Catalytic Converters theft?

Should I invest in protection for my 2021 Tundra?

 

Yes

 

Yes x2

 

yup

 

I think it depends where you live. Haven’t seen or heard of any thefts in my area in a couple years.

 

Welcome from VA. Look into Talons garage.

 

Of course, yes.

 

+ 1 for Talons. Great shield, in stock inventory, fast shipping, responsive customer service

 

Depends entirely on where you live and where you drive. We live in a small community, both retired and don't get out much. We also never leave our vehicles out of sight for very long (stores, etc.). We also garage our vehicles so they are not available to anyone when at home (out in the country). So, I haven't done anything as far as cat protection devices.

Dan

 

Thieves don't restrict themselves to any area. It doesn't matter where a person lives.

 

Highly recommend, but also location dependent.

I'm in LA and my cats were stolen the night I finished installing a lift and new wheels/tires. Talk about shitty coincidence lol.

Truck sat at the dealership for almost 2 months because of OEM parts delay, so I ordered RCI skids during the wait.

Installed the RCI skids when I got the truck back, and that same night a tundra 3 houses down from me had their cats stolen, but mine were untouched.

 

Get em. You may go somewhere where they think it’s an easy cut job. Cat shields are more of a deterrent. If they want them bad enough, they’ll take the skid plate off too. BUT, thats to much work and will take to long to remove skids to get to the cats. Thieves are lazy and try for the easiest cats to get. If they see what they gotta go through, they’ll pass and go to the next one.

 

Yes!

Pretty sure I was about to get hit in front of Home Depot. Two dudes in old pickup pulled up next to me in lot. They couldn't see I was still in truck with sun shade and dark tint. Sawzall in hand he slowly opened door on opposite of store entrance then saw me in driver seat and took off in a hurry. I installed plates asap from Valhalla here in Houston and I am about to pull the trigger on Talons engine skid plate for easier oil changes.

 

Invest by pre removing the cats via long tubes haha.

 

The question should be: Why not?

 

Mine was stolen in south Calif. Put on a cheap one for now as smog is not due for another year. Steel Protection is expensive. Motion detector is much cheaper. They come around 2am to 4 am so u must have a bear spray handy. It's dangerous fighting them tho, they may throw the cordless saw at you.

 

Get it, install it, and forget about it!

 

If you don't want to walk out to this, then yes.
It happened in my employer's parking lot, at noon.



This was back in November of 2021.
It took Toyota 8 months to get the parts to fix it.

As others stated, look into Talon's Garage..
He is a forum vendor..

Talons Garage off road skid plates and catalytic converter shields

 

Can't say I've ever heard of it happening in my area of Virginia but I've heard anecdotal evidence of it on national news. If someone wants to cut mine off I would get a catless long tube and y-pipe setup.

 

Absolutely you should! They got me already. Replaced and bought the guard for it. Its definitely worth it and gives peace of mind also.

 

Definitely yes. Had mine stolen 3 years ago. They also damaged the fuel line and some kind of purge valve line, not to mention the O2 sensor wiring. Total damage was well over $7500. Due to the long wait on OEM cats, I went with Magnaflows. They worked for a while until they started throwing cat inefficiency codes, preventing an emission test pass. Eventually ordered the OEMs, which took about 10 months to arrive.

The cat thieves hit mine right in front of my apartment in a small town about 30 miles south of Dallas. 3 months later they stole the cats out of my next door neighbor’s Chevy S10 pickup.

Had I paid more attention to just how rampant this kind of theft was, I would’ve invested in cat shields. Definitely worth it in my opinion, and mine serve double duty as skid plates protecting the underside.

 

Depends on were you live. In my rural area it just doesn't happen here. If I lived in the city and a apartment I would install the shields.

I also winter in Florida for 4 months of the year in a gated community and I've never had any issues and nobody else in the community has either.

 

RCI often has sales and one of those sales usually is free cat shields with purchase of their trans skid. I got lucky and found a local seller on OfferUp.
I keep my truck garaged so the chances of anybody stealing my cats while at home are very slim but I bought them because I was planning a road trip to Texas and didn't want to take any risk at all with somebody stealing them from the hotel parking lot or even in Texas where I stayed. For me it's just a comfort knowing I have a deterrent in place.

 

Yes....We lived in Texas where Cats were a hot item....We retired and moved 3 states east.....not too worried here at home, but we travel....that is where my fear lies. Simple insurance though your dealer will hate you during services.

 

Complete and utter nonsense.

 

Now, that I have been sold on purchasing cat protection shield, no one recommends a skid plate from Toyota or their doesn't protect the cats? Also, which cat from Talons Gargae should I purchase:

10 gauge steel black power coat
$714.97

1/4 Aluminum bare metal
$899.97

1/4 Aluminum black power coat
$1,049.97

 

The skid plate that Toyota sells is only an engine skid and looks exactly like this...


It does not protect your cats.

Mines not the official TRD skid from Toyota but rather a knock off from eBay at half the price.

The main difference between aluminum and steel is weight. I believe steel provides the best protection but weighs much more. Most chose aluminum.

I'm sure @Talon2006 can give you detailed pros and cons with steel vs aluminum

 

Would you recommend Talons or RCI for cat protection shield?

 

There is thousands of posts about this all with the same story lines! The search bar can be very useful. There are years of posts waiting out there for someone to read them!

 

I can't speak personally about Talon's but based on pictures I've seen and what others have said, Talon's seems the way to go. Talons looks to have better cat shields protection vs. the RCI.

I have the TRD knock off engine skid with the RCI trans/cat shields skid and when I got the extra money I'm going to get the full aluminum package from Talon's.