A fight to protect my catalytic converter

[Jack K]

Reading these first hand accounts, didn't know this sort of thing was that prevalent - yikes!

Originally Posted by boywonder

Nice! I think $25 worth of wire rope and some muffler clamps will get me 95% of the way there.......

Agreed, the cabling plus clamp idea, maybe with lengths of rebar in the mix, looks like it would be cost effective.

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by Jack K

Reading these first hand accounts, didn't know this sort of thing was that prevalent - yikes!


Agreed, the cabling plus clamp idea, maybe with lengths of rebar in the mix, looks like it would be cost effective.

I'm on it...stay tuned....

[Vanimal]

9 millimeter or Cujo. Politics aside, for the tree huggers get a docile grizzly, badger if in Texas, crocodile in the bayous, street thug in N.Y. this is environmentally conscience and a rescued animal from a sheltered! Here is another option. I plug my 7.3 in cold weather why not have a 220v hook up wired to the cat while parked in the driveway. You can get a capacitor to hook up while on the road!

[IanF]

One thing I like about my 1992 E350 7.3 IDI: No cat to steal.

[Vanimal]

Originally Posted by IanF

One thing I like about my 1992 E350 7.3 IDI: No cat to steal.

Bingo! Honestly too bad they are all not like that, the DEF Joke! Propaganda and cronies payoff.

[Steve Hunt]

Originally Posted by boywonder

For dual purpose (theft protection + skid plate) maybe aluminum makes more sense, and again we are just trying to get the thief to move on.

Maybe it doesn't really need to be metal at all? if we are just trying to get him to move on... I have no experience as a thief but you'd think they would want to minimize total time in the act of stealing to avoid getting caught so if they slide under the van and see a "skin" of any kind that they would then wonder where the cat actually is or does it even have one under the skin and likely just bail out and look for another vehicle.
So many vehicles use a plastic of some sort to skin the under side of cars to manage smooth air flow for gas mileage. Maybe just hiding the cat a bit does the trick. The material would be easy to work with, fasten and light weight. If it should happen to get tore off in a offroad situation easy enough to recover and stash. Plenty of heat materials to stick on or attach from DEI if you need to get real close to the cat for a clean install....just spit-balling, maybe spark another idea in someone else

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by boywonder

I'm on it...stay tuned....

Well..some paying work got in the way.....so this took longer than expected....but here's what $63 in materials can do....








I haven't actually driven the van yet....and I'm a little concerned about fretting wear between the cables and where they rub on the cats and resonators (or whatever the other cans are). Any feedback is appreciated.


10 muffler clamps from O'reilly's $40

50 ft of 1/4" wire rope at Home Depot $23

The look on a thief's face..... Priceless!

[bec_n_em]

Impressive, thanks!

[BrianW]

How hard is it to cut 1/4” wire rope with a Sawzall? Seems like it wouldn’t slow them down that much?

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by BrianW

How hard is it to cut 1/4” wire rope with a Sawzall? Seems like it wouldn’t slow them down that much?

Great question..I've assumed it's a PITA.....especially where its flappy.


But it may be easy where it's clamped tight.



I didn't cut the 50' cable.....it runs from manifold to manifold across the Y pipe.....just about 6 times.