Thieves!

Hey you all! Wondering if you can help me out? A good friend of mine and pastor of our church went to a convention and had both of his catalytic converter‘s chopped out of his 2002 3rd generation 4runner 3.4L. I just so happen to have a set of catalytic converter‘s off of a low mile parted out Toyota Tacoma 3.4 and was wondering if they will just bolt right up or if they need to be cut and welded into place by an exhaust specialist??? I’m pretty sure the rigs share the same frame but just need to know if the routing and flanging are the same to hopefully just bolt tight in?? I sure hope so… I can’t find any info about this so thanks so much for any feedback! — Steven

 

Should be fine.

 

Just take them to an exhaust shop, if you're supplying the used cats it should be pretty cheap. His were chopped off so there's going to be some welding involved to fix it.

Exhaust shop just doing the welding on shouldn't cost very much

 

Exactly, if his were cut out you are gonna have to weld... or replace everything new.

 

Just talked to my friend again and he said he wasn’t sure if they’ve been cut or not? He left the 4Runner on the campus where they were stolen which is an hour and a half away. He wasn’t sure if he could drive it like that? I told him to go ahead and drive it home… so until then I won’t know where the damage is? After looking at the Tacoma CATs I have here it would be stupid for them thieves to cut it behind the flanges? I think they’re only after the recycled value of the precious metals? I’m hoping we can just bolt it right in? Here’s the Tacoma 3.4L CATs I got

 

I'm sure they were cut, I'd be awfully surprised if a thief took the time to unbolt sections of the exhaust out. They usually take a sawzall and cut through the pipe so they can grab it and be gone in just a couple minutes.

 

Probably won't hurt anything but 1.5 hrs is a long drive to listen to the chopped exhaust. Might look for an exhaust shop close by, get him the replacement exhaust somehow

 

Comprehensive insurance should cover it.

 

Thanks! I hear you guys. Thing is, is if it will just bolt right up I’ll just do the replacement myself to save the good man some money? I’m giving him the CATs.
He said, “I didn’t see any metal shavings and could see cut wires “unless it was a clean cut?” and I know the sawzall will leave a clean cut so it’s all still up in the air till I can see it. So I guess the question today, with the information and parts I have, is… If we are fortunate enough that the thief cut in between the flanges or even unbolted them, will the 3.4L Taco CATs bolt up to the 3rd Gen 3.4L 4Runner?
Thanks you guys!

 

He only had liability which doesn’t cover it:-( I sure hope these dirtbags get caught because from what I’ve read to have Toyota fix it w OEM CATs (only way to go from what I’ve read) it’s a $2,500 fix! And the thieves only get 50-100$ per CAT w the recyclers. What a way to really mess up someone’s day!

 

If you live somewhere that doesn't require CA level emissions testing, you can get aftermarket catalytic converters for much less $$$ than OEM ones. Probably won't last as many years but will save some serious money.

 

How about he just takes some pics on his phone and sends them to you so you can see how they cut/pulled off?

 

I'd be surprised if the Tacoma cat bolted right up to the 4runner. Pretty sure the chassis length is different. But I could be wrong

 

We unfortunately live in far Northern CA where we do have to suffer with all the libtarded rules and regulations. I already got a set of CATs for it in good shape of that 3.4 Taco. Just hoping they’ll bolt on to the runner?

 

the 1st gen Tacos and 3rd gen 4runners are very similar, but I don't know if they share the exact same exhaust. I'd be surprised if they did

 

That’s the first thing I asked him to do but like I said he left it at the campus after moving it to a different spot and went home up here in the same town I’m in pretty much. It’s 1.5 hour drive for him and 2 hour drive for me to get to Redding. He has another conference to go to at the same place in a couple days so I told him to just go ahead and bring it home… which he should have done in the first place but he is not a tech savvy guy and though it was bad to drive it. Probably had his wife drive all the way to get him? It really ticked me off as I had just changed the oil on his rig a couple days before this happened. Poor dude, he’s such a good guy, he was super bummed out

 

I had to replace my cats about 5 years ago, you can get CARB approved aftermarket cats for 1st gen Tacos. They are pricey but still less $ than OEM. I got magnaflow branded ones

 

Easiest way without pictures is to go to a Toyota dealership parts website and put in the info for both vehicles and compare the part numbers.
What is needed for the repair will be determined by what was cut out. Some parts, like the Y pipe, are probably double walled and need to get replaced as a unit rather than just welding a piece of pipe on.

 

Here in Sacramento last night some dude was getting his cat stolen so he jumped in the car and drove off with the scumbag still underneath.