Another catalytic converter theft

Yea bro

 

This one is 1/4 inch thick steel, $330. Looks beefier!!!

https://www.talonsgarage.com/product-page/3rd-gen-toyota-tacoma

Ed

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Now this one’s good. This with a sensitive alarm will give me enough time to get my gun lol

 

Sort of, while most people seem to have it fit without any issues, for whatever reason I hate to trim the corners of that triangular tab pieces to get it to fit all the bolt holes and mate properly with the TRD front skid. So I think I maybe just got one that was a bit off, or my TRD skid was mounted a bit off from the factory. Definitely much easier doing this with aluminum than a full steel skid though haha

It's definitely not a skid plate, it's focused mainly on good coverage and sitting close to the frame components to be out of the way. I certainly wouldn't trust it to take weight from a rock if the truck got perched or slipped on it. I think it would be fine for keeping kicked up debris and plant material from hitting the underside, as I see it for my use anything that could hit there would first hit the much thicker and lower hanging front skid first and give me advance notice.

 

I don't have a TRD skid plate that extends that far down...just the basic metal cover to take off during oil changes.

You're right about the steel vs aluminum...any trimming will be significantly different for each material.

Well, this makes getting the aluminum a viable option...do I want a beefier looking plate that may have to be trimmed or an aluminum plate that provides same deterrent principle but is not as beefy?

Ed

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Just placed an order for cat protector from Talon's Garage. The number of cat thefts in my area have skyrocketed...hopefully it arrives, and I can get it installed, before I get hit.

I really didn't think this would be my first piece of "armor."

 

When I first went to the link last week, the site said they were on backorder. Fortunate that it's back in stock now!

I feel inclined to have it...right away!

But I've been without it since May of this year...so I am not too paranoid about it.

If we drive up north to PA today, we can take my wife's Elantra. (I'm not paranoid...lol)

Ed

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Yeah I've been in and out of states of paranoia and going to the Talon's Garage site and placing a unit in my cart....then dithering and it go on backorder. Haha.

My parinoia recently hit and all time high this week after watching a local news report on the drastic increase in cat theft in my city (Portland) and that my neighborhood was near the top of the list here. I once again put a TG cat protector in my cart Thursday after work but once again dithered, then yesterday morning it was on backorder. Haha. I randomly decided to check again late last night and they were somehow back in stock so I pulled the trigger.

It probably won't ship for a week and then another week to arrive....fingers crossed my cat stays put till then.

 

I just got approval authority from "The Wife" after I explained the "security measure" regarding the TWO cats on our truck! (Yes, I looked under this am and saw there are one on each side) With the current plate under the engine, there's spacers for it included in the Talon.

I also invested in the "Tailgate Lock" and will do the install probably tomorrow...since today is grocery day plus we're heading up to PA to goto Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.

Have a good weekend and glad you pulled the trigger.

Ed

 

Install instructions for Talon....right here:

https://www.talonsgarage.com/tacoma-install

https://f45180fd-2b3b-479c-8778-2f5...d/e80c86_97ec72d7a6c8430c833c734c6171eb08.pdf

Looking forward to this install.

Ed

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The only option was 1/4 inch aluminum from Talon at the moment...I wonder if they're gonna make them steel again.

Still, it's thicker than the 1/8 inch aluminum from the other vendor.

Ed

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Anyone know if Talons security hardware works with the TRD skid?

 

Yes, they do.

The video shown...I'll try and find it...says it can be installed with it.

I have the OEM front engine skid plate and the install instruction says to loosen it because the Talon will slide in with spacers.

Ed

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Ohhhh, ok I didn't quite put together in my head those were the security bolts from talons shop...got it.

 

We need a manufacturer to make a Stainless Steel guard. One of those saws rips through Alum like a hot knife in butter.
Yes I understand they may not bother taking the time to cut and bend the Aluminum unit but Stainless will stop the scum.

 

I did a video on my install , please subscribe like and share!

https://youtu.be/4jmIpr_-ZHQ

 

Cool!

That's the video I was looking for!!!

It's the Aluminum Talon plate too!

I didn't buy the Locking Bolts...maybe later. ($60 for 10 bolts + proprietary bit)

Ed

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No problem buddy glad I could help.

 

I've recovered a lot of stolen cars in my 7+ years as a cop. Some of those cars were still in decent shape to be returned to the owner. Most were not. In regard to stolen cars, many times the thefts are the results of careless owners. Leaving extra keys inside the vehicle. Leaving a vehicle running while unattended. Leaving valuable (like firearms) unsecured secured and in plain view. Those aren't excuses for the theft, but those owners certainly made themselves an easy target.

As far as the shrugging shoulders, auto thefts are tough to investigate because there are so few clues. It's not that LEOs aren't investigating, they just don't have much to investigate. Even with more and better cameras, it's still hard to identify the thieves and most of them are juveniles.

 

I don't know how true this is but someone told me the biggest buyer for these are the Police stings to get to the top of the organizations that steal them.
I've heard of many being stolen but none being actually sold.