Salvage Yard Tool set advice

[EFS463]

Hey guys,
I am an automotive tech by trade, and I have been looking to pic up a set of cheap tools to keep in my truck for when I go to the junkyard or work from home. Right now almost daily I am loading up some of my tools into plastic totes with no organization, and each morning I have to go through it all and put it back in my box. I think this week I am going to get together a big metric set of craftsman, HF, northern tool, duralast, etc tools together that i can use for my little jobs at home and take the the junkyard.

However, I am wondering if you guys have any good ideas for storage. I have looked for a nice size wheeled cart, but I can't seem to find any for a reasonable price. Does anyone else, maybe a mobile technician, have any good ideas for tool storage on the go? Thanks in advance.

 

[kmkalf]

I have a crash box which is the craftsman big set which has all of your shallow and deep 1/4 3/8 and shallows 1/2 along with wrenches. I then put any other items in the storage such as pliers. Than have a wagon to pull it so you can carry your tools and parts

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2

 

[NHBandit]

Been poking around junkyards all my life and even managed a couple in the past. I have a beat to hell old leather soft sided briefcase that I normally use and I load it up before I head out. I know pretty much what I'm going for and I take the tools I know I'll need to remove those parts. No sense carrying a bunch of SAE tools if you're mission is to pull parts off something that's all metric, etc. I also take my trusty old Matco magnetic tip screwdrivers, 1 with regular bits & 1 with Torx bits in the handle, a pair of vicegrips, channellocks, side cutters and a hammer. If I'm going after parts for a car that's all metric I'll take a 3/8 drive metric socket set a 1/4 drive set and a set of metric wrenches. I also carry a Leatherman Wave on my belt. So far I haven't found much I couldn't take apart with just those basic tools but I'm too old to be messing around doing big stuff laying on my back in the dirt. If I need an engine or trans or something of that nature I pay them to pull it and set it in the back of my truck.

 

[Tarnished]

Try a canvas Riggers Bag from Harbor Freight. Riggers Bag

I often need to quickly grab a bag o tools and go capture and remove a CL bargain of some sort. I like to keep some standard screwdrivers, sockets, wrenches ect. already packed in it. Just grab and go. May add some specialty tools that each job may require. Bag works great and it is pretty awesome what all you can put in it. Holds up well, and easy to fit into tight spaces. Also good for holding all the removed bolts and bits till you get back to home base and unload. Cheap and dependable makes it easy to have one for each vehicle.

 

[beatcad]

I guess it depends on what kinda "yard" yer goin to.
I've been doin that myself for myself for some time and think I can maybe help ya.
get one of those plastic under the seat truck tool boxes. theyre long & thin and not as heavy a metal.
fill it with...
a complete set of wrenches
a compete set of sockets 1/4 &3/8 and ratchets & extensions
a mix of flat & Phillips screwdivers.
a 2' long prybar
a 3lb mallet
an impact driver
some decent gloves
and when you stop for coffee on yer way to the junkyard grab a stack of napkins. when youre way out on the woods looking for that one part and feel that tug in yer belly youlle thank me. more than once ive had to take a dump between a couple old cars. it aint cool, but ya gotta be prepared

 

[pacecar]

and when you stop for coffee on yer way to the junkyard grab a stack of napkins. when youre way out on the woods looking for that one part and feel that tug in yer belly youlle thank me. more than once ive had to take a dump between a couple old cars. it aint cool, but ya gotta be prepared

i just keep a roll of tp in the truck

 

[beatcad]

i just keep a roll of tp in the truck

that roll in the truck aint gonna help ya when yer a 15 minute walk away.
stuff a fresh stack of napkins in yer tool box just in case. it don't cost ya nothing.

 

[beatcad]

4" hole saw and drill

WTF!
I know what yer getting at but that aint cool. youde **** up a door panel just to get at a bolt on a window regulator?
I think you just bought yerself a door.

 

[CWP1616L]

The smart guys at the salvage yard with carry a soft bag with a shoulder strap. They'll keep that bag strapped to them like glue.

 

[ADSR]

 

[Bhfear]

I pull parts in junkyards almost daily.... its a part of my ebay business and i have learned what sizes i need for pulling the parts i sell but i carry a jansport black backpack with another small canvas bag inside that for strength for tools. 1/4 metric craftsman set 15piece. Knipex cutters. 10,13,15mm wrenches. Snapon 1/4 &3/8 ratchet. 3/8 kobalt sockets. Cheapo Flat & Phillips screw drivers. Cresent. Pliers. Folding torx bit tool. Knife. Mini snap on cordless driver. Always quality ratchets (bright handles) soso sockets. Backpack so hands free for parts hauln.

 

[cburnscrx]

WTF!
I know what yer getting at but that aint cool. youde **** up a door panel just to get at a bolt on a window regulator?
I think you just bought yerself a door.

Happens all the time at Pic A Part. I've seen things destroyed for very simple east to remove items.

 

[bwringer]

Happens all the time at Pic A Part. I've seen things destroyed for very simple east to remove items.

Yep. Or they'll grab a valve cover or even just an oil cap and just let the rest of a good engine rot in the rain.

I saw a guy walking in once carrying nothing but a large crowbar. Maybe he just needed to work out some frustrations. Don't know why they let him in.

 

[beatcad]

theres a couple modern pick-a-part yard about an hour from me, but i've never been to 'em. i would think they'd frown on wasting stuff, but i guess they want to keep making room for new inventory. i guess i'm just used to goin to old yards full of old cars that have been there for 40 + years.

for "new" used parts. i guess i cheat. i work at and auto body shop and have been dealing w/ one used parts guy for 16 years. i just pick up the phone and the part gets pulled and delivered.

 

[General Geoff]

The big U-pull yards around here actually forbid tool bags, you're only allowed hard sided tool boxes. If you bring a soft sided bag or pack of any type, they tell you to dump it into one of the buckets they have. I think the policy is to reduce theft, since it's harder to hide little parts inside a box than it is a bag.


As such, I carry a 118pc craftsman mechanics set in a molded case, along with an old metal box with supplemental tools. It's a little heavy but I like the extra durability for 'yard duty. If I need more/heavier tools, I bring a wheelbarrow.

 

[NHBandit]

Yep. Or they'll grab a valve cover or even just an oil cap and just let the rest of a good engine rot in the rain.

I saw a guy walking in once carrying nothing but a large crowbar. Maybe he just needed to work out some frustrations. Don't know why they let him in.

^^^^ This is why the last couple of yards I worked at (and most any modern yard) pulls any valuable low mileage engines & transmissions BEFORE that car even goes out into the yard. The last place I managed I set up a "holding area" that was fenced in and off limits to the public. One I had a chance to inventory a car, pull any parts that were especially valuable and put them away in a secure area, then the carcass went out into the public section of the yard. Sadly alot of guys like some here I won't mention, have ruined it for the rest of us. The old days of being able to wander "junkyards" just to have a look around and going away fast. The correct way to buy parts always used to be to locate the parts you need, go to the office and ask the price and get permission to remove them. Sadly nobody gives a **** anymore and they assume you got those cars for free... Go to a Copart salvage auction sometime and see what yards are really having to pay for late model wrecks and maybe you'd have a little more respect for what it costs to keep a modern yard in business but I doubt it...

 

[beatcad]

The correct way to buy parts always used to be to locate the parts you need, go to the office and ask the price and get permission to remove them.

yup. or ya told them at the office what you were looking for befor you even headed out to the yard.

 

[jd_1138]

^^^^ This is why the last couple of yards I worked at (and most any modern yard) pulls any valuable low mileage engines & transmissions BEFORE that car even goes out into the yard. The last place I managed I set up a "holding area" that was fenced in and off limits to the public. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Go to a Copart salvage auction sometime and see what yards are really having to pay for late model wrecks and maybe you'd have a little more respect for what it costs to keep a modern yard in business but I doubt it...

My dad buys cars out of the holding area. The yard sits the decent cars that can be fixed up in that area. It helps that he is friends with the owner of the yard. He lives in Arizona. I haven't been with him to the yard in about 20 years. But like in 1990 or so (last time I went with him), he would buy something like a late 70's Ford Pinto/early 80's ******/Colt, etc. that wasn't running for $400-$500 and then we'd get it running (usually just needed something fuel/ignition related like a carburettor rebuild and a tuneup). Detail clean the hell out of it, add some decent used tires on it, and then sell it for about $1000 or so to a guy that needed a decent work car.

Sometimes it'd be something simple like a bad coil. A lot of yards probably hire mechanics to get these nicer cars running, and then sell them as running cars. But they are probably worth more in parts than they are whole.

 

[rickhigginshtbr]

The big U-pull yards around here actually forbid tool bags, you're only allowed hard sided tool boxes. If you bring a soft sided bag or pack of any type, they tell you to dump it into one of the buckets they have. I think the policy is to reduce theft, since it's harder to hide little parts inside a box than it is a bag.


As such, I carry a 118pc craftsman mechanics set in a molded case, along with an old metal box with supplemental tools. It's a little heavy but I like the extra durability for 'yard duty. If I need more/heavier tools, I bring a wheelbarrow.

I remember when Harry's in Allentown started that, but did Pennsburg and Hazleton start that too? Been awhile for me...

Used to rock my beat up old Jansport backpack, held almost everything i needed.

 

[crewchief888]

i always hated having to bring home tools from work to do anything at home.

slowly over the years i picked up some CM stuff to keep at home, or in my van.

skip buying the really cheap, throw away, junk tools.

spend a little time buying your "home" tools
watch for sales & clearance on new stuff, usually some decent prices on black friday, and around (seemingly) any holiday
or venture out to pawn shops, garage sales and flea mkts.

if i head out to a pick & pull yard, i can usally carry everything i need in mac tool bag with a shoulder strap.
toss that into a grandma type wire shopping basket, and you'll be good to go.

a CM or kennedy cantilever box would hold more tools than you'd want to carry...

 

[General Geoff]

I remember when Harry's in Allentown started that, but did Pennsburg and Hazleton start that too?

Can't say for Pennsburg as I haven't been there in over five years, but the one in Hazleton has indeed adopted that policy.

 

[rickhigginshtbr]

Can't say for Pennsburg as I haven't been there in over five years, but the one in Hazleton has indeed adopted that policy.

ugh.... walking that huge yard without your tools strapped to your back has got to **** now... hell I bought hoods there to drag parts back to the car when I was too lazy to walk all the way back up front to get a cart

 

[03protege]

I think all the talk about waste is pretty funny.

I go to a Pull-A-part junkyard and it basically operates as a scrap metal yard. After a month or so the car gets pulled and crushed whether it is untouched or picked to the bone. Usually they are missing the engine/transmission and a few random body panels still have a ton of good parts on them.

Also the pricing, in my opinion, is way high. That is not to say the high price justifies the destruction of other parts but their nickel and dime you to death pricing structure only adds to the parts being torn up.

 

[52PontiacEight]

At my age, I also bring knee pads (my main yard has course gravel everywhere), nitrile gloves, internet access for looking up cross references, breaker bar(s), small metric ratchet set, 1/2" socket set with 10-22 sockets, 10-22mm gearwrenchs (two each of the common ones), philips + slotted screwdrivers, "little buddy" hack saw, torx set, set of bones for trim and interior items, wire cutters, plyers, and allen wrenches. I used to use one of those craftsman tool bags, but have moved to an old backpack for tools instead.

 

[nicksnothereman]

Hey guys,
I am an automotive tech by trade, and I have been looking to pic up a set of cheap tools to keep in my truck for when I go to the junkyard or work from home. Right now almost daily I am loading up some of my tools into plastic totes with no organization, and each morning I have to go through it all and put it back in my box. I think this week I am going to get together a big metric set of craftsman, HF, northern tool, duralast, etc tools together that i can use for my little jobs at home and take the the junkyard.

However, I am wondering if you guys have any good ideas for storage. I have looked for a nice size wheeled cart, but I can't seem to find any for a reasonable price. Does anyone else, maybe a mobile technician, have any good ideas for tool storage on the go? Thanks in advance.

You can use tool wraps. They aren't really cheap but good for wrenches and ratchets (that don't have goofy handles). For sockets I just use rails, honestly. You could just throw them in a document bag if you don't care about the finish; I use this for a specialty sockets and impact. Works well. Granted I tend to do different things in different sizes. Impact is 99% 1/2 and specialty (torx, hex) is 3/8 for me; that's just how I roll.

 

[Flybye]

I just take apart the part I need at home first, put the same tools I used to take said part out in a small plastic box, and put a full set of sockets and other goodies in a large metal box.

When I get to the yard, I just walk in with the small plastic box. In the unlikely event something goes wrong, I just walk back to mothership vehicle, get another tool and go back into the war zone, but I rarely need to do that since I know exactly what I am looking for.

 

[Danglerb]

Last time I went to pick a part its was more or less fishing, look around to see what they had with not much I specifically wanted. Part of the reason I bought a Craftsman C3 cordless impact was planned trips to a few local yards. I took a gym bag sized bag of tools, thinking too many, ended up pulling a Ford ignition module off a dist without the special thin wall socket you really need to do it.

Pick a Parts near me in SoCal were fairly disappointing, old junk, or fine vintage of not what I could use, and premium prices for anybody that isn't a regular. Anything that will remotely run again with fixing gets bought up by wholesalers who take dozens of cars at a time to Mexico. I was at a charity auction of donated cars and a lady bought everything on the lot they couldn't get to run or pass smog.

Ebay and Craigslist have hundreds of small time parters buying up anything valuable and making money on the side.

Whats worked for me in the past is to work out a deal with somebody in another area where demand doesn't exceed supply and buy what I need from them.

BTW if any of you run across a Porsche 928 in a yard, drop me a PM or email with the model year and rough condition and whats left and I can either buy some or fill you in on what to pull and sell yourself. VIN is usually most accurate model info.