My cats got stolen last night

I already know the answer...it would cover for 30 days. That would be enough to at least get my schedule and wife's schedule adjusted to accommodate 1 vehicle should my truck get hit and should it take longer than 30 days. I only work 1-day a week and my wife 2-3 days per week, 12-hour shifts so I could pick per up and drop her off if needed. I just don't see the bad guys being stopped by these plates if they become more common. Again unless one welds the bolts, we are talking seconds per bolt to remove.

 

your wrong you aint taking seconds to unbolt the Vahella ones. That and they weigh 50lbs? Only thing that will stop is recycle places must have correct vin for cat or they cannot accept.

 

Damn opened this thread and muleycrazy13 is bragging about having a transmission cooler. What a lucky guy!!

Just trying to bring some levity to the situation. I know it sucks, we deal with 2-3 vehicles a week with stolen cats, mostly prius's though. Only one tundra so far. Just waiting for mine to get stolen, as my truck sits outside without me driving it most of the week.

 

Anyone know of a shop in the Houston area making the shields? Hard to believe Toyota hasn’t figured out how to charge an extra $1000 in a package for there plates.

 

Found this on Craigslist in Houston area if someone is in need. Just trying to help. I know people has had theirs getting cut

 

Ha ha can’t believe Toyota quit putting transmission coolers on the new ones!!!

 

UPDATE talked to the dealership today and like many of you have mentioned the oem cats expected arrival is unknown with National back order. So I talked to my damage adjuster and he suggested a local shop in Peoria that does muffler work. They seem like a good shop and have great google reviews. My insurance guy said they have sent multiple vehicles there with great success. So I’m going to pick up the truck today and I’m taking it over there tomorrow to see what they can do. And see what parts they are going to use. Toyota had zero estimated time of when my truck would be up and running and I unfortunately cannot wait on the unknown, I need my vehicle. Nothing against the dealer as they have always been good to me.

 

I use my truck to tow and haul. It sucks at offroading, lol.

 

Mule I feel your pain...

I posted this last week on another thread.

Big shout out to @Classy63! I received my plates on Thursday. Had them powder coated on Friday. I just finished installing them today. They were a PITA to install due to me. I decided to swap out his bolts and use carriage bolts & lock washers to make it harder to remove. I live in the suburbs outside of Phoenix. My friend is part of the Ring door bell community. He showed me videos of 5 trucks that got hit. Two of them were Tundra's within the last 2 weeks not far from where I live. I finally can sleep at ease. I hope a couple more vehicles fall and kill these scumbags while they attempt to steal anyone cats.

 

Classy63 on this forum or Vahella shields is located in Houston.

 

sorry man. im also in the desert eagle camp. it took awhile to get but mainly because he was helping his community in texas when the cold wave hit them hard. couldn't argue with that. but he's a standup guy in my experience. just gotta make sure he puts you on the list. then after a day or two remind him. i did that a few times, remind him that is. quality and ease of installation is good. floor jack or multiple people will help. i went a step further and used tamper proof torx bolts instead of the stock bolts that come with it. the plate is just a deterrent but hopefully when they come up to mine they won't have a tamper proof torx bolt socket and will move on to someone else.

 

Thanks. That’s good to know. I also just realized that the hot exhaust gases might melt any nearby wiring or damage anything else close to that open pipe (fuel and brake lines maybe)? I wasn’t driving it much, but I’ll drive it even less now that I’m more aware of what could happen.

 

Toyota doesn't make their own plates. Tyler at Valhalla Shield makes the plates.

 

Yeah, looks like I’ll be going the aftermarket/independent shop route myself for the same reason. I’m just waiting for my Valhalla skids to arrive before I get the repair done. While doing a google search on this problem, I came across a Prius owner who got his stolen twice, the second time only weeks after he got the replacements installed.

 

Now that's just rude... I wonder if the same thief

Edit: damn autocorrect changed thief to their. Why... lol

 

I have heard the Prius are the most sought after cats. I took my truck to the custom muffler shop and they said they will have it done this week after insurance approves the cost.

 

Haven't some guys had a CEL with aftermarket cats?

 

CEL’s?

 

Check engine light

 

if it does it will be on the insurance until it’s right. I’m not playing no games. Guy at the shop said he had just done a sequoia the day before and didn’t have any issues

 

I hear you on that one. It would take a few miles before the light would come on. Keith @dirtydeeds would know the answer to aftermarket cats and any known issues with them on these trucks.

 

Ya that’s true. If I see any issues it will definitely be getting fixed on their dime. But it’s kind of a hard decision cuz I need my truck back and cannot afford to sit and wait for oem products. The truck is over 6 years old now and about to roll 100k miles. I’m not sure how much much longer i will own it at this point. Probably at least another year or two but ya never know.

 

That's not a terrible idea. Another guy welded some lengths of tool rod stock parallel to the tubes.

 

This is a real problem in Portland. It’s all over the news. You are still correct on the potheads!!!

 

All this cat theft is an organized plan to make electric vehicles even more appealing to everyone.
The new Ford Lightning doesn't have cats... just sayin'.

 

I crawled under my truck yesterday for a look. It would seem that if you cover the front cats the back cats would be hard to remove. Do you really need to cover the back if you cover the front?

 

The 2wd would be a little more critical to cover.

 

Just so I understand the 2x4 rear cats sit more in the open making them easier to remove? Is my assumption correct that covering the front cats on a 4x4 will make is pretty difficult to remove the rear ones?

 

The 2wd cats are more accessible because there is no transfer case to limit access.

 

Sorry to hear about all of the damage done by the thieves. Wouldn't an alarm with a glass breakage sensor also be a deterrent? The noise made while cutting them off should set off the alarm and scare off the thief.