My local news recently kept reporting of thieves stealing catalytic converters around my city. So, I rushed to order a catalytic shield sold on EBay as compatible with my vehicle. During installation, I noticed there was hardly any clearance between the plate and the cat pipe, but decided to install it anyways. While driving I occasionally heard both making contact when going over bumps. However last weekend during a highway jam, the pipes started to shake really hard and my car sounded like it was falling apart. I removed the plate last weekend after the experience. See attached pictures to look at the plate damage. I probably only used this plate less than 3 months. I recommend that you do not install one on an Prius V. Unlike the Gen 3, the cat in this car is larger and bulkier. It does not leave room for a plate. Good luck!
Use another vendor or buy a quality CAT shield. Mine isn't a Miller CAT shield; just a no-name brand - It doesn't even come close to touching or scraping. I go over speed bumps all day long without issues. Bend the shield a bit and/or place some spacers between the frame and shield to avoid this. As long as a CAT thief see a shield there; they're less likely to go after your car. Just my humble opinion......
I had a Toyota dealership install mine, was a reasonable price. No problems since then and that was many thousands of miles and a few years ago, around the time I got it lifted.
An old Bronco II that I had came with a skid plate protecting the transfer case, and it mounted with two bolts to each frame rail, four bolts total. The bolt holes made a perfect rectangle, so naturally, a transmission shop that worked on it once discovered they could put the skid plate back on yawed 180°. In that position, the catalytic converter would touch it every time I accelerated (longitudinal engine, exhaust on the right, + torque = exhaust pressed down against the plate). I did notice some buzzes but didn't investigate right away. About a year later the catalytic converter broke off.
Quality control should have stuff like that on their check list; say pull one of the bolts in a bit, so it can only go on one way, can’t be reversed, flipped, whatever.
