don't tell anyone but you can buy a set of "security bits" to remove those security bolts at h@rb0r fr!&ht for $6, probably no chance the crack heads would invest in those. is it a deterrent? yes, is it theft proof ? hardly. remember "the club" thing that went on the steering wheel to stop car thieves??? kinda the same thing, but hey, whatever helps you sleep at night.

Take two right now. Got the longer bolts to work. Did the passenger side first. For the driver's side, it looks like the caliraised shield is in direct contact with the outer shield of the cat itself. In order to get it installed, there will be direct metal on metal contact and the cat gets pushed upward quite a bit. Anybody else deal with this? This seems pretty sh*tty now.

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I ran into a similar issue when I installed the cat shields earlier.

The security bolts are slightly shorter than the OEM bolts that connect the cross-braces to the frame of the vehicle. It's not an issue if you have aftermarket skids and have already removed the cross-braces.

Overall, they look nice and do the job but kinda wish they did their initial R&D with a completely stock 4Runner to realize that slightly longer bolts are necessary.

im assuming you need longer m8x1.25 and a ton of washers? Just wondering before i install mine, if i need to go buy longer bolts.

You'll need four 40mm length bolts as someone mentioned earlier, with a washer for each one. It's two per side on the forward part of each brace. You may have to push the driver's side cat upward. I used my bottle jack to push up on the exhaust hanger and that helped. No matter what the cat contacts the shield for me. Luckily I didn't notice any rattling which is what I was mostly worried about. I did check a few videos on YouTube and the review on trail4runner.com and I can see that their's contacts too.

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Thanks for the info!!!!

An email response to a member from CaliRaised on the other forum regarding Cat contact.

"Thank you for reaching out. What you are experiencing is completely normal. The catalytic converter on the driver's side has an extra heat shield that goes over the catalytic converter that is not found on the passenger side. The CAT Shield is stainless steel and can take the heat and will still perform perfectly with zero harm to the shield or the extra heat shield Toyota has in place.

The vehicle we tested this on had a slight touch, and we did a bunch of bounce testing and there was no rattle or concern at all. We designed these to be very tight and close so that off-road skids would fit below them. Tighter means better theft protection and keeps everything up and out of the way when off-roading over obstacles."

Thanks for the info. It just doesn't seem ideal, but I haven't noted any issues. No rattling, but it's only been on the local streets so far. I do notice a very slight increase in vehicle vibration during startup and shut down. It was definitely more than a slight touch.

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lol mine came with an extra washer and spacer...must be my lucky day.

I went ahead and ordered some button head m8x50mm w/ 1.25 pitch on amazon since i am in no hurry to install it. I went with allen heads like everyone else. I don't see a need for security screws.

My buddy is pretty pissed right now. He ordered it the same time I did, and still hasn't arrived. CS gives him the run around. Not sure how this company decides how to fullfill orders. I told my buddy to tell them he's a instagrammer, maybe he will finally get his order...lol.

I will have mine installed probably next Tuesday and will report back. I appreciate the other forum members who have chimed in about the longer 40mm bolts and I’m curious to see if these fit without any problems with my C4 skids.

Installed mine and helped to install my buddy's skids today.

Nothing to write home about the install. First time took a while to do. Second time around took about 30 min.

1. Did replace the security screws with longer allen head screws like everyone else.

2. if you don't reuse the braces, install will be so much easier, because those braces have tension on them and fighting gravity, so getting those allen head/ security screws started without releasing the tension kinda sucks. What me and my buddy ended up doing was using two floor jacks, made starting those screws easier and reinstalling our RCI skidplates also easy peasy. I reinstalled those braces, because it makes theft that much harder.

3. clean the bottom of your truck before installing....eating dirt is sorta fun until u get it in your eyes.

4. i had to mod my skids because it interferred with my sliders (which uses U bolts). If your sliders doesn't use U bolts then no problemo.

5. i have no rattles or any issues while driving even though the driver side cat is touching the skids. I see this as a non-issue.

6. Dang thing is sharp, Easy to slice your hands on some of those edges. I wore gloves, but my buddy didn't.

7. having 2 people doesn't necessarily make installation faster, but having a floor jack or jack stands to hold up those black braces will.

cheers.

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Finally got my Cat shields installed today. Was able to use all the supplied hardware and security bolts. Possibly because, as MrBlah mentioned, I don’t have the braces. My C4 skids are so wide and the angled up flanges on the skids are at least 2” high, the braces had to be removed for the skids. I forgot to take a pic with the skids back in place.

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Mr Blah, here is a pick of my C4 skids back on and the driver side cat shield. Notice how the braces were removed. Thanks for your and everyone else’s input.

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its not a bug, its a feature.. i hope it slices some mother****ers who dares mess with the cats

What is the purpose of the brace, or does removing is hinder the support in any way?