cat theft protection for 1st gen Tacomas?

Haven't looked for the Tacoma, but my 2005 Prius was around $1600+ (list was $2400+, and it was a "dealer-only" part)... Its a California vehicle. (49-state cats were $130 and up)...

 

I'm really considering getting a straight pipe for the time being. My only concern was potential damage to an old engine with 280k miles

 

6 years ago I had to replace my cats because one of them went bad. I'm in CA so they had to be 50 state ones. OEM at the time, for both, were north of $3,000 installed. Ended up getting 50 state Magnaflows instead at an exhaust shop for $600 installed. They've held up great so far but last time I went to get smogged it took over 1000 miles to set the cat efficiency monitors so I suspect they may be nearing the end of their lifespan.

Nothing beats OEM cats for quality but man they charge you for it. I think aftermarket 50 state ones are much more expensive now than when I got mine in 2016 but definitely still more affordable than oem

 

My engine is at 338,000 miles and without a cat for the last 100,000 miles.

 

A sawsall is how they usually get them off without a protective plate. Doesn't matter if it makes noise when it takes 10 seconds. They're gone before you can get out the door.

 

I also have a 2002 DC 4wd looking for ways to protect the cat

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2001-2004-1st-gen-catalytic-converter-anti-theft-shield.789384/

 

Yeah, I had to pay the deductible on my insurance to fix it

 

Thanks a lot Mike
I just quote to that post to see how hard is to install it and what tickness should I choose, if you installed already and can share your picts and experience , even better… thank you

 

No prob. Yeah, Jon's design seems really straight forward and as he mentioned, most of these low life thieves will move on the minute they spot the shield.

I have not ordered yet, so can't provide any pics.