Catalytic converter anti-theft

Really? I am 20 mi from town and 4mi from closest neighbor but a church is 3mi up the road and has had the cats stolen off of their bus twice. Sitting in a well lighted car port. Thieves and drugs are in the country also. But those 2 big white dogs do a pretty good job of keeping thieves at bay here, no market for drugs here either.

Thefts around Phoenix and border areas of catalytic converters and anything that wasn't tied down was rampant 2019 when we visited a relative. and on the way out at a campground on the outside of the Interstate outside Albuquerque, that very subject came up between visitors a fellow RVing couple and us.
here in the southeast I'm sure it goes on a lot in the big cities but here in the woods..not so much.

Tell the muffler shop you need a skid plate to protect the converter from damage.
This may redirect the mischief to an easier target.

Cummins12V98 wrote:
"Illegal to sell cats in California...for just that reason."

Interesting, I wonder why friends had theirs removed from their MotorHome in a Desert Hot Springs Storage area if there is no regional market.

It's also illegal to sell heroin, but it happens.

"Illegal to sell cats in California...for just that reason."

Interesting, I wonder why friends had theirs removed from their MotorHome in a Desert Hot Springs Storage area if there is no regional market.

garmp wrote:
Any one install a Catalytic converter anti-theft device. Just had ours ripped off in the storage lot. Now looking for a good device to prevent this. Any one use such a device? If so which did your choose and why.

thanks

Sorry to hear that...this thread will inevitably go south. Already started to.

Seems the black market cat converter industry is growing again. No?

There are universal bolt on ones that basically make a big rats nest of cable around the cat and through your frame/mounting brackets. Under $200 and looks like simple hand tool install with some creativity on cable routing. (Far easier under a big full frame van, than say a little car, I'd think.)
Maybe look into that.

Yeah, they'll never notice name and address? Easily removed with a grinder. Thieves may be stupid, but not all are morons.

"Here in northern MN, a pawn shop has a billboard saying they buy catalytic converters."

Ask with lots of other citizens that your police chief or county sheriff inspect that pawn shop regularly...real regularly...for receiving stolen merchandise. Should be easy to build a case against the owner.

bgum wrote:
The good citizens in Northern MN should be able to convince that pawn shop that they don't want to be in the catalytic converter business.

Agreed.

OP, when you get the replacement cat, be sure to engrave your name and phone number on the new one. Make it both a couple of very easily seen places to discourage theft in the first place, and a couple places on the top side, so that if THAT one turns up somewhere, they will be able to track it back to you.

Illegal to sell cats in California...for just that reason.

Anyway, buy some rebar at HD, Lowe's, ect. Take it to a muffler shop and have them weld it into a "cage". They'll know what you mean. These cats are cut loose with rope saws, fast. Having to cut through rebar at multiple place discourages them...fast.