Cat shield vs unshielded

I understand the motivation behind the shields, but I haven't seen this discussed much.

Sure, a shield makes it harder to steal cats. But, wouldn't a motivated thief just steal them anyways? I've been more on the line of thought that letting a thief take them cleanly will be less harmful than have them mess up a ton of other stuff when getting through the shield before finally ripping the cats out.

Now the shield isn't really that pricey but all the other stuff down there isn't. At least a stolen cat and maybe nicked fuel line isn't a hard repair (costs aside)

Thoughts?

 

Yes, and let's all leave our home doors unlocked 24/7 and never count our change after a purchase. No sense in getting a window broken by a robber or having a door kicked in and always trust getting accurate change. And, let's all give up our home-defense firearms while we are at it. Never mind that replacing cats can take a long time while making your truck undriveable and the replacement costs are astronomical. In case no one has guessed, I have Valhalla plates on my truck.

 

They see the shields and know it will take an extra 5-10 minutes to cut through and move in to your neighbours vehicle who doesn't have them.

Even crack junky thieves know that the longer it takes, the more likely they will get caught

 

You need to do some research. Its taking over 6 months on average for a Tundra to get replacement cats. We have had a few members be without their truck for around 9 months.
In an ideal world, it wouldn't be hard to replace a cat but that is not the current situation.
Do you need your truck for daily use or can you afford to be in a rental while your truck sits on a lot?

It is your call but I rather pay less than my insurance deductible and have protection and avoid the hassle and inconvenience. Yes the plate doesn't make you invincible but you will deture the aver theft who is trying to make a quick acquisition

 

As stated, perhaps you should consider it took Toyota 8 months to get my replacement cats..

As well I didn't have shields and they cut my fuel line..

I now have full coverage Valhalla shields..

OH, and welcome to the forum..

 

Cut 'em out?
Let's just take the bolts out and have them lying under the truck..

 

You guys have to consider who the OP is. Red Green wouldn't monkey around with taking his truck to some fancy shop for repairs. Heck no! Any self respecting member of the Possum Lodge will have more than enough scrap parts and ingenuity to fix it all in an afternoon with the help of a little duct tape and bailing wire. Probably increase the horsepowers by a few too!

 

My tinfoil hat conspiracy theory says it's a bigger organization of well organized, well connected and protected criminals behind it.

 

Lol! Finally someone gets it! Just a funny show, thought the name would be good for forum stuffs.

A little bit of devil's advocate is healthy. Often an opposing viewpoint or question and the discussion that follows helps people learn and provokes some good thoughts. Just thought I'd ask.

Anyone heard the phrase "locks keep only honest people out"? I do lock my doors to my house and cars, for the record.

 

the epa. The whole point of cats in the first place, just took that part of society 50 years to figure it out.

 

Here's another thought..

Prius's are apparently high on the cat target list, if I recall correctly it's because they're hybrids and the cats are usually in good shape.

So, what if I just took my truck mudding, got it super dirty, and left it that way? At a glance, it'd look very used, maybe the average theif-to-be would think the exhaust is too far gone to be worth stealing?

 

Heard it countless times along with "fences make good neighbors". To a would-be robber, he just doesn't know what may be waiting for him/her on the other side of the locked door.

 

I'm not opposed to having shields, just enjoy the alternative discussion. For every attack there's a defense, and for every defense, an attack.

 

I have a feeling that is more of what compels thieves to steal cats..YMMV



Although I've read there are some organized crime rings that steal, collect, and ship cats off in container ships overseas..

 

Didnt a truck or something get puller over in the last couple of weeks with over $1mil of cats? Might have been at a smaller port in tx? Dunno, dont really watch the news.

 

These guys are just the expendable pawns. It's who is paying the pawns to do the dirty work (and take the occasional fall - arrest for the newspapers) and allowing the stolen units to be transported/sold across borders that are the problem. If the drug addicts weren't getting paid, they wouldn't be doing it.

The last thing I'll say about this lest I go off on a tangent and get myself banned... the reason cat theft is still an issue is because those with the resources and authority to identify and shut the business side of it down and cut it off at its roots don't want to. It will be very difficult to convince me otherwise.

 

?????




Yup please don’t get the protection plates they are a waste. Just ride a bicycle or your other vehicle or the bus for all those months while you wait for the up to 8000 dollar repair! nothing but time and money and if you have a lot of each then by all means for get about it!!!!

 

Telling you. Its the epa. In the same way that [redacted] companies manipulate [redacted] fear into profits. People are paid well to stay up late at night figuring out how to eff consumers.

[redacted] companies were the first, but they're not near the best. The best make it MANDATORY.

 

Sure the addicts are getting paid, they use the money to buy drugs.

I agree with you, this could be shut down.
But I also agree the discussion to do it would be too political to discuss on this forum.
And I do like that about this forum..

When they stole my cats they left one side hanging.
These thieves were not too smart.
They tried to cut the hanger off the pipe instead of just cutting the rubber hanger.
With the alarm going off and being noon in a business parking lot, they decided to haul ass.





I waited until I got it repaired to try to get rid of the remaining pair in case I needed proof of my possession.
I tried to sell it at online marketplaces for $300 (just wanted my $200 deductible back and $ for my time), but I constantly got lowballed for $100 for the pair.
These were probably the people stealing them anyway..

I called and visited several recyclers all over Dallas and no one would touch them.
They said the state made it too difficult and they no longer scraped them.
I ended up selling them to an online recycler that paid for shipping and gave me $225 for them.

So I guess unless you are in the criminal game around here, no one will buy them.
So they must be going out of state, or out of the country...

 

This was a troll thread to begin with. Someone just trying to see if they can get a rise out of folks.

 

As has been previously stated, thieves will most often go to the easiest target. So please, OP, leave your cats uncovered for the good of the rest of us.

 

Wasn't a troll thread, honest.

Putting a straight pipe in where the cats used to be (while waiting on a replacement) really isn't an option?

Yeah maybe this was all a dumb question but better asked and answered than forgotten, that's what I think.

Been driving for almost a decade and I don't know anyone who has had their cats stolen, none of them do either. Obviously it happens, but is it really as common as these threads make it seem to be?

 

I've been baiting for years, and havent hooked anyone.

 

Ok, my apologies then. I suppose you can put in a straight pipe as long as you don't have to pass exhaust inspections.

 

I live in SW Florida, grew up mostly in SE Pennsylvania, with emissions/safety inspection every year. The fact that Florida requires nothing, save registration of course, is still a little mind boggling to me.

If I wanted to, I could probably drive around with tractor pulling headers on my tundy. Yeah it would be loud and obnoxious but unless there's a sound limit for vehicles, I doubt I'd ever be pulled over for it.

 

Someone stole my cat material from my titan, a single pair of o2 sensor spacers didnt work, but 2 pair in the rear sensors worked. Still getting good milage, and havent cracked my manifolds yet.

 

I work in a city department that handles stolen and recovered cats. We see them weekly. And we only physically see the recovered ones, there are a lot more that we don't see, as they thrives are not caught or the cats can't be recovered as they have already been scrapped or sold.

It happens a lot in my city. Which is why I added them.

 

I put off getting cat shields for the same reason. Then we had two Tundras hit in the "flat lot" at work (I park in the parking garage). My employer sent out a notice to all employees acknowledging/alerting everyone of the incident and upped security presence in all parking areas. Not long after that, my neighbor (who drives Ram) said three Tundras were hit in their back lot during work hours. His company "reserved" the front 6 spots right in front of the office windows for the 6 employees who own Tundras.

After that, I ordered/installed shields on both our 4Runner and Tundra. It does help me sleep a little easier knowing the common tweaker, opportunistic thief will more than likely move on. If some guy/group shows up with a box full of sockets, drills, wrenches, sawzalls, pipe cutters, acetylene torches and what not to get 'em, then at least they've worked some to "earn" them. lol Nothing anyone can do to stop theft if they're that prepared. Maybe shoot them, but again if they're going in with all that they'll likely have lookouts and armed "cover" too.

 

OK, so probably cat shields are a good idea. If they're only 500 or so, cheap insurance. I guess they'd function as skid plates to a degree as well.

Valhalla is the name a lot of you have used, they make aluminum and steel versions. I've been working with/fabricating metals for a long time, and the absolute worst/hardest to work with is titanium. Steel takes a while to cut up, depending on thickness, and aluminum might as well be butter.

What's the gauge thickness on these shields? If you're going to go to this level of effort, might as well go all the way and armor up.

Edit: I clicked on a few and saw 1/8" to 3/16". Not bad at all. 3/16 would be my pick, or even 1/4" if they can do it. Weight be damned. It's already a heavy truck.