How vulnerable is Bronco's catalytic converter to theft ?

[tourproto]

I am sure everyone knows about the rise in catalytic converter theft nationwide. Portland has been one of the places where theft has been rampant.

Since I don't think like a thief and don't know quite how they are able to carve out a cat in 30 seconds (according to police), is the Bronco vulnerable?

Looking under my BL, I can see it and it seems pretty accessible. Makes me wonder if this is worth taking the time to do, since it is a free service.

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/lo...emic/283-7601f9c2-6adb-4f9e-a75c-9273667253b5

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[Fmuguira]

Might deter a thief as stops/eliminates its market value…..

 

[351W-Bronco]

Can't hurt, but I don't see how it diminishes a cat's value, since the people buying the cat's, and then exporting them overseas for extraction of the precious metals are not concerned about laws in the first place. It's not like honest people are stealing them.

 

[Dmorty217]

If someone wants it bad enough they will get it regardless of what you do. Spray painting it with your vin will do little to nothing. The people taking 10-15 cats to the scrap yard at a time aren’t going to places where they care how they got them or what color they are. Also the over seas market doesn’t care either

 

[Lifeliberty]

They'll just sand the paint off

 

[JackTripper]

Put a Glock sticker on the back of your window.

 

[mdk100]

There are cages and other add ons to make it harder to cut out. I’ve not seen one for the Bronco, but I’d be interested in something like that.

 

[Brostango]

Wait! Wait! This is perfect. My excuse to my wife on why I need spend even more money on our bronco. Catalytic converter theft prevention... in the form of a full set of skid plates. Boom!

 

[Lucky Nut]

Wait! Wait! This is perfect. My excuse to my wife on why I need spend even more money on our bronco. Catalytic converter theft prevention... in the form of a full set of skid plates. Boom!

 

[BigFootie]

JCR makes one for the Sport. I can imagine one is on the way for the full size. This will be far better than paint and a vin inscription.

 

[Scott R Nelson]

I was going to engrave and paint my catalytic converter - even bought the high temperature paint for it. Then I crawled under it to have a closer look and there is a heat shield covering nearly the whole thing. The only way to engrave and paint it would be to remove the heat shield, which I'm guessing is actually needed. I didn't see an easy way to re-install the shield.

On the 2.3 4-cylinder, most of the cat is way up next to the engine with the top half being rather difficult to get to. If you wanted the whole thing, you would likely have to unbolt the top part and cut the bottom.

In any case, I'm no longer planning to do anything special to prevent theft other than living in a neighborhood where theft is unlikely, and where it would be easier to steal them from all of the big trucks that my neighbors drive.

 

[Ft. Worth Rob]

I took my 2.7 to a muffler shop that does tons of custom work, including theft prevention, and they thought a thief wouldn’t bother with it given there appears to be little to no way to get a saw blade up to cut the front end off.

 

[Razorback]

Wait! Wait! This is perfect. My excuse to my wife on why I need spend even more money on our bronco. Catalytic converter theft prevention... in the form of a full set of skid plates. Boom!

I'm telling my wife that's why we need the Icon Stage 8 suspension. Maybe even Whipple tune...

 

[Silver-Bolt]

Front to back skids.

 

[kodiakisland]

Put a Glock sticker on the back of your window.

So they’ll break your window too.

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