catalytic converter thefts

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

mainemike

mainemike

Joined
Apr 1, 2006
Threads
17
Messages
533
Location
Central PA
Website
www.purplelizard.com
Are cat converter thefts common elsewhere? In Maine we have seen this making the news - they cut the cats off for what is a relatively high scrap value. Usually happens in remote parking lots. Shopping for sliders, this has moved Hannah to the top of my list simply for the cat skid integrated to the slider design.

m.
 
They are having problems with it in NorCal as well, Sacramento area, and I think it is spreading.
 
If they want my nasty old catalytic converter, they can have it ;)
 
oh yea, my cats are nice, snug, and well-protected! :)
 
I’ve never heard of this. This has to be one of the most bizarre vehicle related crimes out there. What’s inside the CATS that are so valuable? It seems like it would be far less trouble to steal the entire vehicle and strip it down later.
 
mainemike said:
I assume with a hannah slider on an 80, when the time comes for exhaust/cat work, you need to drop the slider to access? Or is that cat-guard a separate piece?
Click to expand...

You'd have to drop the slider to get to the cats.
 
tech_dog said:
You'd have to drop the slider to get to the cats.
Click to expand...

Which requires supporting the transfer case crossmember with a jack.

So, it's a pain to do and is certainly a theft deterrant.
 
BrettinSanAntonio said:
I’ve never heard of this. This has to be one of the most bizarre vehicle related crimes out there. What’s inside the CATS that are so valuable?
Click to expand...

The thieves steal the converters for the valuable metals inside, and turn them into auto recycling centers for cold hard cash.

Stealing catalytic converters that contain precious metals that can bring remarkable profits. In addition to being valuable in cutting pollution, platinum can bring $1,200 an ounce, rhodium $6,025 and palladium nearly $350.
 
I saw the news reports and thieves are specifically targeting toyota suv's (I think the older 4R's and PU's are particularly easy targets b/c of cat location)
 
3 or 4 months ago, the Toyota dealer down the street from work found a large number of new 4Runners with their cats removed. The day before that, a 4Runner and a Tacoma in my sons high school parking lot had their cats stolen.

Apparently the same thieves from the two events. They were eventually caught.

It's an epidemic!


Dan.
 
cruiserdan said:
Which requires supporting the transfer case crossmember with a jack.

So, it's a pain to do and is certainly a theft deterrant.
Click to expand...


[IIRC, the jack thing is for the earlier years (not sure).]

With that, it's more than a deterrent, though, could be a thief-catcher too? :D
 
DANG!

So how much can a person get for the two cats off a '97 FZJ80? No one's getting the ones off my LX unless they want to deal with the MetalTech cat guard :)

But heck, if thieves are stealing them for the $$ then why couldn't a owner recycle them for the $$ to pay for new high flow cat(s)? Surely people can't be stealing them for $25 worth of metal can they? Sheesh
 
Ahh, I don't worry about the theft because may cat is protected by Slee....hey, can I trademark that?
 
a coworker of mine had some guys (another coworker witnessed it) pull up to his 95 4rnr which was parked on the street and within minutes used a sawzall to remove the cat, throw it in the back of their Honda civic (Punks!) and take off. I understand from the local muffler guy that Toyotas are easy because you can get under the truck and access the cat easily. He says the demand for used cats is at an all time high for the metals as mentioned ealier in this thread. He says they can get a minimum of $60.00 per cat. It cost the coworker something like $350.00 to fix the pipe and weld in the new cat. They also ripped the O2 wires. Jerk-offs like that to make $60 bucks and cost you hundreds.:mad: Its like the copper wire stealers, except the last guy I heard about was stealing copper wire out of a building and electrocuted himself - found the next morning. there's one less there....Glad I am getting my sliders with the bar protector across the cats this week. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

YetiCruiser14
CATALYTIC CONVERTER OPTIONS
2
Replies
26
Views
2K
alia176
alia176
D
1991 FJ80 torque converter
Replies
4
Views
133
TheBussman
TheBussman
63FST
Decals to convert stock buttons to (light bar / 'spot') ....both early/late buttons
Replies
0
Views
435
63FST
63FST

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom