Strengthening official catloc

[Steven83]

1 hour ago, Auris James said:

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.

Sounds like a good job that mate. You didn’t get it done in the Manchester area did you? If so I’d like to know who you used to mod it 🙂

[Auris James]

23 hours ago, Steven83 said:

Sounds like a good job that mate. You didn’t get it done in the Manchester area did you? If so I’d like to know who you used to mod it 🙂

In the Midlands. I'm sure you will find a welding fabricators near you. James

[Steven83]

On 4/28/2023 at 6:41 PM, TonyHSD said:

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. 

Hi Tony. What size locking bolts did you get? 

I assume yours and my car will use the same ones. 

[TonyHSD]

On 5/2/2023 at 12:30 PM, Steven83 said:

Hi Tony. What size locking bolts did you get? 

I assume yours and my car will use the same ones. 

Hi, the bolt sizes are M12x 1.25 . A security bolts from Peugeot fit these as well. I used mcguard su26001 

[AisinW]

Just references if you use simpler shields that are sold in eBay made from 3mm steel. The torque specs are: 

 

[AisinW]

I just installed mine I bought from UK seller. Unfortunately the washer were missing and without washer, it only has 2mm clearance to the back of the 2nd catalytic converter. So, I have to go to hardware store to buy 3-5 mm washer to avoid the rubbing. 

It vibrates on hard acceleration and rubbing the cat. 

[Saxmaniac]

The one I fitted is a flat plate like that and the instructions were to put downward force on the plate while tightening the bolts. A touch crude but if you do that, it clears the exhaust, if not, you get clunks under heavy load as the engine rocks about 

[TonyHSD]

2 hours ago, AisinW said:

I just installed mine I bought from UK seller. Unfortunately the washer were missing and without washer, it only has 2mm clearance to the back of the 2nd catalytic converter. So, I have to go to hardware store to buy 3-5 mm washer to avoid the rubbing. 

It vibrates on hard acceleration and rubbing the cat. 

Looks well done, nice and tidy. Perhaps better than the Toyota own plates. Once it gets a bit dirty it will look like original part of the car and not as add on. Mot won’t even notice it. 👍

[AisinW]

2 hours ago, Saxmaniac said:

The one I fitted is a flat plate like that and the instructions were to put downward force on the plate while tightening the bolts. A touch crude but if you do that, it clears the exhaust, if not, you get clunks under heavy load as the engine rocks about 

I will try to do that but in my opinion, things should be in relax state when tightening. Otherwise there is a constant gliding force on the plate.  I add 3mm washer and see what the results. 

[Saxmaniac]

I've had it on for at least 3 years and it hasn't slipped back, don't forget the bolts are done up pretty tight, I think I did 70nm or so 

[AisinW]

Thanks. They are actually 93Nm for the short bolts and 145Nm for the long middle bolts. I will try again using pry bar but cannot find the anker point to apply force. I think my plate is very thick, 3mm, barely can be bent unlike other shields.  I probably just add 2 washers instead. With 1 washer, it rubs the cat only under very hard acceleration but never in normal driving. 

[AisinW]

I ended up placing 4 wide (5cm) washers with 3.2mm thickness on the secured bolts (rear ends).  So, I added total of 1.28 cm thickness or gap now. I asked the seller why 1 thick washer is not enough. This type of catshield with 3mm steel plate  actually needs 8 washer in total as shown on the seller eBay listing (seler is supposed to provide this give these washers although narrower than what ideally should be).   It is a really heavy steel and it is coated with heavy wax/oil.  Probably weight more than 3 Kg.  It indeed add structural rigidity of the car like brace. It does not rattle or rubbing over bumps and rough road even without washer. So, the rubbing is purely caused by the flex of the engine and exhaust pipe. 

[Fostel]

On 4/28/2023 at 5:21 PM, Steven83 said:

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. 

Mine is a 3mm thick steel plate that use custom bolts. Cost 50 (plate) and 18 (bolts) fitting was free while they welded generic cat in.

I also experience that rattling. Was thinking about some separation material like kiln lining or steel wool.

I may also end adding another couple of washers

[Steven83]

I ended up going with this one.

it is only 1.5mm thick but it is stainless steel. I’ve not had it fitted yet as I went abroad the day I got my car back which has been left on a secure (hopefully) driveway at a friends house. 

in booked in to get it fitted next week when I return.

I’m still not sure if to keep the car or get rid. I really don’t fancy going through all this inconvenience again. 

[TonyHSD]

8 hours ago, Steven83 said:

I ended up going with this one.

it is only 1.5mm thick but it is stainless steel. I’ve not had it fitted yet as I went abroad the day I got my car back which has been left on a secure (hopefully) driveway at a friends house. 

in booked in to get it fitted next week when I return.

I’m still not sure if to keep the car or get rid. I really don’t fancy going through all this inconvenience again. 

Thanks for update. 
You can fix it, and part ex for another one, whatever you like. I personally won’t buy Auris 2 or Prius gen 3, only Corolla or Yaris , YX , something that is good, efficient and has no drama with cat converters. 👍

[Steven83]

Yeh I wish I’d realised the Corolla shape was safer. Now to get an excel like I have in the new shape is 20k or more. 
 

can get a pretty nice golf gti mk 7.5 for that 😳

[AisinW]

On 5/20/2023 at 2:07 PM, Steven83 said:

Yeh I wish I’d realised the Corolla shape was safer. Now to get an excel like I have in the new shape is 20k or more. 

can get a pretty nice golf gti mk 7.5 for that 

GTI has its own problem like crankshaft walking with manual trans, DSG, waterpump leaks, etc. But it is fun, but cannot replace Corolla as an appliance like my refrigerator that last generations. 

[Steven83]

So the saga continues.

Took the eBay cat lock to the garage this morning and they couldn’t fit it as the old bolts and part of the old cat lock is still attached to the car. 

they needed me to book in next week so they can have a go at grinding them off before fitting the new lock, so I’m going a whole weekend now parking at work, gym, supermarket with no protection.

I nipped in to my local Toyota dealer ship on the way home to see if they have a special tool to get the parts off and they don’t, they just grind it too and would charge me £340 to do it.

Since I was thinking of changing the car anyway I’m now tempted to do that next week rather and not even bother putting the cat lock on. 

I may get a Corolla so from those of you who have Corolla’s can you once again put my mind at ease that they are safe from cat  thieves before I go ahead and buy one. 

I also believe that you cannot get a cat lock for the corolla shape?

I would like to stick with Toyota as they do provide reliable cars with good warranty and also this is a decent forum unlike what I have found on forums from other car brands.

thanks all. 

[Saxmaniac]

I did stumble across this site, catstrap.co.uk , alarm plus special strap that's hard to cut. A bit pricey...

[TonyHSD]

On 5/25/2023 at 2:09 PM, Steven83 said:

So the saga continues.

Took the eBay cat lock to the garage this morning and they couldn’t fit it as the old bolts and part of the old cat lock is still attached to the car. 

they needed me to book in next week so they can have a go at grinding them off before fitting the new lock, so I’m going a whole weekend now parking at work, gym, supermarket with no protection.

I nipped in to my local Toyota dealer ship on the way home to see if they have a special tool to get the parts off and they don’t, they just grind it too and would charge me £340 to do it.

Since I was thinking of changing the car anyway I’m now tempted to do that next week rather and not even bother putting the cat lock on. 

I may get a Corolla so from those of you who have Corolla’s can you once again put my mind at ease that they are safe from cat  thieves before I go ahead and buy one. 

I also believe that you cannot get a cat lock for the corolla shape?

I would like to stick with Toyota as they do provide reliable cars with good warranty and also this is a decent forum unlike what I have found on forums from other car brands.

thanks all. 

You can do a cat lock on Corolla that fits for Prius gen4 sold on eBay. Or they even gonna have specific for Corolla too. 

[AisinW]

Yes, we can use prius 4 cat shield. Just use the one that requires no drilling. Catlock use rivets and we need to drill the steel inner core one by one on the rivets. It will come off easily if the rivets are off.

@Fostel why do you put non OEM cat? I am wondering how long it will work. I know that gen 2 never work with aftermarket cat. The threshold was just damn low on emission. Check engine light always come back pretty fast. I am wondering if gen 3 is more tolerance to higher emission. 

[Fostel]

On 5/28/2023 at 7:36 AM, AisinW said:

@Fostel why do you put non OEM cat? I am wondering how long it will work. I know that gen 2 never work with aftermarket cat. The threshold was just damn low on emission. Check engine light always come back pretty fast. I am wondering if gen 3 is more tolerance to higher emission. 

1. Cheaper.

2. Fixed within an hour.

3. Best solution to cat theft in my opinion. I only laugh when I think of thieves coming back.

4. No engine light. I installed original (eBay used) lambda sensor.