7 Days to Die Mechanical Parts: How to Get Them Fast

Mechanical parts come from salvaging with a Wrench, Ratchet or Impact Driver — cars, shopping carts, filing cabinets, AC units, office chairs, safes and machinery — and from scavenging toolboxes, Working Stiffs crates and destroyed workbenches. A single salvaged engine yields around 30 mechanical parts, which makes vehicle salvage the fastest farming method in the game. This guide covers the full salvage list, the early-game catch-22 (you need parts to craft the workbench that crafts the wrench), the perks that multiply your yields, every major use, and the related desert resource oil shale that fuels your vehicles.

Official resources: Steam store page · Official wiki: Mechanical Parts · Official wiki: Oil Shale · Official 1.0 launch announcement

What Mechanical Parts Are

Mechanical parts are the umbrella material for everything with moving parts — nuts, bolts, belts, pistons, gears. They're the mid-game bottleneck: nearly every advanced workstation, vehicle, trap and electronics build needs them, and unlike iron or wood they can't be mined. Everything flows from your salvaging tool of choice. The tool ladder:

The Salvage List: What Gives Parts

Per the official wiki's Mechanical Parts page and community salvage tests, these all break down into mechanical parts with a salvaging tool:

• Vehicles — cars, trucks, buses, shopping carts (the street-wreck salvage run is the classic farm)
• Engines — salvaged from vehicles; ~30 mechanical parts each
• Household — filing cabinets, toilets, sinks, ovens, office chairs, AC units, garage doors
• Industrial — gas stations, gas pumps, safes, industrial machinery, workstations
• Electrical — generators, destroyed workbenches, electric panels

The fastest farms: factories and construction sites (dense machinery + parts containers), parked car clusters on city streets, and Working Stiffs stores (parts crates everywhere). A dedicated salvage run through a factory with a ratchet can clear a hundred parts in one trip.

Scavenging vs Salvaging

Before you have a tool, mechanical parts also spawn as loot in: toolboxes, shelves, Mo Power crates, Working Stiffs crates, and destroyed workbenches. It's slower and smaller than salvage, but it means your very first mechanical part can come from a random toolbox — which is exactly how you can afford to buy or craft your first wrench. Salvaging is the long-term answer; scavenging is the bootstrap.

Perks That Multiply Everything

Salvage Operations (Intellect tree) is the single perk that pays for itself fastest in 7 Days to Die: each rank increases resources harvested from salvaging, boosts salvaging speed, and cuts the stamina cost of salvage tools. For vehicle-focused play, Grease Monkey also helps you hit the magazines you need for vehicle recipes. If you're farming mechanical parts for a vehicle fleet, both are worth the points — see the armor guide's perk section for how perks interact with the rest of your build.

What Mechanical Parts Are Used For

The recipes list is long, but the categories that matter:

• Workstations — workbench, cement mixer, chemistry station (the mid-game gate: everything needs the workbench)
• Vehicles — every vehicle's chassis and parts recipes (bicycle through gyrocopter)
• Traps & defenses — blade traps, dart traps, barbed wire, reinforced doors, drawbridges
• Weapons & tools — iron knuckles, salvage tools, several mid-tier weapons
• Electronics — generator banks, battery banks, solar bank components, turrets
• Explosives — grenades and contact grenades need parts for triggers
• Weapon/armor mods — many mods consume mechanical parts

In short: if it moves, turns, shoots or powers something, it probably wants mechanical parts. The base designs guide shows the trap economy in action — one horde base can eat hundreds of parts in blade traps alone.

Oil Shale: The Desert Fuel Resource

While you're gathering mechanical parts, you'll eventually need fuel for all those vehicles — which is where oil shale enters. Oil shale is a separate resource found only in the desert biome:

• Where: dig about 20 blocks down in the desert where the stone layer begins, or find it in desert caves in large quantities. Surface nodes show a purple hue and appear as light brown dots on the map.
• Yield: each oil deposit mined yields about 100 oil shale (vs ~40 for other minerals), per the official wiki's Oil Shale page.
• Mining: pickaxe or auger; bring plenty of inventory space.
• Uses: Oil (24 shale → 1 oil at a chemistry station, 24 seconds), Gas Cans (1 shale → 2), Asphalt (5 shale + crushed sand + small stone in a cement mixer), and Sunstroke Tonic. Oil converts to fuel, which keeps your vehicles and generators running.
• Alternatives: you can also loot oil from Pass-N-Gas crates and salvage vehicles for gas cans — handy before you're geared for the desert.

Per the official wiki's Oil Shale page: "Oil Shale can only be found by Mining in the Desert biome... It is in the stone layer under the desert just like other ores" — the desert is non-negotiable, so plan your fuel economy around trips south.

FAQ

How do I get mechanical parts in 7 Days to Die?

Salvage vehicles, shopping carts, filing cabinets, AC units, office chairs, safes, gas pumps and machinery with a Wrench/Ratchet/Impact Driver. Scavenge toolboxes, Working Stiffs crates and destroyed workbenches. Engines give ~30 parts each; buy a wrench from a trader if you don't have one.

What tools do I need to salvage mechanical parts?

A Wrench (early), Ratchet (mid) or Impact Driver (late). Better tools salvage faster and yield more. The Salvage Operations perk multiplies yield, speed and stamina efficiency.

What can I craft with mechanical parts?

Workstations (workbench, cement mixer, chemistry station), all vehicle chassis, traps (blade/dart), reinforced doors and drawbridges, electronics (generator/battery banks, turrets), explosives, iron knuckles, and many weapon/armor mods.

Where is oil shale and what is it used for?

Only in the desert biome, ~20 blocks down in the stone layer or in desert caves. Mine it for ~100 per deposit; convert 24 shale to 1 oil at a chemistry station, or use it for gas cans, asphalt and Sunstroke Tonic.

Can I buy mechanical parts from traders?

Yes — traders stock mechanical parts (and wrenches) with varying stock; Trader Bob, the vehicle/tools specialist, is the most reliable source. Buying parts is pricier than salvaging but solves the early-game catch-22 fast.

Related guides: 7 Days to Die Singleplayer: How to Survive · 7 Days to Die Base Designs — traps and electricity · 7 Days to Die Maps — where to find the desert · 7 Days to Die Armor Sets · DayZ Crafting guide

Last updated: August 13, 2026.

Related Guides

• 7 Days to Die Singleplayer — How to Survive
• 7 Days to Die Base Designs — Horde-Proof Bases and Building Tips
• 7 Days to Die Maps — Navezgane, Pregen Sizes and Random Gen
• 7 Days to Die Armor Sets — Stats, Best Armor and Cosmetics
• DayZ Crafting — The Full Guide