I'm pretty sure someone was trying to steal my catalytic converters

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68PowerWagon

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Beautiful place!! I am from Iowa so I get to see corn, and then some more corn...followed by, you guessed it, CORN!!!!
Wait you forgot to mention the soybean fields. Corn & soybeans as far as the eye can see. Born & raised in southeast Iowa. Lived there 30 years & I actually enjoy going back every so often. We lived in the boonies! The closest town was 10 miles away & had less than 300 people in it. It was a 45 minute drive to get to anywhere that had a decent store like Wal Mart & grocery.
 

JoshsRam

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Wait you forgot to mention the soybean fields. Corn & soybeans as far as the eye can see. Born & raised in southeast Iowa. Lived there 30 years & I actually enjoy going back every so often. We lived in the boonies! The closest town was 10 miles away & had less than 300 people in it. It was a 45 minute drive to get to anywhere that had a decent store like Wal Mart & grocery.
I think that's the first time in history I've seen the words Wal Mart and "decent store" included in the same sentence.
 

KKBB

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Wait you forgot to mention the soybean fields. Corn & soybeans as far as the eye can see. Born & raised in southeast Iowa. Lived there 30 years & I actually enjoy going back every so often. We lived in the boonies! The closest town was 10 miles away & had less than 300 people in it. It was a 45 minute drive to get to anywhere that had a decent store like Wal Mart & grocery.
Hahahaha. So true. Beanfields everywhere also. I guess I normally think of the corn because of the height of it. My sister said the other weekend that she wants us to go on vacation in the bahamas where you can swim with pigs. I said I can see a pig anytime I want living in this state, I sure don't want to spend good money to go swim with them!!!
 

farout75

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View attachment 500815I'm pretty sure someone was trying to steal my catalytic converters off my Ram while we were fishing out on Takhlakh Lake under Mt Adams last week. . I think we came in early and they took off. Because, that afternoon, while I was driving down the mountain to Trout Lake 23 miles away to gas up, go to the general grocery store, hardware store and favorite burger joint, and as we were heading down about a mile or so, we heard this grinding noise under the Ram by the bed. So, I pulled over to take a look and saw both tailpipes with catalytic converters loose and one was rubbing on the driveline. Just the L shape hinge was keeping it from completely falling off. The roads are very rough up there, 8 miles of gravel washboard, potholes, so at first I thought it's what caused it... BUT started thinking what are the odds of both coming off at the same time? What do you folks think?
Yep! Some dirt bag was after it all. There are ways to make it harder for these creeps to work a lot harder, but with tools and battery powered saws all they need is a few minuets. Our church Ford Van had this done two times, at a cost of more than $ 500. each time. Our world has changed so much is such a short time.
 

Dodge 1500 4X4

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Around here, they will steal your headlights (LED), tailgate, spare tire, exhaust, cats, your entire vehicle, and even your life. About those headlights, they're using crow bars to open the fenders and hood - it's brutal. You can also use a window breaker and pull the whole window out with tint. Crawl through the window and most alarms won't activate. Craigslist is so inundated with parts our police/sheriff can't keep up. We have gangs of car thieves in the ATL and metro. Vehicles are easy targets, and most don't look when they hear a car alarm, these days.
Not to mention the age that we are in anything for free, I'm shocked they went through all that work, they must have that exact same vehicle at home or one of their corn husking friends, get employed and work a job never, Uncle Joe will take good care of you!!!
 

Regcabguy

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View attachment 500815I'm pretty sure someone was trying to steal my catalytic converters off my Ram while we were fishing out on Takhlakh Lake under Mt Adams last week. . I think we came in early and they took off. Because, that afternoon, while I was driving down the mountain to Trout Lake 23 miles away to gas up, go to the general grocery store, hardware store and favorite burger joint, and as we were heading down about a mile or so, we heard this grinding noise under the Ram by the bed. So, I pulled over to take a look and saw both tailpipes with catalytic converters loose and one was rubbing on the driveline. Just the L shape hinge was keeping it from completely falling off. The roads are very rough up there, 8 miles of gravel washboard, potholes, so at first I thought it's what caused it... BUT started thinking what are the odds of both coming off at the same time? What do you folks think?
There's a Facebook short of a guy taking some paintball shots while trying to steal a convertor. If someone steals my '07 Ram's converter I can't even obtain a CARB approved one. I guess I sell it to an out of state person.
 
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jack67

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Fantastic Osprey action pics! What did you use to capture it all?
Sorry for late reply, for some reason I wasn't getting notifications, then today I got one???

I use a Nikon Superzoom if I recall as I won't take my good gear with long lens out on the rubber raft, and no way to hold the heavier outfit steady enough for clear shots.
 
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jack67

jack67

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You were in the forest where noise would resonate. Taking the exhaust parts off properly is mostly silent. Also, if someone drove up, they could wave and smile, and pretend they were looking at something.

IMO, they were stealing it, but were thwarted by your presence or something else. No way both loosed at the same time - way too random. I'm not saying it's not possible that they came loose...just highly unlikely. It's more likely someone loosened them to steal. Moreover, maybe they needed your exhaust and not your cats. Most country boys understand hunting and the power of stealth. They wouldn't be grinding off parts in the woods to draw attention.
My thinking exactly. They were both loosened at the muffler. I was surprise they didn't try taking the FlowMaster mufflers? Maybe that was next, but they got spooked off.
 

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