botched theft of my catalytic converters

tbizzle · 05-22-2007, 10:12 PM

did a quick search and didn't see anything recent on this topic:

after working a full day, i got out of class monday night late (~9PM) and hopped in the titan to head home. cranked it up and immediately noticed a difference in the exhaust note. and not a good difference. sounded like a dirt track car or something. my first thought was "someone has drilled holes in my cats" for whatever malicious reason. i've known people in the past who have done this, or just removed them all together for the increase in dB this provides. but i brushed that off and thought it was just running rough - which also pissed me off.

long story short, i drove all the way home and hoped the problem would magically fix itself when i went to work this morning. it was worse. so i call the dealer to check their service dept hours, and then think i might should check it out for myself. the attached pictures speak for themselves. i was SHOCKED when i saw the problem - looks like someone was just about through cutting through my y-pipe with a sawzall and their battery went dead or someone scared them away. they got about 70% through the passenger's side and about 10% through the driver's side.

talked with both my insurance company and the police about it - turns out there is a rash of this happening in BHM over the last week or so. a guy in my class told me the same thing happened to him, and he drives an xterra. the cop i filed the report with mentioned a murano to me. the insurance lady told me this was the third call they've had about this same problem. i assume they were after the trace precious metals in the cats. maybe the nissan brand has a higher content than others, making it a better target?

what do you guys think about a fix? just get it welded up? i really want a new y-pipe just on principle, but my deductible is $100 and i have no doubt that it will be more than that for the dealer to get a new pipe and install it. versus maybe $40 for some muffler shop to weld it up? either way this costs me money. PLUS the heat shroud is cut up too, and that's got to be a nissan part. i doubt joe's muffler repair will weld something that thin. do you think it's aluminum? that complicates matters.

i swear, i HATE stupid people.

moral of the story boys and girls: the idiots of the world will try to steal anything. ANYTHING. i just wish i would have walked up on this moron while he was on his back going to town on my truck...

pictures follow:

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more pics here: Titan Exhaust Disaster

rcantu · 05-22-2007, 10:14 PM

that's just plain sad. wth are people thinking?

**Arachnid** · 05-22-2007, 10:21 PM

They were thinking about scoring their next hit.

centex_titan · 05-22-2007, 10:22 PM

that is pretty messed up, if i would of walked up on that i would of jumped in real fast threw it in reverse and ran his @ss over... one less idiot would do the world some good.

flip · 05-22-2007, 10:34 PM

sorry to hear about the damage. Good news though... you drive something valuable enough to steal even the cats from!

MuskyHunter · 05-22-2007, 10:42 PM

Sorry to hear. But about your question, this is why you have insurance. Pay the $100 and get it fixed right. You will not be able to make a claim on it down the road if the cheap fix doesn't work out in the long run. What you save now may cost you more in the long run.

**walleeme** · 05-22-2007, 11:26 PM

Unbelievable.
Where exaclty is B-ham?

MuskyHunter · 05-22-2007, 11:36 PM

Probably Birmingham, Alabama.

Titan4MF · 05-22-2007, 11:52 PM

Sounds like a good excuse for Stillen Long Tubes with aftermarket highflow cats

bestatchess · 05-23-2007, 12:26 AM

You have some pink looking marks near the forward end of the transfer case. Hopefully not a leak?

Leadsled124 · 05-23-2007, 01:02 AM

ouch!! sorry man i hard a truck get spraypainted at a welding school i took because they must hae been jelouse. i wish you were close i would hook you up sorry man. U have stock exhaust?? good excuse to upgrade! i have this sitting at my house if ur intrested. BTW thats the stock "y" atached to a 3 month old 18" muffler and 3". If you decide to fix i would just weld it up. those heat sheilds dont do anything and it shouldnt restrict performance

AgTitan06 · 05-23-2007, 01:38 AM

Wow - that is really unbelievable.

bestatchess · 05-23-2007, 02:04 AM

I googed this topic, and apparently this is happening all over, particularly to Tundras.

DawgBone · 05-23-2007, 03:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Titan4MF

Sounds like a good excuse for Stillen Long Tubes with aftermarket highflow cats

Every cloud has a silver lining...

Seriously, that SUCKS man.

DOSZER · 05-23-2007, 05:22 AM

Some people have big ones. If I would had walked up on them I would jumpped real hard on the big ones. That would had taken care of that.