Catalytic Converter stolen from my truck.

Buy full budbuilt skids. Hard to take a cat out when there is a 3/16" skid plate sittin up tight to it.

 

Man that really sucks. Damn theses thieves. Just did a google search on protection for our catalytic converters. There's a product out there that encloses the cats for security.

 

The "Cat Clamp" is an option. Don't get burned by the scam called the "Cat Cuff"... read many reports of people getting ripped off by them (never recieve a product after sending payment.)

 

I'm very sorry about your cat being stolen. I've heard about that around here too.

I have a feeling the extraction process is very easy/cheap, otherwise they wouldn't spend so much time getting maybe $60 per convertor. There can't be much more than 2 grams of platinum in each one, and that isn't worth much. I'm guessing they just cut out the ceramic honeycomb or whatever holds the platinum then heat it up and filter.

We make catalysts where I work and some of them have platinum. We dispose of the platinum waste after we test the catalyst (in mere milligrams at a time) into a separate drum so that they can recover and reuse it. This is why I bet it is an easy extraction.

 

How can that little of platinum in the Cat be worth stealing? You can buy a brand new one for around $100...

 

I saw something on Trucks! About the cat thefts. They were insatlling a cat clamp on a 4runner. Apparently the first gen tacomas have the highest theft rate of any car in the US

 

A friend of mine had the cat stolen off her 1st gen in front of my house a couple months ago.

 

Damn cat-burglars

 

somebody beat me to it but on Truck U they put one of those cat clamps on a 2nd gen. tacoma. If you go to their website you can probably watch the episode to see how the system works.

 

someone had jacked my cat, the shop it was replaced at said they get a lot of people with the same problem so they welded mine on....try now thiefs muhahahaha

 

My friend thought the same thing too, After he replaced his, they took a SawZall and cut it.

 

bet they even used the power outlet in the bed. those bastards!

 

yah, the guys who tried to jack mine had a cordless saw of some sort... must have realized its faster to cut than unbolt...

 

My glock and my pitbull with her good hearing saved my cat. She let out a muffled bark and I knew someone was in the culdesac so i grabbed my glock and we went to check it out and to skinny punks were walking out of the culdesac with hoodies on and there heads down. Who walks with someone and keeps their head down? Body languge told me they where up to no good. I looked under all my vehicles and didn't see anything though. The next day I started my truck and it sounded just alittle bit different but I didn't think anything of it. Then I get to work and I here on the radio that it is common for the cat to be stolen. A couple weeks pass and I am out wheeling, hauling a$$ down a dirt road and my truck goes into loud race exhaust mode. I pull over to find my exhaust in two. Those punks used a pipe cutter that a plumber would use (tighen turn tighten turn til it's cut). Good idea on their part since its quite. Dumb because my dog can her my neighbor sneeze across the street and I keep my gun by me at all times.

 

I parked at YVR's secured parking lot for 10 days. Upon return my truck started with the sound of a stock car. I looked under and noticed the cat cut away with a recip. No filings on the ground the airport won't take responsibility even though they have cameras. Cops wouldn't comment and I'm out $2300+ although I have $300 deductible. Sure wish there was a good way to prevent this from happening again.

 

You can have half inch solid steel bent to the shape of the exhuast on the top and then weld it into place. It takes too much noise and effort to get it off and even if they try it can be repaired for $20. The shop I went to charged me $20 to weld mine back up. Any fab or muffler shop can do the mod I talked about.