Stolen FJ40 and FJ45 - Ca central valley (1 Viewer)

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pjohnson

pjohnson

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I am beyond depressed having to write this post...

Last weekend (April 4-5) thieves cleaned out a building where my 1966 FJ45 LPB and my 1973 FJ40 were stored. They took everything in the building both vehicles, a large pile of parts, two trailers, a tractor, tools, etc.

The location was Gustine Ca., near Los Banos in the central valley. The theft wasn't discovered until yesterday.

Please put the word out. As you all know, these are rare vehicles and I have no idea if the thieves even knew what took. The Fj45 was not running and waiting for it's restoration day.

Please contact me directly by PM or text at 408, 406, 9629 if you hear of anything. I am incredibly bummed :frown:

1966 fj45 - one more on the trailer.

1966 fj45 - one more on the trailer.


1966 FJ45 as it looked coming home.

1966 FJ45 as it looked coming home.


1973_FJ40_b.jpg

1973_FJ40_b.jpg


1973_FJ40_c.jpg

1973_FJ40_c.jpg

 
I also posted this in the stolen vehicles forum. I often wonder if anyone goes there...
 
Oh man, I am sorry to hear this. I hate thieves, I hope they vehicles come back to you and the thieves get whats coming to them.
 
Sorry to hear about your losses. Some people are the scum of the earth. Sounds like they were there for a while. Hopefully someone around the area witnessed the event. That's a lot stuff to move sight unseen. As unique as FJXX's are, it will be difficult for them to liquidate and not be noticed. It's time for this us, the community, to step up and find these bastards. I will keep an eye out in southern Ohio, or where ever I travel. Good luck!
 
pjohnson said:
I am beyond depressed having to write this post...

Last weekend (April 4-5) thieves cleaned out a building where my 1966 FJ45 LPB and my 1973 FJ40 were stored. They took everything in the building both vehicles, a large pile of parts, two trailers, a tractor, tools, etc.

The location was Gustine Ca., near Los Banos in the central valley. The theft wasn't discovered until yesterday.

Please put the word out. As you all know, these are rare vehicles and I have no idea if the thieves even knew what took. The Fj45 was not running and waiting for it's restoration day.

Please contact me directly by PM or text at 408, 406, 9629 if you hear of anything. I am incredibly bummed :frown:

1966 fj45 - one more on the trailer.

1966 fj45 - one more on the trailer.


1966 FJ45 as it looked coming home.

1966 FJ45 as it looked coming home.


1973_FJ40_b.jpg

1973_FJ40_b.jpg


1973_FJ40_c.jpg

1973_FJ40_c.jpg

Click to expand...
Does this look like yours out of your 45?
 
Very sorry to hear about this!

In these days of technology overload it doesn't seem like you can take a piss on the side of the road without a camera catching it somehow.

Couple things to consider:
  • What about security cameras in, or on the building that was broken into?
  • Security cameras on neighboring buildings or houses in the area that may have captured it them driving away. Even neighboring houses with RING doorbells can offer some help. Knock on doors and ask if needed.
  • Maybe check with someone for traffic camera footage from the area and the closest on ramps to highways?
  • Was there insurance on the contents of the building?
  • Please do share the VIN#s so we can help watch for anything.
  • Can you post pics of the parts that were taken so we can watch for those.
  • Can you tell us more about how the break in happened? Was it through a window, roof, etc.....or does it look like they had a key.
  • What about other thefts in the area?
  • Were there other people storing stuff in the building and did they have access?
  • Has there been any contractors working on the building?
  • Get pictures of what was taken, over to the local scrapyards.
  • Get pictures of what was taken, over to the local pawn shops for the tools, etc.
  • Someone had to see or capture something unless the building was in the middle of nowhere.
Lots of stuff I know but this is what I would be looking at. Hope something here will yield some god results. Keep us updated on progress!

Best Regards,
Drake
 
I would think, to steal that much stuff, they would have had a crew of sorts. They would have had to know it was there. They probably would have had some place to store it and possibly liquidate it. How exposed is the location?
 
Gustine looks pretty tiny. Ask all local businesses, especially on any major routes out of town, if you can view security footage, especially any gas stations. Sounds like they probably made a few trips.

No way they could get out of town without being recorded somewhere.
 
The location was about 1/4 mile from an I-5 exit, in the middle of an orchard. Easy in & out unfortunately.

Thanks for the support and suggestions.

Here are the plates and VINs for both vehicles:
1973 FJ40 Landcruiser
CA License RCKCRZR – VIN - FJ40165970

1966 FJ45 Landcruiser Longbed Pickup
CA License 1K95824 – VIN - FJ4521956

I'll get it cross posted on Pirate and Marlin's forum this evening.
 
Beyond belief,
Some folks just need killing!

I hope this stuff gets recovered. I have alerted my Land Cruiser friends in southern Oregon!
 
That Really Sucks !! :mad:

Most of these are "inside" jobs, remember who came over there to visit you, to see, to buy, deliver or pick-up etc. over time, you would be surprised

Sorry to say it as I am very far away from you, but looking back at your own posting from March 22 you wanted to move the goods and truck(s), apart from calling the trucking companies etc, did you have had any reaction(s) from that posting on here ?


Obviously somebody knew or knew now you wanted to move from that date on so they had to do it fast after that date and knew that you were very far away from that place


I feel your pain
 
Last edited:
My guess is that these are going to be parted-out. I check for Land Cruiser (and 'Landcruiser') parts on my local(ish) Craigslist, and I have found ads that really creeped me out.

One ad was for an inexpensive hard top hatch without the beam that holds the hinges. I told the seller that I was interested, asked about the hinges, he said that he would be soon back to Colorado (home) from some dog rescue business in California, where he would source the parts from a totally different cache, and provide the photos, in a day or so. Then, he told me that he would deliver the parts to me, free of charge - we are talking about a seven-hour-trip that just happened to be on his agenda, in three days. If it is sent thru the mail, or not, a real seller most likely has a physical address (however, I do realize that not everyone actually has a home, and they could be perfectly honest). There was just too much amendment to the sale for me to think this was a real Cruiserhead working on a personal project. I told him that I was going to pass, then he got super irate.

Also, there are ads for parts that seem to never sell. I've been looking at the same rotted $50 FJ40 cooling system part for like eighteen months now, the ad being updated every week, the last time was 20 hours ago. As, explained, the owner isn't actually selling it, it is off of his son's truck. I don't actually know, it could be perfectly honest, but it sounds like the kind of thing that if you respond, that you would would be enticed to a cache of parts that would have exactly what you need. This is one FJ40 part gets posted among a very busy Craigslister appears to be trying to get rid of a warehouse full off bedbug furniture - who has the time?

In both cases, I'd be particularly suspicious of parts that you can get thru Craigslist that were not actually posted on Craigslist.
 
Well that’s a real bummer, wow. We will keep our eyes open for anything in our neck of the woods.
 
I'm surprised people still break in and steal stuff. A lot of states have make my day laws, so your putting your life at risk. One guy I know of that has a bunch of old cars saw some guy on his property at like 3am. He shot him from his front porch and went back to bed. He called the sheriff in the morning, they picked up the body and did the paperwork.
 
Very sorry to hear, hope you find your stuff. thieves should be put to rest with their hands cut off! :skull:
 
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