A fight to protect my catalytic converter

[Vanimal]

Another reason to band guns! Ha Let's see... confronted by a Cat thief with a sawzall vs my 9 millimeter. Both are considered deadly weapons able to produce deadly force. I pick the 9. A deterrent is the biggest hope in solving crime. In the western days if you bumped into someone you made sure you would apologize, today they just run up and cold cock you or steal your Cat. My point being that there is no respect in todays world and the entitled are entitled to your hard earned possession so a deterrent makes sense to logical people such as myself. All politics aside. Your Cat means nothing to the state nor does your hard earned dollars to fix your possession, heck rioters march and break windows and are back on the streets the next day, and so is the Cat burglar.
Skid plates with numerous bolts is an option as on my Jeep. It is easier to go to the next car then deal with 20 or more bolts covering the Cat. For me my 2002 7.3 Diesel was exempt from Cats so no need for deterrent other than taking the whole thing.

[MacGruber]

Theives here in Portland made a sawzall cut in my exhaust a week ago but didn’t get the cat. Maybe they were scared off or couldn’t easily get to the front of it. Van sounded like a Harley the next morning but some sheet metal and hose clamps fixed it temporarily. 2 Prius within a block of me had theirs stolen that night though. The Prius answer is a skid plate that’s easy to order and install. Wish there was one for an e350. Previously the cheap plastic rock deflector got torn behind the bumper too so a long one would be nice. Have to access oil though

[Glenn P.]

Down here in SoCal they just busted a group stealing cats and caught them with over 200. Of course the guy getting squashed in Anaheim is the ultimate justice.

With such a rise in this form of theft, and since we are looking for solutions, why not get a test pipe to install in place of the cat and then just install it when you need an inspection/smog check? Doesn't take that long to swap and will give you piece of mind the next time some jerk crawls under there to discover nothing but exhaust tubing.

Yes, doing so is likely illegal, but so is cat theft yet I don't see a special police task force dedicated to catching these guys.

[Lenny]

Originally Posted by Glenn P.

Down here in SoCal they just busted a group stealing cats and caught them with over 200. Of course the guy getting squashed in Anaheim is the ultimate justice.

With such a rise in this form of theft, and since we are looking for solutions, why not get a test pipe to install in place of the cat and then just install it when you need an inspection/smog check? Doesn't take that long to swap and will give you piece of mind the next time some jerk crawls under there to discover nothing but exhaust tubing.

Yes, doing so is likely illegal, but so is cat theft yet I don't see a special police task force dedicated to catching these guys.

And the bozo's on the left want to de fund the police.... Good idea Glen.

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by Lord Humungus

Mine was taken last year. Was thinking of all the same solutions listed above.
Found this online, but didn't pull the trigger on the purchase. Anyone try these?

https://catclamp.com/

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


thanks for the link...keep the ideas coming....

[simplesez]

If we start talking left wing vs right wing along with guns and such this is going to get ugly real quickly. Let's not do that ok? We had enough politics in 2020.

[BroncoHauler]

Originally Posted by simplesez

If we start talking left wing vs right wing along with guns and such this is going to get ugly real quickly. Let's not do that ok? We had enough politics in 2020.

Excellent recommendation. It doesn't take much to get some threads off the rails, so let's stay focused on vans.




Herb

[rt66paul]

Here in Ca, the state wants you to buy a new vehicle, not fix an old one. CARB approved Cats are over $1k, you can't buy the aftermarket ones here.

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by rt66paul

CARB approved Cats are over $1k, you can't buy the aftermarket ones here.

CARB approved aftermarket cats will pass CA smog when installed correctly.

Aftermarket Catalytic Converter Inspection | JUST SMOGS® + REPAIR

[86Scotty]

Originally Posted by Glenn P.

With such a rise in this form of theft, and since we are looking for solutions, why not get a test pipe to install in place of the cat and then just install it when you need an inspection/smog check? Doesn't take that long to swap and will give you piece of mind the next time some jerk crawls under there to discover nothing but exhaust tubing.

Yes, doing so is likely illegal, but so is cat theft yet I don't see a special police task force dedicated to catching these guys.

This doesn't work well on any vehicle you camp in or spend time around running. Inevitably you will need to idle the vehicle. Think about all the times offroading where you are still and idling for a time. The fumes from a straight piped vehicle will not only choke you and drive your wife, kids and pets crazy but could also kill you and on top of that it will set off your detectors in an actual SMB/RV. Ask me how I know.

Even the exhaust from a Honda 2000 generator I used to keep mounted to my rig would set the detectors and the people off at the most inconvenient times.