, Steven83 said:

That sounds like something I was thinking about.

which eBay cat plate did you go for James? How was the clearance with the 16mm bars added?

Same design as TonyHSD's. Can't remember the seller though, but identical design. Cost £40 delivered.

Took it to a metal fabricators who charged £20 for the bars and welding. My Garage charged £15 to fit it.

Initially it was rattling and needed bending slightly and moving back away from the exhaust as touching slightly. The welding may of distorted it. After it was adjusted it's been totally silent and never scraped on any speed bumps or kerbs.

A lot cheaper than the catlock. James.