Hey 4runner fam! Still having the same annoying issue with my 3rd gen 4runner. I’m located in California and it won’t pass smog for its life. Truck has 280k miles with stock catalytic. My truck has 2 catalytic. I was planing on bitting the bullet and going with an aftermarket magnaflow catalytic for the rear closest to the exhaust. My question is what are the benefits of going with an universal aftermarket like this as opposed to changing it with a bolt on Aftermarket. The price is $197 for the universal and the bolt on is $574

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The universal will require you to either pay someone to cut out your old cat and weld this one as the description says " cutting and welding required during installation" or do that yourself is your able.

Direct fit means just that - it will bolt in like stock (use new gaskets) assuming your existing exhaust is original/un-modified (no one has hacked it up to install other components before)

Also, with that mileage and smog trouble why replace just the one downstream cat and not both? new air/fuel and 02 sensors (Denso) if you haven't changed those already, and what is making you fail the smog test?

I had my catalytic converter replaced along with a custom exhaust job. Looking at the invoice, it was $100 to have the new catalytic converter welded in. Welded cats are harder to steal that bolt on ones. You'll save at least $200 by going with the universal weld in kind.

The first cat is just a pre-cat. There's nothing magical about the 99-02 4Runners that have two cats vs the 96-00 ones that have one. It's the exact same engine and emissions. Both can pass smog with only one functional cat, no need to replace both.

Why do you think you need the downstream cat? Do you have P0420? A lot of times that code is caused by exhaust leaks near the cats or O2 sensors. The bolt in is direct fit replacement for the factory downstream catalytic converter & pipe assembly, the weld in means you cut out the old one and weld the new one in it's place. Also as far as what gamefreakgc said about how hard they are to steal, it takes just a couple of minutes for a d-bag with a cordless sawzall to wack a converter whether it's welded or bolted. (had 5 stolen off 4Runners & a Tundra last fall)

Yeah I get that a sawzall does the trick, but with a lot of noise. Taking off a few rust-free bolts off the exhaust (California rigs don't rust) can be done silently with a breaker bar. Around here, Toyota Prius are the prime target. When I was getting my exhaust done, there were four Prius in line for a new cat because they had been stolen. Something about the metal content they contain has become very valuable, even more so than truck converters which are normally the target.

For the original poster, if your smog test shows failing the sniffer test in more than one area, or close to failing, it's the cat not doing it's job anymore. We don't have EGR's or any other complicated emissions equipment on our engines so its normally the converters that are to blame. Unless you only have one value that's too high and the others are very low.

I would replace both if and only it’s necessary. I am on a budget if not by all means replace everything lol. If I chose to go with bolt on for both I’m looking at 900 from amazon. If I just go with the rear universal cat I’m looking at 168. Which is a no brainer in my opinion. I’m not a welder but I’m pretty sure a muffler shop won’t charge me more than 70-100 dollars for a cut and welds. Good point anyone can steal these so why spend the extra money for the bolt on if it’s not necessary.

So I driven over 100 miles and it says that bank is not ready. So I took it to the smog shop so they can put the code reader tool. I told the guy and he just erased it so now I have to drive it again. I was mad because it’s really hard to drive it around with expired tags. Did get a 2 day permit from DMV before all this that’s going on in the world. It’s like impossible to get an appointment with the DMV for another permit. Lesson learned to buy my own Scan tool reader.

I told myself if I ever ran into a situation where a P0420 code was affecting my ability to get my rig smogged in California, as a last ditch effort, I'd try a product called Cataclean. This product gets mixed reviews but it has helped many people out so it's worth a shot. Read some of the reviews on how some chose to use the product to get the desired results.

Amazon.com: Cataclean 120007 Complete Engine, Fuel and Exhaust System Cleaner, 473 Milliliter: Automotive

Try shopping RockAuto for a catalytic converter. You can get a California compliant rear cat for much less than the prices you're quoting.

Well I pulled the trigger on these items. Fingers crossed this will make me pass the smog. If not I don’t know what I’m going to do before I break my bank account. Will keep you guys posted of my progress. Thank you! for everyone that has shimmed in! Much appreciated!

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Wow yeah you'll pass now! I'm assuming you'll do the sensors yourself, they are incredibly easy once you get the old one disconnected (tip: you'll probably have to break the old wire connector from where it clips to the frame). Are you going to run the cataclean first with both old catalytic convertors and just replace the sensors or go the whole way first? A test is usually around $50 though, so if it were to fail again I guess that would kind of suck.

Update: So I did run the Cata clean with the old catalytic converters. Took the
Truck to a little muffler and catalytic converter shop so they can weld my rear catalytic converter that I purchased from amazon. The tech put the scan reader and it showed that it had P0420 code, but the check engine light was not on. The only thing is that I never reset the code before I ran it with the cata clean so I’ll never know if it worked. Went ahead and had him weld the new one for 50 dollars he also deleted the code. I literally went to the bank (3 miles max) and came back to see if any codes came on truck was ready for smog lol. Took it to the shop down the street and officially passed. Didn’t change the sensors neither.

Did you see this?

2,000 Catalytic Converters, $300K In Cash Found After Raid In Elk Grove – CBS Sacramento

Yeah, I saw the story when it aired on the local news. They confirmed what I heard from the muffler shop a few weeks ago, the most targeted vehicle is the Toyota Prius.

Catalytic converter theft has always been bad in the Sacramento area ever since I moved up her 14 years ago. It's not as common in other places in CA. My rule of thumb is to just make it harder to steal mine that the other guy. In college I parked in a parking garage and some thieves stole a bunch of converters. My buddy's pickup was also in there, his converter was still bolted on, mine was welded on. The next morning his was gone and mine was still attached. Being welded, it wasn't worth the hassle because there was easier targets around.

Same logic as to why I put my 4Runner in the garage. My neighbor's pickup had its windows smashed in to steal whatever the thief thought was valuable. My vehicle was safe out of sight and was fine, even though I keep a full set of tools as well as a bit of cash in my car.

My advice: leave California behind. Enjoy freedom.