You're Either A Junkyard Guy Or You're Not. There Really Is No In Between. And I'm not talking about the junkyards that are more or less parts counters. These places are often staffed with perhaps the most unfriendly employees ever that don't allow you behind the walls to take a look at the merchandise. I'm talking about the pull-your-own-part kind of junkyards. Ya know, the kind of places where you only pay a $1 and sign your life away on a waiver to stroll through acres of scrap goodies. I was hooked from my very first trip to a self-serve wrecking yard. I couldn't believe I was allowed to scavenge around so many different vehicles. Today, I'll jump at the opportunity to head to the wrecking yard with a buddy, even if I don't need anything. And that's why the other wrecking yards suck. A lot of the time I have no idea what I need till I see it. How could I possibly stand at the counter and ask Mr. Grumpy junkyard guy if he has anything good? He'd likely send out some filthy never-bathed mongrel to chew on my leg. So no thanks used parts counter man, I'm a self-serve junker.
Anyway, I'm a gear and axle kind of guy so when I'm roaming the isles of abandoned hulks I look for cool manual transmissions, bulletproof T-cases, and pretty much any somewhat desirable axle housing. I try to match up bolt patterns and I eyeball dimensions to see what could be easily used or swapped into a Jeep.
I'm always floored by the jobs people are willing to perform at a wrecking yard with minimal tools. This one place I frequent usually has a few motorhomes. Since most of these behemoths have big-block V-8s it's not uncommon to see several guys chopping away at the front clip with hammers and hacksaws like army ants disassembling some unsuspecting insect. The remains of these brutal surgeries look like an alien punched through the grille from the inside out.
You have to be quick to get the good stuff though, and sometimes no amount of speed will get you the best parts. Around here, if you want to pull your own Dana 60 front axle or modern fuel-injected V-8, you pretty much need an insider at the yard watching out for you. I still don't know how that secret society works and I probably never will. So I became accustomed to using the parts I could find. It's simple, really. If there is a lot of something in the junkyard, it's likely that the part is fairly common everywhere in any wrecking yard. Those are the kind of parts I want on my Jeep. Especially when going on wheeling trips to remote areas of the U.S. An industry buddy once told me that most wrecking yards are filled with vehicles that are about 20 years old. Unfortunately nothing I own or want to own is from the mid to late 1980's. In general, the vehicles of this era are pretty much crap. Many are plagued with poor-performing smog-laden engines and pathetic drivetrain components. We still have another 5-10 years to go before the good stuff hits the yards. And 20 years from now will be even better as far as fuel-injected V-8s, diesels, and 1-ton geartrain are concerned. Unfortunately, much of it is heavily-dependant on electronics. The only thing I despise more than '80s cars is swapping in electronically-controlled transmissions and transfer cases. I like my gears simple.
Anyway, many years ago I remember finding that FSJ axles were particularly common, even more so than complete GM 1/2-ton axles. So I figured that's the axle my Jeep needed. Somehow I was accidentally lucky enough to show up early on 1/2-price day and I went to work removing a Wide-Track Dana 44 from a Cherokee Chief. I had brought a Powertank CO2 system and an impact gun to remove the U-bolts, but the guy running the yard wouldn't let me bring them in. Apparently no power tools were allowed. I ended up using a breaker bar on the rusty U-bolts. Fortunately several of them simply broke long before the nuts reached the end of the threads. For me, the funny part was when part way through the disassembly I saw a guy turn down the isle I was working. The surprised look on his face followed by him turning around and leaving lead me to believe I got his axle before he did.
And just what is junkyard etiquette for such situations? I don't really know if there is a rulebook somewhere but I don't think it would be a good idea to go and yank the alternator off an engine that someone else is pulling. I don't even like to work on the same junkyard vehicle that someone else is. What if they want the same part as me and just haven't gotten to removing it yet? I guess you could ask 'em but around here there is often a language barrier.
Hazel and Trasborg are junkyard people too. Hazel being a Dodge guy quickly learned his best options for that particular brand were the yards near the Mexican border. Plus he's been known to purchase components that he somehow plans and builds imaginary vehicles around. And as for Trasborg, I'm convinced he'll bring anything home. Maybe he figures it'll fit one of his numerous projects, or maybe he simply forgets what vehicles he owns and what he needs but buys the part simply on the merit of thinking he needs it. It doesn't matter really, all of us have bought stuff we weren't looking for and didn't need from the wrecking yard, and that is exactly what a junkyard guy does. -John Cappa