Ran over a curb in the rain and my junkyard tie rod saved me $200

I was pulling out of a gas station off I-40 last March and misjudged the turn, popped the wheel hard into the concrete edge. Had a spare control arm I pulled from a salvage yard for $15 in the trunk, swapped it right there in the lot and drove home fine. Anyone else keep a random junkyard part in the trunk just in case?

2 comments

2 Comments

christopher_craig4d ago

Aw, man, I read something about this a while back, some guy on a truck forum kept a spare alternator from a junkyard behind his seat for years. Never needed it until his died in the middle of nowhere in Nevada, and that $20 part saved him a tow and a weekend stranded. I keep a spare starter and a couple of tie rod ends in my trunk, wrapped in an old blanket. It's like car insurance you can actually touch, you know? Better than being stuck and paying some shop $300 for a part that costs $12 at Pick-N-Pull.

matthewf404d ago

That $20 alternator story is exactly why I keep a spare belt tensioner and idler pulley in my trunk. Parts like that are small enough to toss in a bag and they always fail at the worst time. If you ever pull one at a junkyard, grab the bolts too, stripped bolt holes in the middle of nowhere will screw you just as fast as a broken part.