catalytic converter guard

[campism]

Great idea, but you realize someone will be tempted to defeat it just on principle?

[rt66paul]

I have found that the type of people that would steal parts from a parked car don't have principles. The whole point for them is to cut and run, tweakers are paranoid and do NOT want to be caught.

[Twoxentrix]

Originally Posted by campism

Great idea, but you realize someone will be tempted to defeat it just on principle?

I would question how many of 'those' people make decisions based on Principle - I suspect anything which presents as an obstacle to their mission is in fact perceived as a deterrent - granted some more-so than others.

[LSretired1]

Nice!. I have some bar laying around here as well and have thought about doing a similar project. Is this perfection in your mind our do you have "If I were to do it again I would do it this way suggestions"? Can you explain the purpose of the winch cable? Bottom line , thieves do not like to work so I am pretty sure they would move on before tackling yours. And everyone, thanks for sharing your good ideas

[doublevan2]

Nice ! What make/year of SMB (E350 - V10, etc.) - Sprinter, etc., do you bolt this to ?

Crank up your production capabilities - you just might have gone into business ! LOL !

[asgard]

Firstly, it is fitted to a 2012 E150 stock van, so anyone with that variant will find the design compatible.
The wire, was just because I had some when I changed my winch to synthetic rope and I saw the cat cage product that seems to be wire looped and wrapped and I thought why not. It does offer another buggeration factor and links side to side with something that as you probably know winch wire has a mind of its own.
Regards redesign or upgrade, this was a form over function idea, my thought was to put something in the way, maximum cutting for minimum weight. I used 3/4 bar for the main runs and 1/2 for the crosses and tabs.
The fact that the 2 are not mounted flush with the driverside being the most exposed caused some issues but the main problem is a suitable front mounting point. for this, I used square tube. You need to form it on the vehicle as the compound angles are too much for the bench. I wanted the unit to be removable with difficulty. You could if you wanted instead of bars across and up the cat do a loop that could be welded in place, no doubt you could actually weld the whole thing in place, but that was not my thought, it might change if I come back and the cats are gone and the cages are lying on the ground.
I would be happy to forward some additional pictures to members who might be thinking of making a couple by DM.

[Twoxentrix]

asgard, In your last post you mentioned including additional photos - I'm already impressed with your design, but no doubt others will attempt something similar and would appreciate as much info as possible.
In the spirt of sharing, this thread is already a great contribution. I think it would be beneficial to add them anyway (as part of this thread) since it may help inspire additional inventive outcomes - albeit many may embark with just portions of your design, your platform serves as the inspiration.

[asgard]

Let's start on the passenger side before wire wrapped.
The front is a section of 1-inch square tube, it has a recessed plate welded inside to accept the bolt. I recessed it because as there is no good usable hole that can take a rivnut I added a small plate with a rivnut and welded that to the chassis. From there I used 2 runs of 3/4 rebar and brought them back to a section of angle which I drilled and mounted using hex cap bolts. The gearbox cross member has no usable fixing and as it is stout and I was on the flange I drilled through and used the bottom flange as a support and also because it stops grinder, sawzall access to the nuts and by using button head cap screws it might prove harder to grind/cut.
I then added 1/2 inch bar at locations to stop the chance of easy removal either front or back, the rear are vertical sections of bar to block off sliding the cat out. The additional mount was just because there was a hole in the frame that I thought would add additional difficulty. that is just bolted through but again I used a square section again blocking sawzall to the bolt head.
I have used 3 different bolt sizes including a recessed hex. There is a sequence to install and remove this cage.

[asgard]

The driver's side. This side is different because the cat is so open, it is however slightly easier in finding fixing points. The rear mounting is the same as the passenger side with the exception that the angle bracket needs to be shaped to suit the cross member and in my case clear the exhaust pipe., just align the bracket and mark the cut profile. The front one is achieved by using an existing hole in the frame, on my van it held the block heater cable, so I assume the hole exists on all vans. Remove that plastic mount if there and relocate to the loom above, I used zip ties and then covered them with aluminum tape. The hole is not the size I wanted for a 5/16 rivnut, so I drilled it out and inserted the rivnut. The only difficulty is if you have a double lever type rivnut gun it will not fit, I used the alternative two nuts and a bolt method, this is shown in many Youtube videos. As the hole ends up low on the frame I shaped the 1-inch square section to suit as shown in the picture, making it fit flush and give additional bearing. Again I welded a plate with a hole inside the square section the recess allows for the rivnut head.
The rest was 3/4rebar and 1/2 inch cross-sections. I did manage to add a 3rd 3/4 on the front part which allowed the cross-section to weld below it. I added two vertical sections at the back to stop the cat from being withdrawn. I did not say in the passenger side detail but these are angled towards the pipe.
The mounting was the same as before but this time there is only two mountings and different bolts were used.
The wire is welded to the end section on both.

I did not take as many pictures as I should have but if the pictures are less helpful and someone needs another angle I could try and take some more of the fitted items.
I appreciate the interest and am happy to help.

[LSretired1]

asgard, thanks for the additional information and photos. I think that if my van (as it currently is) was parked next to yours at the wrong trailhead, your cats would still be there and mine would be gone. Good job!