BEWARE OF CATALYTIC CONVERTER THIEVES

BEWARE of Cat converter thieves. Recently, we were enjoying dinner at a restaurant located in a typical high density mini mall area here in Oceanside. After we left the restaurant, I started my truck and it sounded like a briggs and Stratton lawnmower. My initial thought was that I hit a rock or curb, and blew a hole in the muffler. I looked under my truck and saw an 18" gap in the exhaust where some thieving damn dirtbags used a cordless impact on the four bolts and removed my cat converter. I drove home, and the next day when I called a couple of different muffler shops here in town, they told me they were out of cat converters for my truck because thieves had stolen 18 of them on assorted tacomas and 4 runners the night before, and they had already installed the ones they kept in stock. So I waited a couple of days to get one on order. Its since been repaired,and this time I had the muffler man spot weld the connect in the exhaust to make it not quite so easy for those fuckers next time. Many tacomas and 4 runners are lifted just enough that these pricks can be under the truck in seconds. BEWARE

 

Do you have comprehensive coverage on your insurance policy?

 

That happened to me with my old 97 about 10 years ago. I didn't know they were still doing that...

Yeah just get a weld on and then they'll at least have to bust out the sawzall.

Sorry to hear it happened to you too.

 

Sorry to hear OP. I hear that a full set of skid plates might slow them down enough that they'll go elsewhere.

 

Damn. Yeah some parts of Oceanside are not the best.

 

You were lucky. Most thieves use a reciprocating saw and cut it off, requiring the whole exhaust system to be replaced.

 

Cat clamp is cheaper than a cat.

 

I'm sure thats what hes thinking about right now.... "Thank God they only cut out the $400 part vs messing up the $100 exhaust system"

 

Are they really worth money ??

I just throw them in the scrap must be about a dozen in the last few years

 

Enough to get their fix.

 

About $80.00-$100 a piece. Or they pull them apart and go for the platinum. Only satisfaction is they breath all the cancer causing funk in and will die a hopefully painful death. The useless bastards

 

What a scumbag move. Hardly seems worth it.

 

They'd be disappointed if they pulled mine

 

My friend has a Double Cab and lived in Stockton, CA for a couple of years (which is kind of the ghetto of the Bay Area)

He had his catalytic converter stolen 4 times.

 

Man, Sorry to hear. I'd be pissed! I just replaced mine about a year ago...Still haven't brought the old ones to the scrap yard yet.

 

That and you hope they burn the shit out of their hands, and hopefully face, from a scorching hot exhaust.

 

That really stinks.

They've been taking cats for some time now and also tailgates. It happened to my friend and others here they're also drilling holes in the gas tank to steal the gas. Really stupid crap these thieves are doing.

One day they'll pay the Piper though.

 

After my Cat was stolen in 2011 I asked muffler shop to fabricate me a skid plate that is difficult to remove, impossible to cut of and protecting Cat from being accessible. The front (not visible here) goes way up front protecting the pipe from cutting, and even it somehow cat bolts are removed, the cat itself can't be taken out. 100% theft proof.

 

I could see that being an issue when you still lived here in California, but who would steal a Tacoma cat in Poland? Lol.

 

Polish gangstas looking to platinum out their grills