Wasting $919 on a cat from dealer Monday arrgh!

Jeepaholic

Jeepaholic

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 30, 2017
Messages
416
Location
Northern California, CA, United States
The cat on my 06 is wasted, as in it fell apart inside and is now hollow. Thanks to California, I got 2 options-$972 magnaflow unit or $919 mopar oem unit which includes tax and $200 core. Should I keep the core for wheeling trips so the new good one doesn't get wasted? Or get my 200 back and not worry about it?
I'd rather put 900 toward a hardtop! :BangHead:
 
When you go to get your inspection, paper clip $20 ($50 if it’s a nicer spot) to your insurance card when you leave it on the dash. I had an ‘87 mustang that would never pass emissions due to no cats, but somehow it passed with $20 clipped to the insurance card.
 
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cliffish said:
rockauto has a CARB compliant one for $317
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That's only the rear 3rd cat that isn't monitored. It needs to be paired with the front section which is another $404, and looks like a piece of trash with cheap bends.
jchadscud said:
When you go to get your inspection, paper clip $20 ($50 if it’s a nicer spot) to your insurance card when you leave it on the dash. I had an ‘87 mustang that would never pass emissions due to no cats, but somehow it passed with $20 clipped to the insurance card.
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My registration renewal "got randomly selected" for star station smog cert. Those stations are super strict. If they notice the reason I have no check engine light (no dyno or sniffer smog here, just goes off obd monitors being "ready" ie no check engine light) they will fail it. Huge fines if they get caught "not noticing."
So Its gotta be done right.
 
I'd just replace it, and get your 200 bucks back. You're not going to want to switch those back and forth. The bolts that hold the downtube cats to the manifold are nearly impossible to get to. I had to pull mine recently, to replace my oil pan...I pulled my fender and its STILL hard to get a socket on the bolts.
 
Ranger_b0b said:
I'd just replace it, and get your 200 bucks back. You're not going to want to switch those back and forth. The bolts that hold the downtube cats to the manifold are nearly impossible to get to. I had to pull mine recently, to replace my oil pan...I pulled my fender and its STILL hard to get a socket on the bolts.
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That's what 2 ft of extensions are for! I'm worried about banging around the new cat and ruining it as well, which would be my only reason to switch them during offroad trips. I've been told the hard jolts from contacting rocks and stuff is quite hard on the cats.
 
Jeepaholic said:
That's what 2 ft of extensions are for! I'm worried about banging around the new cat and ruining it as well, which would be my only reason to switch them during offroad trips. I've been told the hard jolts from contacting rocks and stuff is quite hard on the cats.
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Problem is that there isn't a line of sight for the bolts...the angles and what not means the extensions run into the heat shields. I had to use a flat 3/8" drive ratchet and a short socket to get the front bank, rear bolt...and I still don't think its tight enough. Its goofy. I really think that was all assembled before they dropped the engine into the frame.
 
Ranger_b0b said:
Problem is that there isn't a line of sight for the bolts...the angles and what not means the extensions run into the heat shields. I had to use a flat 3/8" drive ratchet and a short socket to get the front bank, rear bolt...and I still don't think its tight enough. Its goofy. I really think that was all assembled before they dropped the engine into the frame.
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I didn't remember that from last time I dropped it to do the rear main seal, but then, I had no body on the frame at the time...
 
Here it is my most expensive mod this year yet:qmeparto:
20180205_170111.jpg
 
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Chris said:
At least it's all nice and clean, haha.

I'm lucky. Where we live in Salem, Oregon, vehicles don't have to pass emissions, inspections, or anything for that matter!
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I thought long and hard about putting the jeep in my mom's name (lives in sunny valley Oregon) so I didn't have to deal with smog as it's a toy, but having proper insurance with a Oregon title and CA D/L is probably not possible...
 
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Jeepaholic said:
I thought long and hard about putting the jeep in my mom's name (lives in sunny valley Oregon) so I didn't have to deal with smog as it's a toy, but having proper insurance with a Oregon title and CA D/L is probably not possible...
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Yeah, that’s very true. It’s a nice thing not having to worry about emission B.S.
 
Jeepaholic said:
Mopar oem. Magnaflow was $972, dealer was 862 including the 200 core deposit. I'm leaning towards keeping the core though to use during the offroad trips, I don't want to jar the insides loose on these ones.
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Wow, surprised that the Magnaflow was slightly more when factoring in the core deposit. Did you compare if there were any significant differences between the two? Quality of material/welds and/or sound?

Would love to hear how your install goes after you put it in place.
 
Check out Quadratec.

Pacesetter has one for 359, not sure of quality of pacesetter though.
Afe also makes one for 499. which is stainless and mig welded.
OMIX has one for 529, not the best marketing picture as its rusty on the website.
 
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