I will never go to a junk yard again.
 

Started the day this morning driving 30 miles into albuquerque to pull a rear third member for my 4runner. It was cold and raining. I called u pull and pay. They said they 19 matches for the diff i needed. Rear, 84-95, 4 cyl, 4x4 pick up or 4runner.

I walked for hours. Up and down every row, probably covered 5 miles in the zig zag pattern I was walking (I covered every vehicle in the import section). I didn't see a damn thing.

I could understand finding all of the toyota 4x4's stripped completely clean, but there weren't any. Actually, there was one. It was an 83 4x4, but with a gear code other that what I needed. Four hours go by and I get to the last row in the imports. Cursing as I'm carrying my 40lbs of tools back the way I came. 19 Matches my ass, that's what I told the guy as I walked back out. Went to a couple different yards. One guy tried to sell me a rear diff from a 93 3.0 w/auto tranny. I told him no, it wouldn't work, it was prob not 410 gears. He told me I didn't know what I was talking about.

Went down the street some more to another yard, went through the door marked "customer entrance" and almost got killed by the counter guys rabid dog. Kicked it in the face hard enough to stop it, then the guy grabbed it and then yelled at me. Cool. I leave and go down the street to one of the last yards on the street.
I pull in and see a beauty of a red 89 pick up every thing still intact. They just got it in. I go in and ask the guy if it was really being parted out, he said yep. I go look at it. Right on the VIN panel, G292. What I need. Go in and ask the guy how much. $350. I say oh, I just need the pumpkin. He says (in very broken middle eastern accent) yeah 350. I stare at him for a second, and ask where the hell he gets his prices and if he was mentally handicaped. He said " I give you whole thing for 450". I call him some choice words and leave.

Now here I am drinking a beer at home and actually comtemplating paying him. It seems the only guys in the state with rear diffs are Mr. Money Bags and some guy 250 miles south of me with matching F&R 4.56 set for 300 bucks. I i go south, its gunna cost me a 100 bucks in gas.:facepalm:

Sorry, rant over.

i just bought and installed a v6 third in my 4cyl truck, not ruin your day any further.......... v6 third has more ribs on the side, only difference i seen

Yeah man all the yards here in Abq really suck. I have countless horror stories at U pull and pay. they never have what they say. theyll even give you what row whatever you're looking for is on but its never there. But I always go in hopes that that time will be different but usually ends up me wasting $2

:mad2: yup, hate them!!! I would rather spend 2X the amount and build a new diff with gears and bearings, then ever deal with those *&^%#.

Junk yards in olympia area here are scammers to. Only place I had good luck was Allen Auto Wrecking in olympia wa. Awsome old guy ran the place. Gave me deals and knew what was in the yard. Couple years ago he sold the place and retired. :(

Man, im glad i have the p-n-p near me. $75 bucks per 3rd, out the door. swapped my 4.10s with 4.88s for $150.00 :)

Pick n pull? I've had ok experience with them in Cali. Same thing though. Their inventory sucks.

Night stalker, did they really work? I just realized that the 456 diffs south of me most likely came out of a V6. They're a matching set, IFS front. I gotta do some research to see if they'll boly right up to my 87 runner

Car-part.com. Takes all the hassle right out of it. Find your part on there, call the dealer's number they provide for you to make sure they have it. They look it up on their computer, tell you right then and there they have the part or don't...FOR SURE. Then you go get it from them, or move to the next guy on the list if they so they don't got the part no more. I've never had ANY issues buying parts through them. WORKS EVERY TIME!!!

I used to work for an antifreeze Co. (NH) I would go to various junk yards and download there used af. And as that was happening I would walk about looking for toyota stuff.
A set of sr5 buckets, 50.$
Valve cover, free
4 runner door map holders, free
Near new carpet, free
and a buch of nick nacks that come in handy........
Had my eye on a 85 front axle 100 $ then I moved to Ca

I feel your pain, our Pull N Save is pretty well inventoried, and they update their inventory online so it's pretty convenient.
My only grief with junkyards is the Whiteys Wrecking in Spokane..
They charge pretty much new prices on stuff that's used. I bought a set of axles front and rear (didn't realise it at the time, but the front was junk) for 400 bucks from them. The front was missing the birfs and everything from the knuckle out. They had the 4.30 diffs though.

Just went to another J/Y to price out a Dana 30 for my jeep, they wanted 550 for the axle. I told him "yeah i'll be back" and left lol.

If you are stiil looking for a diff pm me your year, make model, engine transmission and gear ratio. Even the trim package i want to know it all including area code. When you pm me that info i'll get back to you with a shipped price if you're interested.

Yards are pretty much just like other places you walk in off the street your going to pay top $$$ You get on a first name basis the prices start to drop

It is a fact of the world

That is why if I can get new parts I will !!

Or I will just buy a whole vehicle for the price of a transmission

It is a personal thing from when I was a little kid. As to why I hate yards:fire2:

ha! same deal here, I5 Auto Wreck has the best selection but worse tards running in my experience, best customer service i ever seen from a wrecking yard was one up north off highway 3 dont ask me the name dont remember guy drove me around to every yota in the lot lookn for seats nice too

rest of em can go to hell, theyre inbred scum and act like it. Having said that i dont even bother with yards anymore, i just cough of the $ for new parts

Wow, you guys have had a completely different experience than I have. I think the Oly area wrecking yards are better than any of the Tacoma or Seattle area yards.

Pick-A-Part doesn't have a very good Toyota section, but their prices are great.

Black Lake Auto has a bunch of Toyotas, but they can be pretty funky with prices, sometimes real good, sometimes not so good. But I look at it like a fair trade, they gotta pay for the truck, so I buy what is good priced and turn down what isn't.

I-5 has a pretty good selection, but their prices can be pretty high, you just need to go in a few times and let the guys get to know you, then they start hooking you up.

And I find that pretty true with many yards; walk in, smile, a little small talk, buy a few odds and ends like door handles or trim pieces and get to know which guys are decent to deal with and they'll start hooking you up with deals (if they can).

$350.00 is about the going rate for a third at a standard yard if you don't have a hook-up. You can find them cheaper on CL or do what ThatGuy1295 suggests and just have a diff rebuilt for you. You'll pay a little more, but you know you have new parts and they're set-up right... make sure you get someone who knows what they are doing.

I just traded my 4.10s for 4.56's for 200 bucks.....

Pick n pull in California isn't so bad... i was there yesterday. Friend of mine ended up pulling mint turbo seats, an inclinometer, and IFS manual hubs all for a killer deal.

That's pretty steep by midwest standards. You guys don't want to know what i can get a diff for if pulled by me here in stl. If i tell ya you'd cry.

That's at a standard yard.

When they have them in at P-A-P you can get the complete axle for $150.00.

I prefer to get them off Craigslist, you can score diffs for $25-50 bucks.

That sucks. I had all kinds of good purchases at the U-pull-n-pay down on Broadway. There is another place down there, on the left as you leave UPNP with a butt hole dog and an even more butt holed owner. Guy tried telling my that any year Supra MAF would plug and play on my 22re, he even had one on the shelf for 700$. I bought two at UPNP for 16$ each.

I wonder if they changed management since I was there.... Oh and the V6 diffs are four pinion whereas the 4 cyl ones are 2 pinion. The V6's will drop right into your truck with no issues.

Bummer on the not finding anything. Dont give up on wrecking yards...there are some good ones out there.

well the guy in las cruces down south of me with the 456 v6 diffs said he'd trade me for my HD tv! Im stoked cuz the tv is probably worth 300 bucks, but I haven't turn the dang thing on more than 5 times in the past 6 months. and hopefully this sunday my brother said he might be able to drive me in his company truck with company paid gas :)

wish me luck and lets hope the guy isn't trying to sell me chipped teeth or blowed up gears. thanks for all the replies