1972 FJ40 For Sale

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Seller: Greg Phillips
Oregon City, OR
$6,500 OBO
503-927-2421

Many pictures here: Picasa Web Albums - Greg Phillips - 1972 Toyota L...

With great reluctance, I'm finally selling my '72 FJ40. This has been a hard decision for me, because this rig was my very first vehicle and we've been a lot of incredible places together.

I purchased this cruiser in 1994 from a retired gentleman who lived in Big Bear, CA. He used it to get down off the mountain in the winters and actually drove it very little. Although he was the second owner, apparently the first owner only had it for about a month before deciding the ride was too rough. The odometer was frozen at about 55,000 miles when I bought it, and the previous owner said it had stopped working "a couple of years ago." I had it fixed right away, and it now reads 76,700. Although I can't know for sure, it is very likely that this rig has less than 80k on it.

When I bought it, the rig was completely stock - original wheels and hub caps, jack, tool kit, owners manual, etc. While it has never been my intention to restore it, I did want to keep everything as close to stock as possible. My goal for this cruiser was to have it be a solid, completely dependable rig for serious adventures in remote locations. With that goal in mind, the following projects were completed (mostly between 1995 and 2002):

New Desert Cooler radiator and hoses
New BFG 31x10.5 tires
Cut fenders and added new SOR polyurethane flares
New BFG 31x10.5 spare
New Man-A-Fre front disc brake conversion (unbelievably solid and tracks straight)
New rear brake cylinders and pads
New SOR master cylinder
New Downey 6-1 chrome header with pre-heater kit
New stainless oil lines
New SOR heating ducts
New rear seat covers (SOR OEM)
Repaired driver's seat and SOR cloth covers for all front seats
New custom stainless rear bumper - flush tail lights and receiver
New SOR dash cover (the glue-on kind)
New Conferr 1.5" over stock front shackles
New Conferr 2.5" over stock rear shackles
New SOR U-bolts
New SOR U-bolt skid plates
New SOR driver's side mirror
New SOR front bumper and brush guard

With all of these upgrades, I have never been afraid to take my cruiser to extremely remote locations. We have enjoyed many great times four-wheeling in the mountains and deserts of Southern California, especially Anza-Borrego (before all the closures), Joshua Tree, and Death Valley.

In March of 1996, my wife and I drove (along with three of our friends and their two FJs) all the way from Portland, OR to La Paz, Baja California Sur (just short of Cabo San Lucas) and back. We took a 14' Zodiac inflatable and spent nearly a month exploring the remote coastline - four-wheeling out to access pristine beaches and offshore islands where we wouldn't see people for days at a time. We drove nearly 7,000 miles in 28 days and made a ton of great memories. (We'll definitely NEVER forget the potholes on the way to Bahia Los Angeles!)

While this truck has seen some hard trails, it has never been four-wheeled hard. I am a careful driver and do not like to break things. The truck is set up to take abuse from roads and trails, but has never been abused by its driver.

Well, you can see why I've had a hard time coming to the point of selling. This rig has been a real joy to me, and I would love to see it find a home where it can continue to be used and improved.

There are a few rough spots. The valve cover gasket leaks a lot, and there are other drips. There are the typical rust spots - driver's side floor pan and below the rear door. There is a dent above the left rear window (don't ask, but my wife was certain the garage door was all the way up). The rear diamond plating came after some damage to the right rear quarter panel was repaired. It needs a new headliner, and the previous owner bolted speakers right through the fiberglass top.

This truck is pretty much WYSIWYG. There is nothing to hide, and I've done my best to tell its story. It has been solid and dependable for as long as I've had it.

Just a couple more details: The rear heater is present, and both heaters work well. The rear bumper is 1/4" thick stainless with flush lights and hitch receiver (no more crushed tail lights). Included is a matching stainless removable hitch with standard ball. The sale includes a 5x5 Conferr safari rack (think Baja for a month) and a rock-solid SOR tow bar. The tow bar is not shown on the truck, but you can see the bolted-on mounting brackets on the front bumper. Also included are a few miscellaneous parts.

For what it's worth, I live just around the corner from a longtime ih8mudder, Shane, aka AATLAS1X. He has seen the truck and would be happy to offer his opinion to interested parties.

Thanks for looking.
cruiser.webp
 
Last edited:
Still For Sale

This rig is still for sale and the price has been lowered again. Somebody make an offer.
 

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