Japanese mini trucks

two-dogs

two-dogs

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Has anyone have any experience with these mini trucks? My thoughts were to get one, put tracks on it and have a great trail vehicle. A quad could be carried in the back. I also have thoughts of getting one in the van formation. Would be great to take my dogs along. Not sure on parts availability and on just how durable they might be. Any ideas?

EDIT: Word corrected. Sorry, I did not realize! My apologies. :redface:
 
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Are those the little Mitsubishis you are talking about? I see lots around , and was thinking of getting one instead of a quad for a bush vehicle once I get some land up north. But haven't seen tracks on any.
 
There are several around the area and all but one seems to be good. One out of say 15 in the community had its head crack and supposedly they couldn't get another to fix it. All but one are used for business around town and country so they get lots of miles on them. The one on the ranch has four wheeler tires on it and the guy uses it as one but it has wind and rain protection with heat. The first one he bought didn't have 4 low and it was gutless in the hills so he sold it and bought one with a low gear in the transfer case and all was solved.
 
They use to sell them in town here, but they closed. My buddy had one and it was a novelty blast. It was fun for the first bit,..but you couldn't get any parts for it. His was very gutless and smoked white out the tail pipe and not very good on the highway, especially in high wind.
 
I have seen a few around Winnipeg in the last couple of years.

One guy used his for a lawn care business.

The versions I saw were RHD and 4X4 so definitely something to consider off-road.
 
The Great Canadian Oil Change downtown has one.
Painted up with their logos.
I laff ever time I see it.
Not sure it would turn tracks.
Get a Zuki and fix it up.
 
See them quite often. Always be careful who you buy from as I think some importers are far more diligent about what they sell.

There is a great guy near Armstrong BC that imports many different vehicles from Japan including these. IIRC he gives you a super deal on replacement parts if you ever need them.

He also has some very valuable Mustangs.
 
I looked into buying one a few years ago. The ones i looked at needed a lift before a track kit would work, and it needed the bigger engine to turn a set of tracks, so the price was pretty high. In the end it was going to be very expensive by the time it was all set up. Thats about 5 or 6 years ago but i think i was quoted over $18k out the door by the time it had a lift, big tires and a track kit. Ended up buying a ATV instead.

I know a few guys who work oilfield and these were being used for getting to well sites in the winter. Most stopped using them after a season or two. Said they weren't up to the job, and were expensive to fix.
 
I see some around, a local ATV dealer was hawking them a year or so ago. Some of them are utterly gutless as has been mentioned. One of them became locally famous after it couldn't make it up the oil change ramp at the gas station, even with a running start.
Those old Suzuki's and the smaller Toyota 4x4 pickups were the best things going in the woods.
 
Republic of Alberta said:
But Brit is ok.
Click to expand...

Not sure. I guess if it is OK with the British, then it is OK?

I suspect "Limey" is not OK. Along with "Kike", "Kraut", "Spick", "Wop"... etc.

Apparently "Aussie" and "Kiwi" are terms of endearment... (like "Canuck") ???

One thing I am certain of; many Japanese find "Jap" offensive.
 
I think you must be talking about early 80's Toyota Mini trucks. If so, I've had many of them. Anything 85 and older will have a solid front axle, incredibly reliable and capable little rigs. Anything 86 and up has IFS but are easily converted to SA with leafs or links. Check for rot, everywhere on the frame, they are all rotten somewhere. I love rock crawlers and the early Toyotas and Suzuki Samurais are great platforms to work with. I prefer the Suzukis for Ontario terrain, we can run circles around any heavy chevy in the woods. :)

I've had/built 18 different Samurais and 5 Toyota mini trucks...I'm sure I can answer whatever questions you have on them.
 
Canadian_Zuk said:
I think you must be talking about early 80's Toyota Mini trucks. If so, I've had many of them. Anything 85 and older will have a solid front axle, incredibly reliable and capable little rigs. Anything 86 and up has IFS but are easily converted to SA with leafs or links. Check for rot, everywhere on the frame, they are all rotten somewhere. I love rock crawlers and the early Toyotas and Suzuki Samurais are great platforms to work with. I prefer the Suzukis for Ontario terrain, we can run circles around any heavy chevy in the woods. :)

I've had/built 18 different Samurais and 5 Toyota mini trucks...I'm sure I can answer whatever questions you have on them.
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No, that's not what he meant. In the home market the Japanese make some much smaller vehicles because of taxation classes (which in turn are because of the dense traffic and smaller streets.) Honda, Subaru, Suzuki, Daihatsu all make them Some are vans, some are flatbeds. They are so small they can typically be re-equipped with ATV wheels with off-road tires and many are four wheel drive so although they are intended as light delivery vehicles for built up areas with that equipment they can be useful off-road. They are light weight with very spartan cabs. They can carry more cargo but otherwise are less capable off-road than an ATV or UTV. They are made witha right-hand driving position because the Japanese drive on the left.

Here are pictures of the Honda Acty for e.g.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=Honda+Acty&rlz=1C1ASUT_enCA429CA429&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=M1xZU5bFKKmqyAG7nICICw&ved=0CEYQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=643
 
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I saw one (passenger van type) advertised with a factory turbo and automatic trans, had A/C, too! May have been a Honda. This is what caught my eye. One fella advised to get the 5 spd std with the low range. Sounds like a negative idea to get one of these for my use, though.
 
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