#catalytic converter
i have had to explain to multiple small-towners now that where i come from if you put an object down and look away from it it will not be there anymore when you go back to it and they’re just like “what is someone gonna do with my backpack? why would they want it?” and im like, well, for starters they can take it with their hands and then have it and at that point you wont have it anymore
i was told today that “its smarter to leave your car unlocked so that they dont smash your window just to find that you have nothing valuable inside” and im like ok first of all. in a full parking lot someone can just look in the windows of multiple cars and just pick the ones that obviously have something worth stealing inside. second, they can also steal the wiring? or the car itself? and my friends were like “why would anyone go through the trouble! thats too high risk!” and im like . high risk of WHAT. nobody’s going to recognize your car’s wires and bring them back to you.
cultural differences make for such fun conversation tho
Catalytic converters
Anyway, here’s that re-blogged I promised that nobody asked for.
Catalytic converters use a chamber called a catalyst to change the harmful compounds from an engine’s emissions into safe gases, like steam. It works to split up the unsafe molecules in the gases that a vehicle produces before they get released into the air.
The catalytic converter is located on the underside of a vehicle and looks like a large metal box, so reaching for them requires either lifting the vehicle or having a vehicle tall enough to slide underneath for ease of access. Removing them requires a ratchet and socket set, or a specifically built set of powered hydraulic cutters that squeeze at a rate of over 22 tons of cutting force when removing for recycling purposes, as they cannot be reused after having been cut open.
So why go through all the trouble at all for something that isn’t capable of being reused if removed with a cutting method, the quickest and most efficient method that’s typically used? Well it’s because of what’s inside them that the rise of Cat theft has skyrocketed. They contain three metals that aid in the chemical reaction that makes exhaust pollutants less harmful: platinum, palladium and rhodium. The prices of these metals have risen dramatically during the early 21st century, making their appeal for a high profit very attractive. They’re scrapped down and sold for their bare metals at a premium price point, making for a quick, efficient, and physically harmless job.
However with the rise in thefts come the rise of physical altercations, and the chances of manslaughter from an altercation go up exponentially. People find themselves coming across someone underneath their car, not realizing there’s someone else standing by as backup and even a third person in a nearby vehicle waiting as a getaway.
Ironically enough, the number of deaths by victims is equalled out to the other devastating toll in people being crushed to death from the lifted cars falling on them, or worse yet, the driver taking off in their vehicle not realizing there’s someone underneath.
It doesn’t matter what the risks are, or at what cost, if there is desperation there will always be blood money.
i had no clue about any of this let alone that there would be someone on tumblr ready to share this information. thanks for your response
I live in what was once considered, if not still, the third largest city in the US and I’m Tired™️.
Every day on the news it seems like there’s another death relating to Cat theft whether it be the victim or the perpetrator. We had the rodeo for the first time in two years and someone had the audacity to hit up a parking lot at a Park & Ride a couple miles south of it. 11 vehicles in one go at a city run Metro Rail station. My personal investment reasons, however, is that I just recently purchased my first 0 mile vehicle which so happened to be a truck with a really high suspension, and this truck is vital to my business, so paranoia is tied to it.
Another crime that’s been going off the charts locally has been something seemingly mundane; a rise in the use of fake paper plates on vehicles.
The problem lies in people using the fake plates to bypass not having to pay taxes, or failing an inspection with a lemon and therefore not being able to renew their registration. Even some are as simple as trying to cheat toll roads. It would be all harmless fun if people planning home invasion, kidnapping or murder weren’t keeping a backstop of fake plates to switch at a moments notice when committing said crime.
It’s become so problematic our local PD had to seek outside help in developing a new identification program to be installed in computers monitoring city CCTV’s to find and cross examine every paper plate that came across the lens view. Even the toll road authority that manages 14 tolls claimed nearly a MILLION fake plates passed through their tolls in the span of a year, with 350k of them passing through November 2021 alone.
Not believing in how ludicrous the claims are, I decided to observe for myself how bad the rise in paper plates on the streets was. In one 10 minute, eight mile trip on a highway that went in one direction I counted TWELVE paper plates on vehicles. Next time you go for a ride see how many paper plates you find, and you’ll come to realize the statistics don’t favor that many “New Car Buyers” driving so close together.
i have had to explain to multiple small-towners now that where i come from if you put an object down and look away from it it will not be there anymore when you go back to it and they’re just like “what is someone gonna do with my backpack? why would they want it?” and im like, well, for starters they can take it with their hands and then have it and at that point you wont have it anymore
i was told today that “its smarter to leave your car unlocked so that they dont smash your window just to find that you have nothing valuable inside” and im like ok first of all. in a full parking lot someone can just look in the windows of multiple cars and just pick the ones that obviously have something worth stealing inside. second, they can also steal the wiring? or the car itself? and my friends were like “why would anyone go through the trouble! thats too high risk!” and im like . high risk of WHAT. nobody’s going to recognize your car’s wires and bring them back to you.
cultural differences make for such fun conversation tho
Catalytic converters
Anyway, here’s that re-blogged I promised that nobody asked for.
Catalytic converters use a chamber called a catalyst to change the harmful compounds from an engine’s emissions into safe gases, like steam. It works to split up the unsafe molecules in the gases that a vehicle produces before they get released into the air.
The catalytic converter is located on the underside of a vehicle and looks like a large metal box, so reaching for them requires either lifting the vehicle or having a vehicle tall enough to slide underneath for ease of access. Removing them requires a ratchet and socket set, or a specifically built set of powered hydraulic cutters that squeeze at a rate of over 22 tons of cutting force when removing for recycling purposes, as they cannot be reused after having been cut open.
So why go through all the trouble at all for something that isn’t capable of being reused if removed with a cutting method, the quickest and most efficient method that’s typically used? Well it’s because of what’s inside them that the rise of Cat theft has skyrocketed. They contain three metals that aid in the chemical reaction that makes exhaust pollutants less harmful: platinum, palladium and rhodium. The prices of these metals have risen dramatically during the early 21st century, making their appeal for a high profit very attractive. They’re scrapped down and sold for their bare metals at a premium price point, making for a quick, efficient, and physically harmless job.
However with the rise in thefts come the rise of physical altercations, and the chances of manslaughter from an altercation go up exponentially. People find themselves coming across someone underneath their car, not realizing there’s someone else standing by as backup and even a third person in a nearby vehicle waiting as a getaway.
Ironically enough, the number of deaths by victims is equalled out to the other devastating toll in people being crushed to death from the lifted cars falling on them, or worse yet, the driver taking off in their vehicle not realizing there’s someone underneath.
It doesn’t matter what the risks are, or at what cost, if there is desperation there will always be blood money.
i have had to explain to multiple small-towners now that where i come from if you put an object down and look away from it it will not be there anymore when you go back to it and they’re just like “what is someone gonna do with my backpack? why would they want it?” and im like, well, for starters they can take it with their hands and then have it and at that point you wont have it anymore
i was told today that “its smarter to leave your car unlocked so that they dont smash your window just to find that you have nothing valuable inside” and im like ok first of all. in a full parking lot someone can just look in the windows of multiple cars and just pick the ones that obviously have something worth stealing inside. second, they can also steal the wiring? or the car itself? and my friends were like “why would anyone go through the trouble! thats too high risk!” and im like . high risk of WHAT. nobody’s going to recognize your car’s wires and bring them back to you.
cultural differences make for such fun conversation tho
Catalytic converters
