3rd Gen 4Runner Salvage Yard Tips, Photos, Stories, Spotted, Strategies, Finds, % Etc

[SURF RUNNER]

I've been meaning to start a thread where those of us who visit salvage yards from time to time can post our stories and experiences for fun and perhaps even for the benefit of fellow forum members and 3rd Gen owners. Obviously this is not a for sale thread, so please do not post any of your finds here that you are listing for sale. I have a lot of funny stories and interesting photos to share, but I thought that I would start with the percentage chance that you will find a certain item in a salvage yard 3rd Gen 4Runner. It really helps for you to know how rare a certain part is before you start negotiating at a salvage yard. Recently I have been going to salvage yards once or twice a month, so I've gathered some pretty good mental data.

A few things to keep in mind:

- Some parts are continually being produced by Toyota, TRD or their suppliers. A great example is the TRD 3.4 Supercharger - you can buy one brand new (if you want to spend the money), so you don't have to worry about finding one for sale in a salvage yard, eBay, etc. In December of 2013 I was in Kansas City for the holidays and there was a fresh 4Runner at a salvage yard there with a Sport hood and a supercharger! Someone bought the supercharger for $700! If I had known how rare OEM Sport hoods were at the time I would have at least bought the hood. I saw the hood, but I did not find out until after the fact that there was a supercharger underneath it.

- Some parts have an aftermarket and some don't. There is no aftermarket for the cargo covers, so that is important to remember.

- Generally a salvage yard is the cheapest place to find an OEM part. Prices can vary dramatically for the same exact part depending on where you buy it. Here is an outstanding example of this exact phenomenon... A while back I was able to buy a cargo cover for $15 at a salvage yard. Usually these go for anywhere between $25 and $75 at a salvage yard. You will usually get a better price if you call it a luggage shade vs a cargo cover. However, on eBay these cargo covers can sell for up to $250! Most are listed for between $150 and $250. So the same exact part can go for anywhere between $15 and $250.

- So far in Texas about 3/4 of the salvage yards I visit at have at least one 3rd Gen 4Runner - most have two or three. If you can find an area like Airline Blvd in Houston or Jefferson Blvd in Dallas you will greatly increase your chances of finding exactly what you want or need. The two streets mentioned above each have at least 40 salvage yards along them.

- It is extremely important to know how rare a part is before you start negotiating with the owner or owners rep at the salvage yard. If you have a part that is only found in 2% of salvage yard 3rd Gens you need to be very thoughtful in how you talk to the guy behind the desk. You may never find this part again.

- For this post I am considering any part with a 5% or less number in the list below rare.

- For this thread 0% doesn't necessarily mean that you will never find the part. I'm using whole number percentages (0%, 1%, 2%, 3%. etc.), so anything closer to 1% is listed as 1% - if it is closer to 0% it is listed as 0%. For example: As noted below Sport hoods at 0% means somewhere around 2/10ths of 1% or 1 in 500 at a salvage yard (derived from using my sample size of 100 and my observations from visiting salvage yards several times a month).

- If you have already located a specific part on HollanderParts.com or CarPart.com that is not calculated in the percentages below. Unless you are extremely unlucky you should be able to get the part you have found on one of these two websites as long as you have verified it is there first and get there fast. I have found several Sport hoods this way. The percentages below are for finding a certain part when you just show up at a salvage yard with no prior information.

- I am by no means an expert. This is just based on my experience. Some of you may have very different observations based on your area or experience.

Friday and Saturday I went on my biggest 3rd Gen Salvage Yard Hunt to date. I had to pick up a custom box in the Dallas area for a Sport hood that I am shipping to California. I had been wanting to visit some salvage yards in DFW anyway, so I just combined these two things. Dallas is about a 3-hour drive from Bryan-College Station. I looked at around 100 3rd Gen 4Runners in two days, so I have a great sample to work with as far as assigning percentage chances of finding a certain item in a 3rd Gen 4Runner at a salvage yard. I wasn't looking for every kind of part in the past two days, so I will fill in the blanks with my overall observations from looking at these vehicles in salvage yards. As far as I know I may have looked at 95 or 105 4Runners, but for the math and this thread I am going to say that it was exactly 100. Obviously I realize that if you are looking for a 99-02 center console you will only find those on 99-02 4Runners, but for this thread the percentage is still going to be out of 100 3rd Gens to keep everything simple and consistent.

Percentage chance of finding a particular part in a salvage yard based on my experience (in no particular order):

0% - OEM Sport hood (the actual number is probably 1/10th or 2/10ths of 1 percent; for this sample size 2/10ths of 1% is 1 4Runner out of every 500)
4% - Damaged OEM Sport hood/beyond repair (still might find heat shield, rubber discs, etc.)
1% - OEM Sport hood scoop insert (complete with screen and everything)
5% - Rubber cup holder inserts (99-02)
0% - Tan leather driver seat in like-new or very good condition (never seen one)
2% - Tan leather passenger seat in like-new or very good condition
8% - Tan leather second row seat in like-new or very good condition
4% - Cargo cover in good condition and fully operational
85% - Cargo cover holders/brackets (all 4 - these go for up to $29 each on eBay!)
1% - OEM carpeted rear cargo mat
10% - Flat hood
25% - Complete center console
50% - Any major body panel/straight sheet metal with nice paint
7% - Owners manual for any year
15% - Grille in good condition
6% - Complete engines
9% - Factory air box, tube and resonator
1% - Blue mist interior (blue/gray color)
15% - Sunroof windscreen
0% - Aftermarket roof rack (never seen one)

I'll add more later to the list above as I think of them and to answer replies. All of the photos below were taken in Dallas Friday and Saturday.

 

[shootmymime]

3rd Gen 4Runner Salvage Yard Tips, Photos, Stories, Spotted, Strategies, Find...

yeah cool thread! I'll play along.

I went to a yard near my house because I saw they had a tundra. (Tbu). Asked a worker where it was at. A confused look on his face and said "oh you mean the one that's all beat to hell, Good luck finding a good part on it".

So I thought to my self oh how could it be.

Well let me tell you. It was in a massive front end accident. I bet the guy probably died in it. Inside there was blood everywhere.
Not a single body panel was straight. Getting in the cab was a joke. What ever part you wanted in there you would have to send in a 3 yo to pick it for you because the cab was crunched so bad.

But I managed to pick some calipers and some front coils!!! Score!

 

[THatfield]

I wish my local salvage yards were a plentiful with 4Runner's as yours are. Unfortunately I'm lucky to find any year of 4runner at all. I see plenty of them on the road however.

Some of those.... whoa. :sobbing:

 

[ECT_Gumby]

This is a good post. I like cruising auctions and junk yards and have been wondering what I should keep an eye out for in regards to 4runners.

 

[98Base4R]

I have visited a few Kansas City salvage yards, with less than spectacular results. Do you mind sharing which yards you had good luck with in KC?

I have had gotten what I needed by going to an LKQ, which is cleaner, and professionally run. But it costs plenty.

Recently the boy and I visited several small yards looking for a right side mirror for his Accord. We dug through piles of mirrors without any luck. I check Ebay, $29.99 delivered. Oops. That was a couple of hours in the freezing cold that I'll never get back.

I spent a bunch of time trying to find a full size steel wheel for a spare. One yard said on the phone they had one, so I drove to Topeka. They brought it up and it was bent. Obviously bent.

Found a wheel out by the Stadium. They put a "good" used tire on it. Looked it over, they had put the world's biggest tire plug in it. Ummm, guys, this tire isn't exactly free. And I can find a helluva lot nicer tire than that on CL. So much for convenience.

Any tips for dealing with the guy behind the counter, either by phone or in person? It seems like everything I am looking for is "don't have any". I try not to look like a total yutz, and I believe in being nice and not wasting a guys time. I am always trying to find the reasonably priced, well stocked and efficient yard I can patronize. I'm not usually in a big hurry, but I can't afford to make pointless trips.

I have four vehicles, and they all have more than 200k on the clock. I need to figure out how to find used parts. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[UnderFire]

This thread was made for me lol, most of the parts on my 4Runner were bought at junkyards.

I've probably seen around 40 3rd gens rotate through the 2 local junkyards I frequent, both are small privately owned places, each one has a chain of 4 or 5 yards around the state, they are much easier to deal with than the larger yards like LKQ, so I don't even go to the huge chains anymore. I only really enjoy hunting at U-pull-it style yards, looking at a picture on a computer screen and having the guy pull it off does nothing for me.

Here's what I'd say the stats are based on different factors...

Year Range -

Around 60% of what I see are 99-00, 35% are 96-98, and only a couple have been 01's, I've never seen an 02 in a yard here.

Interior -

More than 3/4 of them have tan interior, I'd say 80%+ would be a solid guess, the rest have grey, I haven't seen the blue-er color yet. Out of all those with tan interior, probably half of them had leather, and I've only seen one perfect set of back seats, have never seen any front seats in what I'd call good condition, and I'm not super picky. The cloth seats are much easier to find in good shape, I've seen probably 4 or 5 sets.

And I'll break down the rare or desirable parts that I've seen (Including stuff that was gone before I got there)

Supercharger - 1 (Already Gone)
Sport Hood - 1 (Completely Destroyed)
5 Speed Transmission (V6 R150F) - 1
E-Locker - 5 or 6, all still there when I saw them
99+ Center Console in good shape - 5 (All Tan)
99+ Woodgrain Sets - 2
OEM 99+ Headlights - 1 Set, 3 Singles

And the "unicorn", The Skinny SR5 flare front mudflaps, 1 set, one torn, the other already gone when I got there.

And some other parts that are popular with the 4Runner community

Tacoma Whip Antenna - 1 (Mast Only)(Seen like 10 destroyed ones)
Tundra Brakes (13WL) - 1 Set
YY/YB Tundra Springs - 0
80 Series Landcruiser Front Coils - 4 Sets
Tacoma Manual Hub Set-up - 2 Complete Sets with no Hubs, 1 set with hubs, but blown out CV's and no axleshaft piece.

The biggest tip I can give anyone about buying from a small U-pull-it is to buy in bulk, usually they will not check prices on everything separately, just stack it all somewhere and have someone check out the pile, I usually buy a whole pile of stuff for 100$ at a time. If you're picking up an elocker, just ask about the diff or axle, do NOT mention a locker, usually they don't know exactly what every car has and the VIN doesn't tell them the locker is there.

Here's a couple pics of my best finds.

First up a hub to hub Tacoma manual front end, I got this for just over 100$ including good CV's and the axleshaft piece with no ADD stuff.

And a set of headlights I found in the front of a 98 that had just came in, TRS mini H1 retrofit in eagle eyes housings, housings and lenses were destroyed, so I got the entire projector kit, wiring, ballasts and bulbs for a measly 30$!

 

[Quadsbc]

I've got to start surfing the local salvage yards.

 

[SURF RUNNER]

[MENTION=61869]98Base4R[/MENTION]

Below is the one in Kansas City that had the OEM Sport hood and supercharger back in December of 2013. At that point I had only owned my 4Runner for about a month and had just started posting on this forum. Had I known the chances of finding an OEM Sport hood at a salvage yard were about 1 in 500 I would have bought it right then and there (and asked my brother to store it at his house in Brentwood until I could figure out what to do with it).

I didn't find out until December 2014 that the very same 4Runner had a supercharger. I can't believe that someone bought it for $700. I think that this 4Runner was Millennium Silver, but it could have been Thundercloud Gray - I can't remember for sure.

Rich Industries - Import Auto Recyclers
4120 Winchester Ave
Kansas City, MO 64129


For you Texans there is an almost new set of rear Hanook tires on a 3rd Gen 4Runner at Alpha-Omega Imports in Kennendale (SW of Arlington;SE of Fort Worth). I'm not sure if these were mud tires or all-terrains, but they had the sidebiters on the sidewalls. It looked like the guy bought these tires brand new and then wrecked his 4Runner the next day. I didn't look at them real close (and I may be exaggerating a little), but I've never seen a set of tires this nice in a salvage yard - they were completely black - not even dirty. I did not see a matching set of front tires.

 

[Jaketino]

[wQUOTE=Quadsbc;1925901]I've got to start surfing the local salvage yards.[/QUOTE]I was just thinking the same thing...

 

[maverickhawk]

I bought my first 97 in October, mechanically its great but we love it so much that we don't want to drive into the ground. So while looking for parts I found a 00 pink milkshake for 1400. It's our daily driver. I am hooked. I obsess with my hobby's. I am watching your area closely, I bet by summer I will be travelling to North Texas for a third truck.
Now you have pushed me to travel that 60 miles to KC to hopefully find some 3rd gen's. The only yards around here won't let you past their counter. They just ask you what specific part you need then look it up on the computer and tell you they have it shipped. No thanks. I grew up going to junk yards on Saturday mornings. I didn't know didlly, but it was fun.
Hey did you get that sport hood that was in the McKinney area?

I lived in the North Dallas area throughout the 1980's. I miss the people and all the opportunities. I should have never left but my family is here. It is cold and rusty here.

 

[ECT_Gumby]

There is a guy locally advertising two complete Sport Hoods for $300 each. After reading this I'm starting to think they aren't as over priced as I had originally thought.

 

[SURF RUNNER]

More on Dallas Salvage Yards and Sport Hoods

POST IN PROGRESS

I appreciate the discussion on this thread so far. I think that this thread will be most beneficial if we can continue to keep the topic limited to 3rd Gen 4Runners in salvage yards. I have seen too many good threads derailed by off-topic banter... so far so good though. I would be interested in seeing photos of salvage yard 4Runners in other states. I am starting to think that Texas may be one of the better areas to be searching for salvage yard 3rd Gens.

The black Sport hood below is at a salvage yard on Airline Blvd. in Houston. I lucked into finding out about this as I was calling about another part and usually remember to ask if they have any "hood scoop hoods". Anyway, this salvage yard guy won't budge on his price of $300. I would sell this one for about $350, so it doesn't make any sense for me to drive the 3-hour round trip to Houston, buy it, and maybe make $50 on it in a couple of weeks. The guy confirmed that it was OEM and complete. This one is dirty around the scoop area, but I actually think that this one would clean up really well - maybe to look as good as a 15-year-old hood can look. Remember that Toyota produced black Sport hoods in all 4 years, but they sure are hard to find undamaged.

OEM Sport Hood Colors By Year
1999: Black, Imperial Jade Mica
2000: Black, Imperial Jade Mica, Millennium Silver
2001: Black, Imperial Jade Mica, Millennium Silver
2002: Black, Thundercloud, Sunfire Red, Stellar Blue

Unfortunately here is how most of the Sport hoods I see look. I sold the scoop insert seen in the photo below to [MENTION=118628]73Duster440[/MENTION]. I took all of the photos below in the past two weeks...

So here is more on my trip to Dallas the previous weekend. I was in Dallas Friday to pick up a custom box to ship a Sport hood to California, so I decided to make a weekend of it. As I mentioned earlier I saw about 100 3rd Gens in 2 days.

Three salvage yards in Dallas stand out as the best 3 I have been to in D-FW by far. I started out at Toyota Heaven in SW Fort Worth (Kennendale to be exact) and this was definitely NOT heaven for 3rd Gen owners. They had three picked over 4Runners, all 96 to 98. I was disappointed there, but this led me to all of the salvage yards on Kennedale Parkway, also called Mansfield Highway (287). I saw at least 15 salvage yards on Kennedale, but there are probably more going NW of I-20. I was on the SE side of I-20. The best thing about Toyota Heaven is that this guy there told me to go to B & B Salvage on Kennedale. It was only about 2 miles away from Toyota Heaven. He told me that this place had a bunch of 96-02 4Runners. I asked him how many and he said at least a dozen! I left before my eyes popped out of my head.

Below is a pic I took at B & B Salvage. It is posted earlier in this thread, but I thought it was worth posting again.

By my count there are 16 3rd Gen 4Runners at B & B Salvage. Some looked very "fresh" and probably had not been there for more than 2 weeks. Many years, trim levels, and colors were represented. These 4Runners weren't stacked on top of one another like I would see in some salvage yards the following day, and they were easy to get to.

I went to a few more salvage yards on Kennedale before they started shutting down, which was 5:30pm to 6:00pm for most yards. I saw a lot on that particular Friday - a day of the week that I am usually in the office at my regular job. I bought a hood scoop insert that day - a rare find from my experience - about 1 out of 100. I went to Alpha Omega Imports Salvage before closing and saw a fresh 2001 with a super clean engine. The top intake parts that are all powdercoated silver (I assume) looked so much better than mine. I'm not sure if these are the right terms, but I am referring to the MAF, the upper runner, and the lower runner. I have had some ideas about getting these three parts electropolished to match my polished aluminum Injen air intake, so I was intrigued about this find. When I see a part on a 3rd Gen that looks so much better than everything else I see it grabs my attention - especially when it is from a 2001-2002. I wanted to save my money to buy a Sport hood, so I just left it there. Here is a photo of this particular engine. In person the parts I am referencing look even better than in this photo. When wiped down with a damp cloth it looks like it probably did back in 2000-2001 at the dealership.

So I ate dinner at Bone Daddy's and was having fun, so I decided to spend the night. I've never spent the night in the back of my 4Runner before, plus I had a gigantic box in the cargo bay, so that was definitely out of the question. I hate trying to find cheap motels at the last minute. The rates are always so ridiculous when all you really want to do is sleep in a safe place. I wanted to stay in the I-20/287 area since this was where I would start out early Saturday morning. I went to several budget motels and they all wanted $65 to $85. That is more than I want to spend when I am by myself. If I am in Cancun I don't mind spending $200 a night on vacation to be on the beach, but this is just crashing somewhere on the side of the highway. Anyway, I found this place on 287 just NW of I-20 that looked like it might be cheap. It looked like it was built in the 1950s, but there were no crack whores around so I thought it might be OK. I was very leery, so I asked to see a room first. The room was small, but it looked OK with just a quick glance. There was a car port between every room, so that was kind of cool. These looked like little red houses with carports separating each one. Anyway, we settled on $50 total - including tax and everything. I SHOULD HAVE SPENT $20 MORE TO STAY AT A CHAIN MOTEL! This was one of the worst motels I every stayed at. Upon closer inspection the bed was resting on top of a plywood box. The TV didn't work as far as I could tell, and everything was just substandard. The room was very cold and the next morning I saw exactly why - there were large cracks in the closet allowing cold air in from the outside. But the worst part was the shower. There was no soap dish! I've been all over Mexico and I've never taken a shower somewhere that didn't have a soap dish. Where are you supposed to put the soap if there is no soap dish or ledge? Absolutely ridiculous! Anyway, when I checked out I told the same lady who checked me in that they might want to consider installing a soap dish, a ledge, an old bicycle pedal, or something sticking out of the wall where you could set down a bar of soap. I was very nice about it actually, as if I were suggesting the addition of a certain brand of shampoo - not something as basic as a soap dish. The dry, brittle soap they gave you was only an inch and a half long and one-eighth of an inch thick - it didn't have to be a large addition! OK... end of rant.

MORE ON THE DALLAS SALVAGE TRIP LATER

 

[Asaspades93]

One yard I used to visit in RI had a 3rd gen and a few second gens, one with a marlin crawler rear bumper. I talked to the guy at the desk and he said to talk to one yard guys to see about pulling it off. Mid winter walking around for close to 40 minutes to find a yard guy I go back to the desk and get told all the yard guys have been on lunch for the last hour, kinda pissed but shrugged it off. The bad attitude I got it return lead me to not tell the guy what the bumper was worth when he said it was mine for 60.
I will be exploring some yards around co when I can

 

[168981]

POST IN PROGRESS

I appreciate the discussion on this thread so far. I think that this thread will be most beneficial if we can continue to keep the topic limited to 3rd Gen 4Runners in salvage yards. I have seen too many good threads derailed by off-topic banter... so far so good though. I would be interested in seeing photos of salvage yard 4Runners in other states. I am starting to think that Texas may be one of the better areas to be searching for salvage yard 3rd Gens.

The black Sport hood below is at a salvage yard on Airline Blvd. in Houston. I lucked into finding out about this as I was calling about another part and usually remember to ask if they have any "hood scoop hoods". Anyway, this salvage yard guy won't budge on his price of $300. I would sell this one for about $350, so it doesn't make any sense for me to drive the 3-hour round trip to Houston, buy it, and maybe make $50 on it in a couple of weeks. The guy confirmed that it was OEM and complete. This one is dirty around the scoop area, but I actually think that this one would clean up really well - maybe to look as good as a 15-year-old hood can look. Remember that Toyota produced black Sport hoods in all 4 years, but they sure are hard to find.

OEM Sport Hood Colors By Year
1999: Black, Imperial Jade Mica
2000: Black, Imperial Jade Mica, Millennium Silver
2001: Black, Imperial Jade Mica, Millennium Silver
2002: Black, Thundercloud, Sunfire Red, Stellar Blue

Unfortunately here is how most of the Sport hoods I see look. I sold the scoop insert seen in the photo below to [MENTION=118628]73Duster440[/MENTION]. I took all of the photos below in the past two weeks...

So here is more on my trip to Dallas the previous weekend. I was in Dallas Friday to pick up a custom box to ship a Sport hood to California, so I decided to make a weekend of it. As I mentioned earlier I saw about 100 3rd Gens in 2 days.

Three salvage yards in Dallas stand out as the best 3 I have been to in D-FW by far. I started out at Toyota Heaven in SW Fort Worth (Kennendale to be exact) and this was definitely NOT heaven for 3rd Gen owners. They had three picked over 4Runners, all 96 to 98. I was disappointed there, but this led me to all of the salvage yards on Kennedale Parkway, also called Mansfield Highway (287). I saw at least 15 salvage yards on Kennedale, but there are probably more going NW of I-20. I was on the SE side of I-20. The best thing about Toyota Heaven is that this guy there told me to go to B & B Salvage on Kennedale. It was only about 2 miles away from Toyota Heaven. He told me that this place had a bunch of 96-02 4Runners. I asked him how many and he said at least a dozen! I left before my eyes popped out of my head.

Below is a pic I took at B & B Salvage. It is posted earlier in this thread, but I thought it was worth posting again.

By my count there are 16 3rd Gen 4Runners at B & B Salvage. Some looked very "fresh" and probably had not been there for more than 2 weeks. Many years, trim levels, and colors were represented. These 4Runners weren't stacked on top of one another like I would see in some salvage yards the following day, and they were easy to get to.

Better question is, how much for that grille in the first picture?

 

[Unner]

I drove 10 hours round trip and about 700 miles to pick up my sport hood. It is not an OEM one, but an aftermarket that was painted to match. It as a very good paint job on it, and I only paid $175 for a hood with a new paint coat on it! I inquired about some other parts on the 4Runner but they told me that they were lucky to even have the hood from this 4Runner. I assume it was rolled or something serious. There are never any 3rd gen 4Runners anywhere near me. They just don't break down and down here we don't really have rust so they just keep going.

 

[Quadsbc]

Looking for interior e locker wire harness with abs. I am also looking for the part of the harness that goes between the body and the axle. Anyone able to help out? [MENTION=102813]SURF RUNNER[/MENTION]

 

[lhsoulrebel]

I've got a spare grill if youre interested. Off a black 99.

 

[AZ4Running]

I found and bought the unicorn. The black sr5 front mud flaps at a local pick and pull. They are on my 4runner and will not be coming off. Around here 3rd gens in wrecking b yards are hard to come by in any condition.

 

[Troybylt]

My best find was about a month after I bought my Runner there was a 98 limited in the local u pull and pay I decided to check it out in hopes of finding some body clips and maybe a door skin to replace one that looked like it had been gouged by finger nails.

I "walked" out with the clips and pannel I wanted and a rear e-locker axle housing and 3rd member with the 4.30 gears and the front 4.30 diff to match And all the computers and wiring. Also got all the plastic seat feet when I bought the truck I had not a one and did realize I was missing them not even the back seats had their bolt covers.

After that I didn't see a runner in the lot for over 6 months. And nothing has had anything useful since.

 

[7echo]

Not many 4Runners in the local yards.

I have been wanting a matching alloy wheel for my spare. The yards around here have few wheels on the vehicles. Usually the vehicle is sitting on old cheap steel wheels. By sitting on I mean not on the car, but under it to raise it off the ground. CL is not good around here either.

Do you guys see alloy wheels in the pull a part yards?