For Sale • Three Toyota FJ40s • Within 500 Miles of Bozeman (Mostly)
Crack PipeOr Nice Price?
A $15,900 V8 truck with a winch in Heber City, a $37,000 restored green 1977 in Sandy and a $40,000 frame-off blue truck in Seattle that required leaving the radius.
This week's premise
We Had to Go Farther Out
Every week I go through the classifieds within 500 miles of Bozeman, pull three old Land Cruisers and decide whether the asking price is a nice price or something the seller came up with while holding a crack pipe.
Housekeeping first: this week there were no fresh FJ40s inside the usual 500-mile line. Nothing new had been posted since last week that I hadn't already roasted. So I went farther. Farther back, to two Utah trucks that have been sitting on the IH8MUD classifieds since summer, and farther out, to a truck in Seattle that sits a little outside the line. Consider it a road trip I took so you don't have to.
The good news is that the spread is useful. A $15,900 V8 driver with some rust, a $37,000 restoration with air conditioning, and a $40,000 seven-year labor of love with a small-block Chevy. Three different ideas of what an FJ40 should be.
If you're new to the 40 Series, start with my 40 Series buyer's guide. Fair warning: I'm biased. I want one of these badly enough that I built a Fund the 40 page, so read every verdict below as written by a man who has priced all three in his head.
Ad 1 of 3 • IH8MUD • Heber City, UT • ~360 miles from Bozeman • Listed since July
The $15,900 White Truck That Already Hit Something
Our first contestant is a white 1972 FJ40 hardtop in Heber City, Utah, listed on the IH8MUD classifieds for $15,900. It's inside the 500-mile line. It's also been for sale since July 13, which in FJ40 years is a long time.
The ad is six lines long and refreshingly unbothered. A rebuilt 327 small-block V8. A new winch. Front-end body work "due to minor collision." Runs and drives great. Some side and rear body rust. And it comes with a second set of studded tires, which is the most Mountain West sentence ever written in a classified ad.
The mileage field says 13,400. On a 1972 Toyota, that's a number, not a fact.
Ten photos, all outside, on a gravel driveway in the aspens. Credit where it's due: one of them is a close-up of the rusty rear doors. Sellers almost never photograph the bad part on purpose.
| The Ad Says | Points | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Rebuilt 327 small-block V8 | + Nice | More power than any F engine ever made. Not original, so not collector money. |
| New winch | + Nice | Useful, and a few hundred bucks you don’t have to spend. |
| Front-end body work after a minor collision | − Pipe | Ask what it hit, who fixed it and whether the frame horns are straight. |
| Some side and rear body rust | − Pipe | Honest. Now go look at the rear spring hangers and the floors, where FJ40s actually die. |
| Runs and drives great | + Nice | The most important line in any ad, if it’s true. |
| Second set of studded tires | + Nice | In Utah or Montana, that’s a real winter plan, not a throw-in. |
| Listed since July 13 | + Nice | A four-month-old ad is a seller who might take a phone call. |
Ad 1 • The verdict
Coin Flip. Bring a Flashlight.
V8-swapped FJ40s are their own market, and it's a wide one. This fall they sold for as little as $8,200 and as much as $22,000, depending on how much rust came with the horsepower. $15,900 sits right in the middle of that, which is exactly what a coin flip looks like.
What tips it is the stuff the ad can't show you. "Minor collision" on a truck with a new winch bumper means you crawl under the front and check the frame. "Some rust" means you check the rear spring hangers before you check anything else. If both come back clean, it's a fun, loud, winter-ready truck at a fair price.
And a seller who's been waiting since July might hear a reasonable number.
What I'd pay: $14,000, after a frame crawl and a look at that collision repair.
Ad 2 of 3 • IH8MUD • Sandy, UT • ~355 miles from Bozeman • Listed since June
The $37,000 Green Truck With Air Conditioning
Ad two is a green 1977 FJ40 hardtop in Sandy, Utah, on the IH8MUD classifieds for $37,000. Also inside the line, also a summer ad: it went up June 22.
The seller calls it fully restored, inside and out, "no issues, ready to be used as a daily drive." Then comes a parts list that reads like a wish list. A rebuilt 2F six. A brand-new H55F five-speed and transfer case. OEM power steering. A new Vintage Air AC system. A Retro Sound radio. An FJ60 rear differential with 3.7 gears. A Dakota Digital gauge cluster. New Toyo Open Country tires and a new battery. In the comments, the seller adds that the paint is a standard Toyota color and the restoration was done by a small shop in Utah.
The H55F matters. It's the five-speed Toyota put in late FJ40s, and the fifth gear is the difference between a truck you drive to the trailhead and a truck you trailer to the trailhead. The 3.7 gears point the same direction: highway, not rock garden.
What the ad doesn't have: mileage, any mention of the frame, or a single photo with a receipt in it.
| The Ad Says | Points | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Full restoration, inside and out | + Nice | The expensive part, already paid for by someone else. |
| Rebuilt 2F engine | + Nice | The right engine for the truck. Ask who rebuilt it and when. |
| New H55F five-speed and transfer case | + Nice | The most useful upgrade an FJ40 can get. Freeway speeds without the screaming. |
| Vintage Air AC and power steering | + Nice | An FJ40 your passenger might ride in twice. |
| FJ60 rear differential, 3.7 gears | + Nice | Taller gearing for the highway, a little less fun in the rocks. |
| No mileage, no frame details | − Pipe | At $37,000, "no issues" needs to come with photos from underneath. |
| Listed since June 22 | − Pipe | Nobody has jumped on it in nearly five months. The market is telling you something. |
Ad 2 • The verdict
Nice Price, Barely
$37,000 is $7,000 over the 12-month median and right at the top of the typical range. But the median is mostly honest drivers with honest rust, and this is a restored truck with the five-speed swap and air conditioning already done. The closest comp, a 1977 five-speed on Bring a Trailer, sold for $36,500 a month ago.
So the price is fair. The "barely" is everything the ad leaves out: no mileage, no frame photos, no paperwork from the shop that did the work. A restoration is only worth what you can prove about it.
What I'd pay: $35,000 after an inspection from underneath. Show me the shop's invoices and I'd pay the full $37,000.
Ad 3 of 3 • IH8MUD • Seattle, WA • ~550 miles from Bozeman • A little outside our 500-mile line
The $40,000 Blue Truck Somebody Loved for Seven Years
Here's where we leave the radius. Ad three is a blue 1976 FJ40 hardtop in Seattle, about 550 miles away, listed on IH8MUD for $40,000. It went up September 24 and was updated October 11.
This is the opposite of a six-line ad. The seller spent seven years restoring it around a day job, and the description reads like it. The frame was blasted and powder coated. He cut out and replaced the rust, sandblasted every body panel, did the body work, priming and blocking himself, and had a professional resto shop lay down the final base and clear. Stainless metric hardware where possible. Factory weatherstripping everywhere it was available. A Dakota Digital cluster and lots of City Racer parts.
The drivetrain is the part purists will argue about. A small-block Chevy, installed by a prior owner, with Holley Sniper EFI and HyperSpark ignition, a ceramic-coated exhaust, a Ranger overdrive behind the stock four-speed and transfer case, and a minitruck power steering conversion. Torfab regeared it, rebuilt the transfer case and installed new-old-stock Warn hubs for the long birfields. New brake lines all around.
And then, the honest part. The floor gets hot behind the driver's seat and needs more heat shielding. The brake pedal switch is sticky. The throwout bearing isn't quite adjusted, "so there is just a little bit of noise." The engine's mileage is completely unknown. "Please be nice," the seller writes.
I'll be nice. I'll also be honest.
| The Ad Says | Points | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Frame blasted and powder coated, rust cut out | + Nice | The work that makes or breaks an FJ40, done and photographed. |
| Professional base/clear paint | + Nice | The seller did the prep, a shop did the shine. That’s the right split. |
| Small-block Chevy with Holley Sniper EFI | + Nice | Starts cold, pulls hard, parts at every auto store in America. |
| Ranger overdrive, Torfab regear and transfer case | + Nice | Real money spent by people who know 40s. |
| Engine mileage completely unknown | − Pipe | A prior owner put it in. Nobody knows what it’s seen. |
| Hot floor, sticky brake switch, throwout bearing noise | − Pipe | Small stuff, honestly disclosed. Still stuff. |
| About 550 miles from Bozeman | − Pipe | A little outside our line. Budget a long weekend and a trailer. |
Ad 3 • The verdict
Crack Pipe, Mildly
This is the best-built truck of the three, and it's not close. But V8 FJ40s don't get paid like restored originals. Most of the small-block trucks in the comps sold between $16,000 and $23,000. One exceptional 1969 cleared $54,000, which proves it can happen, and it proves it doesn't happen often.
$40,000 asks the buyer to pay for seven years of the seller's nights and weekends. That work is real. The market just doesn't pay hourly. Add an engine with unknown miles, a short punch list and a 550-mile trip home, and the number gets ahead of itself.
Somebody who wants exactly this truck will pay close to it. I'm just not sure that somebody is me.
What I'd pay: $32,000, and I'd tell him it's the nicest V8 FJ40 I've seen this year while I said it.
The scoreboard
Three FJ40s, Ranked
| The Ad | Asking | Verdict / What I'd Pay |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 FJ40, Sandy, UT (IH8MUD) | $37,000 | Nice Price, Barely. $35,000. |
| 1972 FJ40, Heber City, UT (IH8MUD) | $15,900 | Coin Flip. $14,000. |
| 1976 FJ40, Seattle, WA (IH8MUD) | $40,000 | Crack Pipe, Mildly. $32,000. |
Check these prices against real sales on the Land Cruiser Market Tracker. The 40 Series median is $30,000 over the last 12 months.
Overall pick: the Sandy truck. It's the one I'd drive home, it's about 355 miles from Bozeman as the crow flies, and it has air conditioning, which on an FJ40 is basically witchcraft.
Most fun per dollar: Heber City, if the frame checks out. And if you like the Seattle truck, you're not wrong. You're just early to the price.
Your turn
Scan Your Own Marketplace Gem
Next time you see an old Toyota with a big number on it, point the Car-Dex at it. It's free, it runs in your phone's browser, and it'll tell you what you're looking at. Then come back and tell me whether it's a crack pipe or a nice price.
And if you want to help me get my own 40, the Fund the 40 page is right there. I promise to crawl underneath whatever I buy before I hand over the money.
Photos and listing screenshots come from the sellers' public ads on the IH8MUD classifieds, shown here for commentary and review with links back to each listing. Comparable sales come from Bring a Trailer and Cars & Bids results. Prices and details are as listed on Nov 9, 2026 and may have changed. Seller and want something removed? Contact me and I'll take it down.
Seen a Listing We Should Talk About?
My friends keep sending me ads, and I keep writing about them. If you spot an old truck that's too good, too weird or way too expensive, send it my way. Especially if it's inside 500 miles of Bozeman. I could use the help.
If one of these is your FJ40, good luck with the sale. I'd love to hear the story.
Never Lift.
Drive Fast · Take Chances · Never Lift
