Repair a cat's heat shield?

[Kira]

I just tightened an Ideal clamp around my downstream cat as it is rusted and was buzzing.
When these things rust badly, do people ever replace them or just tear the heat shield off?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Cats can get real hot. The heat shield is there to prevent fires. Don't lose it.

 

[Kira]

I'm all for that, I'll Just keep tying it with aluminum or copper wire to secure it.

 

[RobbieD]

I've used welded-wire fencing with good results. The kind where the mesh size is about 2" by 4". Cut a piece big enough to go around the shield(s), leaving pigtails that can be twisted together to tighten patch around the shield. It can further be tightened in weird contour areas by putting "Z" bends in the wire strands with pliers.

 

[MISWFL]

Use a MIG welder to tack weld it back on. Disconnect your battery and or sensitive parts like ECUs and stereos before welding.

 

[19Walt93]

There was a TSB many years ago with a part number for a huge worm clamp and that's how we reattached loose shields.

 

[Kira]

Yup. "Worm clamp" is what I always called them. Lots of people got me saying "Ideal clamp"
I was just wondering if there was some 'approved repair'.
We always hear about Caloifornia or Germany being strict with repairs, so the possibility of an acknowledged, superior repair crossed my mind.
Twisted wire is what held my earlier cars together.

 

[19Walt93]

This is a Wittek clamp like Ford and other OEMs used for years, if you loosen one up it's next to impossible to get it to seal without leaking a second time. Compared to those P.O.S.s, a worm clamp would be ideal.

 

[superj]

I tear them off if i am not home where the welder is

 

[19Walt93]

I tear them off if i am not home where the welder is

Just don't park over anything flammable.

 

[sgtsandman]

Worm gear clamps or heavier gauge wire for the win.

I just has to do the heat shield thing on the girlfriend’s car recently. If it was the lower cat that is under the car, I would have ripped it off. But it was the one behind the engine up in the engine bay by the firewall. So, it got wired up.

 

[Josh B]

I had forgotten about mine, wired it up years ago. I believe it's been removed, in one piece, and put back at least twice

 

[sgtsandman]

I had forgotten about mine, wired it up years ago. I believe it's been removed, in one piece, and put back at least twice

Neither of the cats on the 2011 have heat shields but there is only two and they are tucked up between the frame rails. Due to the height of a 4X4 and their location, I think Ford didn’t feel they were needed.

I don’t remember where it/they are located on the 2019 and if they have shields or not. Based on the aluminum shielding and what little I have paid attention to the exhaust while working on other things, I think it/they have shields.