The Catlock 3.0

Installed in less than one hour!

Package arrived on time, I followed the instructions to install it and took me around 1.5 hours on a Honda CRV. I put the code on the catalytic converter and the stickers in the window of the car. The anti theft device looks well build and I hope that if the thieves look under my car they will decide to go to the next one. However I'm not sure it will stop the them, if they have the equipment to cut the tube they can cut the bolts very easily.A couple of days after I installed it I heard a noise in the floor of the car and had to go back to move the cables around

Fit poorly this won't stop my grandmother could defeat this thing

Ok, so, I read the reviews before purchasing this item - there are SO many different ones available on line - and they were all good. . . I guess they were either written by friends of the seller or people with way smaller catalytic converters than my car has. The Honda Element is one of the most often abused cars when it comes to CatCon theft, and I was one of the unlucky ones. Thieves did a very slick job of sawing mine off, and though I had insurance, I had a very high deductible so this was a costly repair for me. I was in a bind because I did not want to park my car ANYWHERE other than a garage, but unfortunately this type of theft happens even in broad day light, so I NEEDED SOMETHING to protect my vehicle.OK, back to the product; first of all, its not easy to get up under a car to put this thing on, so be prepared to struggle a bit and get dirty (not a problem for me, but just an FYI). Once the metal plates were put together, it was incredibly difficult to get the plates with the eye bolts in it up over the top of the CatCon. (There is not much space above the Element's CatCon.) In fact, it does not completely fit. If you have a super good hack saw of some sort, I recommend sawing off the excess plate BEFORE bolting the two parts of each of the upper and lower plates together. Without the bit sticking out, it should slide up over the top of the CatCon more easily. (It is too late once the bolts are in as they have break-off edges so once they are in place they are close to impossible to unscrew - which is what you want, so thieves cant do it - but I didn't realize the top plate would not fit over the top with the excess part until I had already screwed in bolts.)So, next issue is that unless your CatCon is small enough that you can screw the four long eye bolts so tight that there is NO SPACE between the plates on either side, the eye bolts themselves become the weak spot - they are quite easy to saw through - then the bottom plate can easily be removed and the CatCon sawed off and removed. Yes, the bolts add a few extra seconds of sawing to the thieves evening, but not enough to be much of a deterrent. The Honda Element's Catalycit Converter is SO FAT that the eye bolts are easy to saw.One other issue is that much of the underside of an Element is nicely protected with metal plates (why the Catalytic Converter is not protected in this way is a bit of a mystery, but so it goes. . .), making it very difficult to find good places to rope the Catlock to. (The theory is that the plates are bolted around the catalytic converter, then looped with two cables to solid parts of the underside of the car.) So, besides that there are few places under the Element to loop around, THE CABLES are TOO SHORT to reach much that isn't saw-able. I did install the Catlock - with help, it took about an hour due to the problems encountered.All in all, because I had already used the thread glue and screwed all bolts in before I realized that the Catlock was not really of much use on my car, I did not attempt to return it. Instead, I spent an other $60+ on 75 more feet of aviation grade cable (two sizes) and spent around 3 more hours wrapping the cable around and through holes and gaps in both my catalytic converter and the bottom of the car. Technically, someone with serious will to steal it and a lot of time on their hands could still do so, but the hope is that the mess under my car will be some sort of deterrent and the thief will pass my car up for an easier kill. Along with all this extra cable, the Catlock is probably a useful part of my deterrent system. But all by itself? I would not consider this enough safety. As one blogger said, probably the only REAL guard against CatCon theft is a GARAGE or a LARGE ROTTWEILER. Good luck to you all.

A little difficult to install, but only due to the location of the converter on my Subaru Outback. It does the job, doesn't rattle and cost much less than another brand which I have installed on a 4 Runner.

Keeps the bugs away if you know what i mean.

I purchased this product after my catalytic converter was stolen at a Walmart parking lot in the early morning! My Viper alarm didn't go off at all to notify me. The alarm was set at 7 out of 15 for its sensitivity, unsure if maxing it out would of helped or not. After insurance claim and 10 days of a car rental, I finally able to drive my mdx BUT I felt my car will become another statistic again. I went to an hardware store and spent many ideas of somehow locking my converter in place. I googled locks for catalytic converters and came across this. There is a YouTube video on this product but when it showed how a sawzall could not cut the cable after one minute, I thought what a corny video. But I knew I needed some obvious visual deterrent so when someone crawls underneath my car, they will simply not mess with it and move on. So I installed this catlock. It was a pretty small space for it to stay put since the axle is very close to the converter. After much maneuvering around the plates and cords, I believe I got it good with assistance of zip ties (about 1 hour). Now it does vibrate but I fixed most of it. Since the location is tight on mdx, you have to adjust the cords from time to time. I also like how you can register it with this special coding sticker/chemical which dissolves after using the car, making a more permanent serial number. Overall, I gave it 4 out of 5 stars because of the noise/vibrations it added. Yes a criminal can still steal my converter but find it unwise for someone to spend so much time cutting away the frame, pipes, and cords. It's a strong deterrent and hopefully my viper alarm will go off next time (which I adjusted to be much more sensitive now). I like how they will refund your purchase if stolen and you have police report. Also, I would recommend permanently scratching your license plate number and state on metal in addition to the kit's serial number. If police catch criminal, they could trace it back to rightfully owner. Then you can see the judge later.

The Catlock seems to be sturdy and will likely deter a thief. It is a little challenging to install but overall I am please. I park this truck at backpack trailheads in the California Sierra Nevada mountains and it gives me peace of mind regarding catalytic converter theft. Overall a good buy for this vehicle.