I go to start my 92runner and what do I find? The catallytic converter is gone! Damn tweekers! This happened in the middle of the night in front of my house. WTF!
I am aware that this is a ongoing problem. FYI Keep your rig/cat in a safe place when you go to bed.
location: City of Orange CA
Date/Time: 2-6-08/ Between 11p-7a
What is this gonna cost? I wanted new BF tires now I get to buy my cat back from the junk yard the tweekers sold it to!
Are there any serial #'s on the cats?

 

Same thing happened to my wife's 1995 4Runner two nights ago. I spoke to a detective and they said there is a special kind of metal in the catalytic converters which are commonly used in Toyotas that are worth more at scrap metal yards.

So they went under the truck and cut it clean off with an electric saw or something. It was parked right outside our house too. We have plenty of meth heads out here to keep an eye out.

 

That or they use it to make meth...

 

The metal is platinum. Toyota 4x4's are targeted because of the high ground clearance and the higher amounts of platinun. Almost 1 gram. At any rate we have a gazzilioon "Cat warning posts" LOL The reality is it is happening more and more.

What can you do? Weld it on, but they can still use a sawzall. So some kind of body armour to cover it is your best bet. Otherwise it will likely get stolen again

 

well you could run a current through your exhaust pipe with no ground...when they touch it wit h their hand it will ground out and shock them.

i think that would work atleast..

 

ya you could do that or do what i did and then just put a CAT. on for inspections/emissions

 

Weld razor blades to the cat.

 

Honestly... that is the BEST idea I have read yet - I guess untill the theif is so mad they destroy your truck.

x1 million!

You can't win. What really gets me is the scrap yeards that don't have to abide by pawn shop laws (yet) and they pretty much knowingly buy stolen property. (And not just CAT's either. Tweakers rip our copper wire from new homes and bisiness too...)

 

Last I saw platinum was about $1600/oz.

 

wow so how much are these guys getting for the cats? cause i have 3 of them at home in milwaukee from my truck just sitting there doing nothing oh and if you rig is 20 years or older you dont need a cat and with a stock mani and muffler its not much louder then with the cat so i dont have one it shoots cool flames when i rev her up really high getting all rich and what have you but yeah how much are these things worth and no im not going to go out and steal any cause i live in the sticks i have the only runner for 50 miles out here trust me i know even in appleton theres is'nt any like mine

 

The tweekers get anywhere from $40-$100 for a cat. They like the stock ones better than the hiflo ones for some reason.

Possible solutions to this:

park over(not on) a big ol pile of dog crap. so when they crawl under there, they get a little(or big) surprise.

have a board with thumbtacks all over it under your car( not so you pop your tires though)

rig up your remote start so when they mess with the cat, the car starts, and revs.

 

Stealing cats is all a grand plan over at CustomTacos.com to get people to lower their trucks ...

 

If you lower your truck, they will just find other stuff to steal... like copper wiring

 

Just to update: The price of platinum hit $2000/oz today in intraday trading.

 

dude they had a thread on this before. apparently many chronics were just sawing off cats in the middle of parking lots. they target lifted or high clearance vehicles obviously because its easier to get under. the two elements expensive elements cats have are platinum and rhodium i believe. check out the price of rhodium if you thought platnium was expensive.