This may have been discussed here before, not sure. Anyway, I read recently that there has been a problem with catalytic converters being stolen at boat ramps on several lakes, including Rayburn. Anyone on here had that happen to them?

I know it use to be a problem on Ray Hubbard at the east Robertson Park ramp when it was still open.

Happened to my partner on Texoma last year!

Which ramp?

At the dam.

Not boat ramp related but we have a rash of these in my town. We are currently working several different rings that do this all day, everyday across the state.

I had never heard of it until Hawkeye's was stolen. Never even thought it was an issue. He cranked up the Dodge after we loaded my boat and dang was that V-8 Hemi LOUD!

It has happened at several ramps around Rayburn.

Groups of people coming up from Houston to hit several places at a time.

There was 15 BASS Elite trucks hit the other day in Orange at the Sabine Tourney!

GMAN's video

So I would have to assume that they use a sawzall, how are other people around the ramp not hearing this racket being made? Those ramps are bound to be busy.

Good thing my truck is deleted with no Cat

Mine gone stolen in Mesquite. 2 out of 4 cats on my Toyota Tundra.
$800 to get if fixed.

My neighbor had his stolen off his car right in front of his house at 3:00am ..Guess it does not take long to steal.. Also heard of someone trying to steal on during the night.. He jacked up the car but the jack failed and crushed him.. He won't steal no more..

It happened to one of our members during a bass club tournament in January on Holbrook.

they steal them in broad day light at all the local walmarts

His momma probably sued the jack company....

Most of them are not busy at all for hours at a time.

They average about 30 seconds per vehicle.

If you drive a Tundra you are 1st on the hit list. They have 4 of them and they are the prime target. Rhodium has gone to over 2100 bucks an ounce. That is the target. Met a guy who had his 4 stolen off his tundra couple of weeks ago

I followed a truck on 635 that had hundreds in the bed of the truck. They were 5 foot high in the bed. I called the cops and they said there was nothing they could do. Not willing to send a car out to pull them over and Didn't want the license plate number.

That is total BS. That dispatcher should be fired

It is, but they didn't catch them in the act, and no way to identify them where they came from.

I thought it was odd. This was about 4 years ago, I had just learned about the high theft rate on them . Apparently they can not be .inked back to a vehicle. Maybe we should require a vin number put on them

Our business vehicles got hit - every vehicle that sat on premise overnight. We'd get hit again I'm sure except that we had steel caging welded in over the newly installed converters. We learned from the cops that they can't really do anything unless they catch someone in the process of removing one of them. They aren't a controlled item, so any story on how they came to have a pile of converters will work. We've even read of a warehouse bay being found with hundreds of them. They're untraceable, so there aren't a lot of legal options.

There is an aftermarket plate that can be installed to cover them up.
I will be getting one. Not gonna stop them if they really want them but would deter most thiefs.

Ours are welded in quite substantially. They'll need some time and determination to get to it, and it isn't worth what it would take with ours.

I’m sure each brand cost is different, but if they are approximately $400ea, how much money do these little scumbags get for them? Are they re-selling them to ghetto shops or are they stripping the inside out of the converters? For example, is there a shop on the bad side of town that’s advertising used catalytic converters?

The shell gets discarded after the chemical contents is removed. They are stealing them only for that chemical content. I'm drawing a blank on what's in there that's so valuable. This is like stealing your AC unit or your wire for the copper salvage. They pay nothing for your converter, so if they get $20 for it, they made $20.

It used to be platinum. From 4Weight's post, I guess it's now rhodium. They are probably just getting pennies on the dollar for whatever catalyst they're getting out of them and spending it on meth

Wow I have never heard of this. Dang thief's.. but as far as doing it and being quite. A tube cutter would be quite and quick. I replaced a muffler on an old truck I had years ago. A tubing cutter made it easy.

I lived in Vegas a few years and worked at Enterprise a little under a year....and thats where I learned that theres a big market for these. I worked at a branch in a "ghetto" part of town....it was definitely a lower income area, and in the few months I was there about 8 trucks got hit. It was funny cuz my branch manager got really good cameras put in....and all that basically did was give a HD video of us getting robbed 😂😂😂 If I remember correctly corporate didnt wanna pay for a monitored system...and the manager kinda had to do his thing and also didnt wanna pay for monitoring. Needless to say the monitoring was needed since they didnt seem to be much of a deterrent LOL



I never researched how they did it...but from what i seen on video seems like a pretty simple gig. Im sure the ones I saw were pros...but youd be surprised how in and out they can get....and its Vegas where I was....someone is always awake....but they might be a crackhead or gambling degen too so I guess that didnt help 🤔😂

Meth monkeys will steal anything

They need to bust the buyers and that would slow down the thefts. I mean someone has to buy these things and then extract the metal. And someone else buys it.

Thieves remove the chemical contents from the converter - in the form of small beads if I remember correctly. This material is then sold in mass quantity to someone. There's no regulation or control of that chemical material that's inside, and that's what they are selling. Thieves abandon the converter housings as trash.

Enough scrap platinum for a days worth the meth cost you $1000. Nice. https://www.allstate.com/tr/car-insurance/catalytic-converter-theft.aspx

. Your a little off on this. Rhodium is almost $29,000 an ounce. That’s why the thefts have gotten so bad.

Mine was stolen at the Holinday inn express in Orange at the Bassmaster event. I was parked next to Brandon Lester and John cox and a couple other Toyota reps. The OEM converters on on a 3-6 month backorder. Luckily the Toyota dealer in town got us rolling with some after market stuff.

Toyota dealership off 820 in Hurst gets hit alot on their brand new trucks.

guy buying them on Facebook Marketplace. No wonder there are thefts

Facebook Marketplace

Wow! I did not know this kind of stuff was going on....crazy!!!

I am a Service Director for a Toyota Dealership and can tell you it is a major problem. The cost to replace with factory catalytic convertors can exceed $5,000 and the parts are on a national backorder. We have 21 vehicles down and counting at this time. We are installing a protective plate on all our in stock units. https://www.facebook.com/pg/DesertEagleOffroad/posts/

Sorry but I don't buy the nothing they can do about it carp. The way they sell this stuff makes it fairly easy to identify who the thieves are. At that point it's just a matter of outsmarting a meth head. The powers that be just choose not to deal with crimes like this. It costs the city / county money to investigate and prosecute. Easier to just pretend there is nothing you can do about it and go write speeding tickets. They steal a huge number every single night here in Palestine. It's a major problem.

My Ford dually too, sounds amazing now. Good thing I was being proactive from theft

Its not like a pawn shop. and with there being no burden on buyers to ID, or get sourcing info from sellers (from my understanding) there really is no way to track them. Looking at that facebook posts looks like you can sell to random people who probably dont even care what your name is. I actually didnt know it was that easy! LOL

Im sure they can do sting operations....but id also figure a decent lawyer could get them off since there doesnt seem to be a way to track them. Hearing about the $5000 cost....kinda reminds me of recalls in vehicles (and fight club lol)....in that, whats that dollar amount that is their tipping point to either do something to prevent thefts or start tracking them...both of which cost money. But I gotta figure having to pay out over and over has a tipping point for a company. Im sure soon we will see protective cages and things like that being standard....since that should cost less than having to replace them over and over...or at least youd figure it would.

A battery powered Sawsall will have it off in 30 seconds.

There is a huge catalytic converter recycling plant in San Marcos, right on IH-35.