The thinking that powers your trip to the junkyard is straightforward: making use of used parts. Used parts are less expensive and an efficient way to keep your truck on the road.  If you’ve got the skill or the smarts for it, reused car parts can also make wrenching an exercise in creativity.

Let’s be clear: you’ve had junkyard thoughts before:
- I don’t need a new set of wheels, just some beaters.
- Why would I buy those A-arms at the dealership if I can just get them used?
- My truck is used. I feel weird buying new stuff for it.
- The manufacturer doesn’t make these brakes anymore. Did they come on anything as a stock option? Can I find a set?
- I want to try a set of those springs, but I don’t want to pay retail.
- And the greatest junkyard thought: do you think this will work on that? (Because junkyard!)

So, you want to try pulling parts at the local dismantler. That, or the last time you did, your junkyard carma (get it: car-ma) didn’t feel quite right. Ask yourself a few questions:
- Why am I here?
- What do I hope to accomplish?
- How do I identify done?

Find your motivation. Understand your goals. Pursue success. Then, when you’ve got what you came for from your donor of choice, it’s time to embrace your right brain and be interested in the wreckage and salvage awesomeness that surrounds you. “Gee, that gen-two Toyota pickup looks like it just got here – let’s see if it has that fan switch I wanted,” or “I heard the Taurus has a great two-fan electric pusher that would be excellent on the crawler.” It’s a gearhead candy store.

A few thoughts that we’ve encountered in the process of junk-yarding:

Don’t Fear the Junkyard
It’s parts. Come prepared and ready to get dirty and you’ll find it’s just a matter of taking things apart in public. Pretend you’re rally ace Erik Carlsson, who used to crash his SAABs mid-race, and then remove parts from nearby passenger cars to repair his racer, all while his fans watched. Then he’d be awesome and win. You should be awesome too.

Know what you need (and what you don’t).
Pre-educate yourself. Where on the donor vehicle will that part be? How hard will it be to remove? If it’s the same as the rig you already own, you should already know how to get to the part. Some parts wear out – you’re not likely to use junkyard brake pads or bushings (let’s hope). But other bits, such as brake rotors, axles, suspension and body parts, or anything else that has a long shelf life, can be extracted from your nearest parts yard.

Prepare for flexibility, plan for the unplanned.
You’re going tactical to hack-attack one vehicle, for one part, and you know what you need, but what it’ll take to get it? There could be other parts to remove that are in the way, or crash damage, or rust, or the carcass may need to be lifted, or there are attached hoses or wires or additional parts that you may or may not be able to get to/at/removed without the right tools, smarts and/or opportunity.

Focus, Focus, Focus
You’re at the salvage yard for something. Go get it. If you’re done, sure, wander around and find neato bits and grab a few fuses, but don’t start the “What’s that?” party until you’ve got what you came for. Distraction is for fun; focus is for done.

Do you know where what you’re looking for is?
A good boneyard will have some self-awareness. “Hey, where are the third-gen 4Runners?” “Do you have any Fox-body Mustangs?” “When was the last time you got a Mazda Navajo?” If you’re speaking with a good manager, he’ll tell you what – or if – he’s got what you’re looking for, or refer you to (or pick up the phone and check with) another yard. Of course, a salvage yard that’s got its head on straight will probably cost a little more (it’s part of junkyard carma).

Cross-Shop Your Junkyards
Not every junkyard will have every car, but every car is in a junkyard. Get familiar with a few salvage yards, especially if they’re clustered together. THIS would be your chance to look around, open your head up, see what’s available. Then, when you see the green third-gen 4Runner hood you’re looking for, be ready to jump on it… figuratively speaking.

Ancillary, Extra, Attached: Parts that come with parts you’ll need.
If you plan to make full use of a junk-yarded part – especially if you’re building something instead of just replacing something – you’ll want the pieces that come with it. A fuse block is better with its harness, and a trailing arm might be more useful with the bushing and sleeves that are in it. You’ll also do yourself a favor if the part you’re replacing has broken bits – spares bits are good bits.

Speaking of bits: Don’t forget the little bits
A junkyard steering column will have junkyard nuts and junkyard bolts and junkyard fittings and a junkyard rag joint. Take them all. You’ll be charged the same.

Speaking of ancillary: What’s okay to destroy in the process?
If you’re pulling a set of seatbelts and the belt brackets won’t let go without laying waste to a seat cushion, okay, you’re there for the belt and the bracket. If you can get that bracket out without the mess, but feel like butchering a harmless seat, don’t (junkyard carma version 2). Someone has been hunting for those cushions for six months. Even though it might not be a part you want this time, what about next?

Speaking of opportunity, keep your eyes open for it.
Just as there are two sides to a coin, there are two halves to “done.” Junkyards are choked with opportunities that only need some creativity or originality to make go, but what good are they if you haven’t gotten done what you came for? Get your done done, and then you can go grab those HD GM truck brakes that’ll (probably) fit on your half-ton.

Bargaining? What’s that?
That’s a good idea. You might not get much off the top, but if the junkyard you’re visiting has 20 throttle-bodies or 72 Acura stereos on a shelf, chances are they’d like to sell a few. You’ll need to come their way first (usually), so try arriving at the counter with what you needed from the junkyard – say, a serviceable rear window actuator. Have your mind open to another part – you’ve always wanted to polish and port a throttle-body – that you can lump together with the first, and ask for a better price for both together.

If you find what you want (but don’t need), plan for another visit.
Junkyard carma v3: if you find some uber-juicy switch plate or those HD brakes and have the opportunity to remove ‘em but not enough bread to buy ‘em, you could always hide the parts in a trunk or under a Volvo. Keep in mind, you’re not the only person to think of secreting good bits, so you might be hiding nuts for another squirrel.

In the end, recognize that some of what you think you need, you don’t. This is another two-sided piece of junkyard carma - you might think you need a throttle-body to port and polish, but you just want it. You might think you need a set of foam window surrounds that no one’s re-popped in 20 years, but they’re so dried out and crudulated that removing them would be an unparalleled exercise in futility that would reduce your personal cost-per-hour to far below the price of buying them new from the dealership. Want and need are not the same.