Just a few years ago I'd always see several dents in each j/y I visited. Now, however, I seldom see one.

These trucks are fading away. That means parts will increase in price. Good luck.

 

I don't think they are fading away. More and more people are wanting to fix them up to drive. As a result there isn't many left in junkyards anymore they have been picked dry and then crushed.

 

And where is that?

 

Cash for clunkers and the high prices for scrap did a number on dents .. Shipping crushed dents to china and then buying inferior products they made from our crushed steel makes me

 

Yeah, there's nothing left in my area either. In fact I rarely even see another dent on the road around here. I know where six are but none of them are roadworthy.

 

Mid west (SW Missouri) JY's are full of them, I have a couple of HUNDRED of 73-79's in my local yard. 2wd, 4wd, SC, even a couple of 76/77 F250 2wd CC.

NO SHORT beds before any one asks...lol

Yes folks are working harder to fix them up and keep them on the road around here. I notice what once was a complete truck at times is getting pretty picked over.

But a few new one's roll in every other week

 

Dents were not eligible for the cash for clunkers program. Vehicles had to be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date. It was in 2009, so the oldest accepted vehicles were 1984 models.

 

Now that I am driving a dent I notice more and more around town(especially in the summer). Here in Richmond, KY there are a handful in really good condition and two in fair condition. A few people have stopped me in parking lots to talk about their dent side pickup or bronco sitting in their garage. It makes my day to have someone tell me that my truck is inspiration to get theirs back on the road!

 

I saw one in northern MN in a junkyard last summer and the other local yard usually has a few in the back since the owner won't crush them, he just pulls them in the back and lets them sit. Downside is junkyards want a premium for any part around here, almost as much as a new repro sometimes. Other than that I can only think of five on the road locally. Every now and then you see one out on the iron range but not usually.

 

I think the popularity of the dents has increased but the supply is dying out. A few observations in my area:

1. Most of the ones that do come up for sale are the custom cabs or crew cabs in my area. The more desirable trucks like the Rangers/XLT's/Lariats rarely pop up here any more. There never were many short boxes to begin with in this area. The factory air conditioned trucks are getting harder to find as well.

2. Most on the market now are badly rusted out. Less with solid bodies.

3. Not as many NOS or even good used parts on ebay as there were 10 years ago. The NOS suppliers don't have the inventory that they used to for these trucks either. The parts supply is dwindling as these trucks become more popular.

4. Rust free beds and cabs are getting increasingly more difficult to find. If you find one, don't tell ANYONE until you have it safely locked in your garage--someone will try to buy it out from under you (Just joking, but there is getting to be a certain level of competition for this stuff).

5. There are almost none left in the junkyards here. If you do happen across one it is already stripped clean with no needed parts remaining.

I live in central Canada--major rust here. Texas, Arizona, or California is a dent paradise to people like myself.

 

It really is, makes it hard for us who live in rusty areas.

 

there listed all over in Michigan this year. when I bought mine I couldn't find one for sale any were. Damn tv shows now days are making people think that old farm/shop truck they have sitting around is worth all kinds of money.

 

i have two junk yards that are withing an hour drive from me and neither one has any dents and if they do have one there is usually nothing left to it. i know of a guy who claims to have quite a bit om oem parts but he wont sell them, he once owned a body shop and still has the 75 tow truck that he started but never finished .

 

I share your pain. I had a 79 Explorer in HS and my Mother drove a 77 Explorer that my brother then drove until 1986.

When I bought a 77 F250 camper special in 2007, there were a good number of them in the self-service junkyards here, at least 3 or more anytime I went. I bought a "parts" truck for $700 and ended up restoring it and selling the other one 3 years ago.

Over the last couple of years the supply is definitely fading out in SoCal also. Now I am lucky to find 1 in any junkyard. I went last week to 4 different yards and saw 4, a 77 XLT camper special super cab, pretty complete but dents in every panel, a 78 custom explorer with decent sheet metal, a 77 custom F250 with the roof cut off from the bottom of the A posts (someone is doing a major restoration project I guess) and a 79 F100 Ranger that was still mostly complete though someone got a nice tailgate (I assume since it was gone and this truck looked well cared for and was probably junked after the owner passed away).

There is a great deal of competition here for parts as there is a club called Foringas (mostly Latinos) who are restoring/modifying these trucks. There is always someone else picking over the trucks either before or after me and I almost always see 1 or 2 73-79s in the junkyard parking lots which means competition for the parts inside the yard. The trucks peaked in the junkyards here about 5 years ago, where you could count on finding 6 or more in each yard. Not anymore. I have been hunting parts in the junkyards here for several of my projects over the years and each car would have a build up to a peak junking season, then they fade away. I am looking for a 1983-85 F350 460 intake manifold and EGR plate and those trucks are non-existant here already. I saw zero mid 80s trucks at any of the 4 yards. Lots of later EFI trucks and a few from the 70s, but the early 80s trucks are already gone (they just did not last as long as the earlier or later ones). Happy hunting.

Check out the Foringas club here: LAS FORINGAS TRUCK CLUB | ,