larry2c

As I see more news clips about converter theft I will admit this weighs on my mind a bit more lately. The TV talking heads say trucks that sit up higher like most F150's are an easier target because the thieves can just slide right under and chop out your cats. That made sense to me but the other night an interesting thing happened - my neighbors Honda Accord (a 20 year old model) had it's cat stolen. What makes it interesting is that I live on a cul de sac and his Honda is parked at the curb right in front of my truck. He had some security video that shows the thieves doing the dirty deed and they used some sort of air bag that they threw under the car, inflated it and then hacked out the cat and took it and the airbag thing threw it in their SUV and drove off. This all happened in less than a minute!

So this made me start to wonder - why didn't they take my cats instead? Here's what I'm thinking and hopefully folks here on the forum might have some real world into the question. I have the 5.0 V8 so there are two cats. They are located in a spot where getting to the back end of the cat/exhaust would be pretty easy. However, the front end of the cat is up closer to the engine and although it wouldn't be impossible to get to it wouldn't be super easy. And, there are two of them so I assume each cat has less precious metal in it than one from a vehicle with a single cat. Or, it could have been that the position of his car relative to my truck made his car less visible from the cross street - but it was certainly still visible.

FWIW, I have a couple of motion sensitive flood lights out front and they both came on when the car drove into the cul de sac. My security camera also picked up the SUV pulling in but because of where we are on the court, you never see the license plates.

So besides the "what do you think" regarding the reason he got hit and I didn't question, I'm also curious as to just how common is the theft of F150 catalytic converters - especially on the 5.0 version? Should i be looking at trying to make mine more theft proof or is it a waste of time $$ and effort?

Not "caught in the act"...

Rodrigo

FWIW, I've heard that Hondas and Toyotas are targeted by cat thieves because they contain a different alloy than American cars, which is particularly valuable. This is just hearsay, really. I've also wondered about this. Wouldn't be hard to get away with both cats from my Ecoboost, in my estimation.

bajaman

huh...just watch TikTok videos to see how brazen these thieves are...they know that, much like stealing from Wal-Mart or Home Depot, how easy it is to get away with it. I mean, when you see a couple with a large floor jack and a Dewalt 20v sawzall casually taking multiple converters off cars in parking lots while people are watching and filming them...you just have to shake your head in amazement. And unfortunately in most, if not all states, you can't kill them for doing this...though this is what needs to happen to deter the thefts. That, and a crackdown on the places that take the cats...but that won't happen either more than likely.

Siber Express

Can't you just drop- the jack on him and say you did it so the cops can catch them in the act
Around here they are taking the exhaust Catalyst And Particle Filter Assembly off of the diesels. Just got the 1 off of the F550 at work deleted in the middle of the night at over $12,000 to replace it yet the even though the cops had prints and the guys hat (DNA) the smaller police forces around here use the states lab and the backlog is so bad the evidence just sits there until the thieves die of natural causes.
That is one good thing about having a garage big enough to park the Truck and Mustang both in.

David Hineline

Perhaps they had a special order from a muffler shop to go and find a replacement CAT for a specific vehichle rather than just junk yard scrappers.

Perhaps their cheap air jack could not handle the weight of your truck.

Edweiser

It's been bad here on the Colorado Front Range. Actual statistics of car models that have them stolen on page 6 of this report. There's only 1 hybrid on the list, the Prius, and it was the Element that had them stolen the most. Don't know if it's ease of theft or the cats are actually more valuable on those models.

tbear853

Dayum, who left that jack out here under my truck? It belongs in the shop, think I'll just put it there.



One more reason to lower the truck?

BareBonesXL

https://kdvr.com/news/nationalworld-...erter-thieves/

[F2C]MaDMaXX

Interesting part of the article:

ifallsron

From a Minnesota newspaper report:

"A four-chamber (or “four biscuit”) catalytic converter from a Ford car, for instance, could net more than $1,000, while a low-grade “hot dog” converter from a Honda might bring a seller $90, according to the scrapyard’s January buy list."