[myohocmd]

Helloooo! Just took possession of a new-2-me 2021 Toyota Venza. Quite the upgrad from my 2006 Toyota Prius! Currently trying to find a catalytic converter cover. Any luck? Catclamp.com has a "universal cover". My mechanic reports these are notorious for rattling...boo! What say you Venza people! Thank you, myohocmd in SEA

 

[chinna]

Helloooo! Just took possession of a new-2-me 2021 Toyota Venza. Quite the upgrad from my 2006 Toyota Prius! Currently trying to find a catalytic converter cover. Any luck? Catclamp.com has a "universal cover". My mechanic reports these are notorious for rattling...boo! What say you Venza people! Thank you, myohocmd in SEA

I am pretty sure standard Rav4 Hybrid Catalytic converter cover would fit. When I looked under the RAV4 Hybrid and Venza, they looked exactly same.

 

[Quickdtoo]

Any Silicon valley members up for a test fit of the 5th gen Rav4HV cat shield?

Venza 2021 - catalytic converter shield

I'm seeing a high number of thief on CAT converters in my area. Does anyone know if they make one for this generation of Venza? I've checked on the latest Rav4 Hybrid forum but not seeing much activity. Have Toyota make it harder to cut/steal on the Venza? I've seen Tacoma's and Prius got hit...

www.toyotanation.com

 

[myohocmd]

I am pretty sure standard Rav4 Hybrid Catalytic converter cover would fit. When I looked under the RAV4 Hybrid and Venza, they looked exactly same.

Thank you!

 

[Steerpike]

... Catclamp.com has a "universal cover". My mechanic reports these are notorious for rattling...boo! What say you Venza people! Thank you, myohocmd in SEA

My g/f has a 2011 Prius and had a custom Cat guard fitted by the local Toyota Dealer (I forget the brand but it was the one recommended and advertised by the dealership). Whenever I accelerate from stationary with any force at all, I hear the exhaust system rattle against this new cover. It's not that bad, it's only when setting off that I hear it, but ... if the custom models are rattling, I can imagine the 'generic' ones are worse!

Any Silicon valley members up for a test fit of the 5th gen Rav4HV cat shield?

Venza 2021 - catalytic converter shield

I'm seeing a high number of thief on CAT converters in my area. Does anyone know if they make one for this generation of Venza? I've checked on the latest Rav4 Hybrid forum but not seeing much activity. Have Toyota make it harder to cut/steal on the Venza? I've seen Tacoma's and Prius got hit...

www.toyotanation.com

I'm not quite in SV; I'm in the East Bay (Walnut Creek area). What exactly are you suggesting? I'd certainly like to fit a cover on my 2021 XLE.

 

[Quickdtoo]

I'm not quite in SV; I'm in the East Bay (Walnut Creek area). What exactly are you suggesting? I'd certainly like to fit a cover on my 2021 XLE.

Contact Milercat to see if they''ll do a test fit of the Rav4 HV shield, see the request form.

Contact Us

Protect your catalytic converter against theft with Cat Shield™ by MillerCAT, designed and built in the USA offering protection unlike any other. Shop now!

catshield.com

Miller CAT 2019-2023+ Toyota RAV4 Cat Shield™

Protect your 2019-2023+ Toyota RAV4 with our latest Cat Shield™. Precision designed and engineered to fit and protect the Hybrid, Prime, and Non-Hybrid models with OEM converters. Order now!

catshield.com

 

[Steerpike]

Contact Milercat to see if they''ll do a test fit of the Rav4 HV shield, see the request form.

Contact Us

Protect your catalytic converter against theft with Cat Shield™ by MillerCAT, designed and built in the USA offering protection unlike any other. Shop now!

catshield.com

Miller CAT 2019-2023+ Toyota RAV4 Cat Shield™

Protect your 2019-2023+ Toyota RAV4 with our latest Cat Shield™. Precision designed and engineered to fit and protect the Hybrid, Prime, and Non-Hybrid models with OEM converters. Order now!

catshield.com

I just had an interesting, but somewhat disappointing, call with 'Lilly' over at MillerCat. They are located in Santa Clara.

She said they don't have the time right now to 'take in' a Venza and do a test fitting. She said the best approach is to 'register' your desire with them on their website; they use that to prioritize which vehicle comes next, as far as developing a new custom shield. Given the fact that the Venza is such a low-volume model, I can't imagine that happening anytime soon. She did say MillerCat is the exclusive partner of Toyota for this product, and that Toyota 'approve' their designs (so it doesn't void warranty, etc).

She did say that they would happily sell a Rav4 cover, and offer a money-back guarantee if it didn't fit; she said they'd waive the 'restocking fee' as they understood you were doing a 'trial run' on an unknown vehicle. This doesn't help me, as I'd still have to pay my Toyota dealership to do the 'test fit' - my days of getting underneath my car are long-gone! But for someone who's willing to do the work themselves, this could work.

She also noted that there are THREE different Cat Shields for the Rav4; the Rav4 Prime, Rav4 Hybrid, and Rav4 non-hybrid all have different layouts, so it isn't as simple as 'the Venza is the same as the Rav4'. She said their website shows detailed layouts for each shield, so someone may be able to look at the Venza, and look at the three 'Rav4' shield layouts, and determine which one is the closest. She did note that the Tundra and the Sequoia share the same shield.

So if there is someone out there who is comfortable getting underneath their car, there's a possibility of finding a solution. I guess another option would be talking to the local mechanics at the dealership; an experienced mechanic may just be familiar enough with all this to know whether the Venza matches one of the three Rav4 layouts ... but that's probably being optimistic.

 

[Quickdtoo]

Chinna has already done a comparison of the Rav4HV and VenzaHV which look identical to him. If Millercat is interested in increased, sales, it's in their best interest to add the VenzaHV to their Rav4HV shield fit. At 77yrs old, I'm not down for a self install, but not crazy about the local dealership test installing it either, I wouldn't trust them to install license plates!

I am pretty sure standard Rav4 Hybrid Catalytic converter cover would fit. When I looked under the RAV4 Hybrid and Venza, they looked exactly same.

 

[Superman91179117]

Edit: First rep said no can do but she passed it onto a manager who said it was fine. Placed the order and found a 5% coupon. After free shipping it was $237 total. I’ll update with the results once it shows up.

I'm willing to try it out. I just sent them an email stating what I want to do and asking if I could return the shield without a restocking fee in the event that it doesn't fit. As soon as they respond "and if they say yes", I'll purchase, toss the car on ramps and test it out. I've had a cat strap on the car for the past year but it pales in comparison to the security of an actual shield.

 

[Thomcat]

Edit: First rep said no can do but she passed it onto a manager who said it was fine. Placed the order and found a 5% coupon. After free shipping it was $237 total. I’ll update with the results once it shows up.

I'm willing to try it out. I just sent them an email stating what I want to do and asking if I could return the shield without a restocking fee in the event that it doesn't fit. As soon as they respond "and if they say yes", I'll purchase, toss the car on ramps and test it out. I've had a cat strap on the car for the past year but it pales in comparison to the security of an actual shield.

While you're at it check out and comment on the mounting hardware and gauge of the steel.
Shield is only as good as its strength, fasteners and anchor points. If fastened in some areas only to the plastic cover or with weak anchors, a quick pull on a crowbar can not only allow access to the cat but cause expensive collateral damage Also make sure to check out if the fasteners have a truly proprietary head with tool or one way install otherwise the proper bit in a power drill can remove the fasteners in less time than a Sawsall can cut through the cat pipe.

 

[Superman91179117]

While you're at it check out and comment on the mounting hardware and gauge of the steel.
Shield is only as good as its strength, fasteners and anchor points. If fastened in some areas only to the plastic cover or with weak anchors, a quick pull on a crowbar can not only allow access to the cat but cause expensive collateral damage Also make sure to check out if the fasteners have a truly proprietary head with tool or one way install otherwise the proper bit in a power drill can remove the fasteners in less time than a Sawsall can cut through the cat pipe.

Will do. I have quarter inch aluminum shields with proprietary security bolts on my Tundra so I know what you mean. The Rav4 shield came in last night, I haven't removed it from the box but it's certainly not heavy or big. I'll have the answers in a few hours after some coffee and the sun comes up.

 

[Superman91179117]

Long story short, it fits just fine.

Notes: The instructions are not very good. Where it says to dislodge the black fastener in pic F, don't do that, it will be a fight, you will break it and still have to do it the right way to remove it. Instead, pull that plastic panel down just a little and grab the top side with needle nose pliers, then twist the bottom side by sticking a flat head screw driver in it, this will separate the top and bottom halves and it will come off. On the white clip, you don't know it's white until you see the top side after pulling the plastic down some. As they say, use a screw driver to pop out the sides and the top half will pull up and separate from the bottom half. These two clips are what I spent SO much time on fighting with. Everything else is just figuring out which screws they are talking about removing, I found it was easier to just hold the plate up underneath to see where the holes are.

For the spacers, you can see in my picture, I just used some gorilla duct tape to hold them on while holding the plate up and putting the screws in. Much easier.

Don't use the spacer in step 4 picture G. It creates too much gap at the back of the shield, it angles the shield downward towards the back end and it will look off. I ended up removing it and the shield fit much more flush without bumping anything.

The shield itself is about 1.5mm thick. I would have liked to see it be at least 2-3mm but it's decent and stiff enough. Coverage is good and well thought out. It connects to the vehicle using 6 screws. It does use security screws and includes the bit needed to turn them. This really is about as good as it's going to probably get for the Venza and the price is fair.

 

[Quickdtoo]

Superman91179117 thanks for stepping up and doing the test fit!!

 

[Steerpike]

Long story short, it fits just fine.
...

Don't use the spacer in step 4 picture G. It creates too much gap at the back of the shield, it angles the shield downward towards the back end and it will look off. I ended up removing it and the shield fit much more flush without bumping anything.
...

First of all, a BIG THANKS for doing this! I think I'll order one and ask my dealer to install it.

Can you confirm 'WHAT' exactly you ordered? I just went to the MillerCat site, and checked 2021/2022/2023, and checked all three Rav4 models - non-hybrid, hybrid, prime - but only one item showed up:

I was led to believe by the person I spoke to at MillerCat that there were three DIFFERENT shields for the three RAV4 variants.

Regarding the spacer you omitted; on my girlfriend's Prius, which has the MillerCat fitted by the dealer, I do hear a 'rattle' due to the shield but only when accelerating 'somewhat aggressively'; typically when the ICE kicks in from battery only. So omitting the spacer may 'fit', but it may lead to issues down the road. I guess I'd say, just drive without the audio on for a while and verify!

Thanks again!

PS - it sounds like a tricky/finicky install ... not sure the dealer will do such a good job!

 

[Quickdtoo]

I was led to believe by the person I spoke to at MillerCat that there were three DIFFERENT shields for the three RAV4 variants.

There are three, click on Hybrid, Prime or Non-Hybrid to see the differences.

Miller CAT 2019-2023+ Toyota RAV4 Cat Shield™

Protect your 2019-2023+ Toyota RAV4 with our latest Cat Shield™. Precision designed and engineered to fit and protect the Hybrid, Prime, and Non-Hybrid models with OEM converters. Order now!

catshield.com

 

[Steerpike]

There are three, click on Hybrid, Prime or Non-Hybrid to see the differences.

Miller CAT 2019-2023+ Toyota RAV4 Cat Shield™

Protect your 2019-2023+ Toyota RAV4 with our latest Cat Shield™. Precision designed and engineered to fit and protect the Hybrid, Prime, and Non-Hybrid models with OEM converters. Order now!

catshield.com

Ah - I see the problem; it's just bad page design.

Specifically - if you go into their site's 'home' page (Catalytic Converter Protection | Cat Shield™ by MillerCAT), then drill down on the big 'Toyota' icon, and then check either of the three RAV4 models, you get the same Cat Shield 'image'. But if you then click on that image, you see the page you linked to, and there you get to switch between the three alternatives, and see the different layouts.

SO - WHICH of the three alternatives is the one for our Venza?

 

[Superman91179117]

First of all, a BIG THANKS for doing this! I think I'll order one and ask my dealer to install it.

Can you confirm 'WHAT' exactly you ordered? I just went to the MillerCat site, and checked 2021/2022/2023, and checked all three Rav4 models - non-hybrid, hybrid, prime - but only one item showed up:

View attachment 411612
I was led to believe by the person I spoke to at MillerCat that there were three DIFFERENT shields for the three RAV4 variants.

Regarding the spacer you omitted; on my girlfriend's Prius, which has the MillerCat fitted by the dealer, I do hear a 'rattle' due to the shield but only when accelerating 'somewhat aggressively'; typically when the ICE kicks in from battery only. So omitting the spacer may 'fit', but it may lead to issues down the road. I guess I'd say, just drive without the audio on for a while and verify!

Thanks again!

PS - it sounds like a tricky/finicky install ... not sure the dealer will do such a good job!

Hey there, sure thing! I didn't mind and was hoping for our car it would work.

The spacer that was eliminated created an excessive gap that was actually visually bending the plate, I'm talking like almost an inch gap. Removing it still leaves the rear driver's side with almost a half inch gap which looks just fine. It isn't even remotely close to touching anything and won't cause a rattle. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if I put that spacer in the wrong spot and if it belonged somewhere else. I tapped and hit the shield many times in every area to see if there would be a rattle. On my Tundra I cut up a bicycle tire inner tube to place between problem areas when installing my skid plate and cat protection plates while testing for potential rattle areas. So I know what you mean. The Venza has been driven plenty since the install without issue.

And as Quickdtoo said, just select the hybrid option out of the three. The link he provided higher up in the thread is the correct one.

 

[Steerpike]

Hey there, sure thing! I didn't mind and was hoping for our car it would work.

The spacer that was eliminated created an excessive gap that was actually visually bending the plate, I'm talking like almost an inch gap. Removing it still leaves the rear driver's side with almost a half inch gap which looks just fine. It isn't even remotely close to touching anything and won't cause a rattle. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if I put that spacer in the wrong spot and if it belonged somewhere else. I tapped and hit the shield many times in every area to see if there would be a rattle. On my Tundra I cut up a bicycle tire inner tube to place between problem areas when installing my skid plate and cat protection plates while testing for potential rattle areas. So I know what you mean. The Venza has been driven plenty since the install without issue.

And as Quickdtoo said, just select the hybrid option out of the three. The link he provided higher up in the thread is the correct one.

Sounds like you did the right thing in regards to the spacer; I wonder what my local dealership will do, though!

Just to clarify - the rattle, in my case (Prius), is I believe the exhaust / cat system vibrating and hitting the shield - not the shield itself rattling. When the engine kicks in, the whole engine/exhaust assembly 'torques' slightly (rocks/twists), which causes the exhaust/cat part to move up and down, 'tapping' on the shield - that's my guess, anyway. So the key is to have sufficient clearance between the shield and the exhaust pipe/cat device. It sounds like you have plenty of room so not an issue.

I also observe that your (our) Venza shield is a solid piece, while the Prius shield has a good number of vents cut into it; this is the Prius shield on my g/f's Prius:

Could it be that the spacer is there to allow for sufficient airflow? I seem to recall, decades ago, reading that CAT converters get very hot. Just a thought, pure speculation.

Thanks again!

 

[Superman91179117]

Possibly but there is still a sufficient gap if any air was to flow from that area. I should have taken a before and after picture of the spacer being in place.

It won’t hurt one bit if it’s there. It’s just with how flat the belly of the Venza is, it was noticeable and bothered my ocd. But nobody else would have ever seen it unless they wanted to lay on the ground lol. I wouldn’t worry about it either way if you didn’t feel like messing with it or trying to explain it to an install tech, the function is more important than the form.

 

[Quickdtoo]

Cat Shield added the 2021-23 Venza shield to the site.

Miller CAT 2021-2023+ Toyota Venza Cat Shield™

Protect your 2021-2023+ Toyota Venza with our latest Cat Shield™. Precision designed and engineered to fit and protect OEM catalytic converters. Order now!

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