Japanese mini trucks

There is a lot of them in NS. I drove one and if you are over 5' 9" or have a husky build, forget it. They are cramped inside. Don't forget who they were made for. Then there is the issue of availability of parts, so make sure there is a place reasonably close.
 
Those old Suzuki's and the smaller Toyota 4x4 pickups were the best things going in the woods.

Yeah. And the old Jeeps.

The new side by sides is what I'd consider now. I see tracks on some of them.

2012-Polaris-RangerCrewDiesela-small.jpg
 
Problem with importing a RHD from Japan is the vehicle must be 15 years or older due to our vehicle importation laws, it's 20 or 25 years or older in the US.
 
Last edited:
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.

Ya.........and don't use the one that reyems with engine.........as in honest I***n.
Gotzs me arse infracted for that one........
Ya, I'm still pizzed about it.
 
Meh, to each their own but if I were you I'd get a Toyota with a rough body that you don't mind banging up. You can run bigger tires, have better ground clearance, and go where side by sides and those mini-minis can't for the simple fact that you can not get the same break over height.....wheel base vs ground clearance.

For example, I have a Toyota, the box is shortened 15", took 2 hours.
It only has a body lift, $150, 3hrs.
Rubbed the front wheel wells for tire clearance to the body seam. 3 hrs.
Locked rear diff. (Welded)
38'5" tires.
I have a link/coil setup in the rear but it's not necessary.

I litterally drag lifted/modified side by sides up the mountains in the snow sometimes 2 at a time.
I don't even scrape rocks that they get high centred on.
My tires simply roll over rough terrain and obstacles that smaller tires fall into or have to climb.

2.5 years running this truck daily and wheeling it hard, it's rough to look at, been flopped a few times, side caved in pivoting around trees and boulders and have not broken anything besides a rear spring (hence the coil/links), and a drive shaft while climbing onto a minivan shaped/size boulder.
 
Japanese mini trucks are awsom drove my cousins there better then any atv you will find for around the same price. They will not replaces a good pick up but a way better option then a traditional atv. And ther not that tight im 6,2 320lbs and had no problems driving it.
 
Here is a old Suzuki we did up. Dont have much more than 1000.00 bucks into it. 33" tires, winch... the thing goes anywhere. Its registered as a trailer :)


IMG_1134_zpse9c621c5.jpg
 
That old Suzuki looks really good, we used to use one for ice fishing on the lake years ago before they required insurance and plates on the water.
 
Anyway, this is CGN, it's totally fine.

On CGN it's ok to use derogatory and bigoted language. Nothing like perpetuating the stereotype of the redneck racist gun owner.
In all seriousness the term jap was and is a fairly racist term. There was lots of racism against he Japanese in this country. 60 years later they deserve a lot more respect than this.
 
Here is a old Suzuki we did up. Dont have much more than 1000.00 bucks into it. 33" tires, winch... the thing goes anywhere. Its registered as a trailer :)


IMG_1134_zpse9c621c5.jpg

Very nice LJ. I love all Suzukis :)

Here are a few pics of my junk.

This is a 91 tracker hard top I did a solid front axle swap on using Samurai donor parts. Its like an ATV with air conditioning and keeps you safe from the elements. I prefer to tool around in little rigs come early spring and fall when the weather is miserable. The wife like to come into the woods playing too, as long as she can roll the windows up to hide from the bugs. My nephew helped me with this build, it's his now.




Here is my current Samurai (Ramurai), not a current pic though. It has baby TSL Super Swampers(not in pic), a 1.6l EFI motor, drop links and an exo cage. This little piggy will go anywhere I point it. It may take a few stabs and the occasional flop or roll but she gets the job done. I put the drive train together over a winter and built the cage in a weekend.






Ramurai's predecessor




and my 1983 Toyota Mini truck, this old girl has been to hell and back. This was my first build many years ago, Toyota's are a gateway drug lol.

 
Nice work on the roll cage, Do those vehicles have to be plated & insured to be driven on crown land? or are they ok as is to use.
 
Nice work on the roll cage, Do those vehicles have to be plated & insured to be driven on crown land? or are they ok as is to use.

Thank you

Vehicles always need insurance if they are driven off of private property. In Ontario you can get an off road vehicle green plated at the MTO office. This makes you legal for crown land, but no longer legal for public roads. Once you green plate a vehicle the VIN looses it's DOT status and returning it to an on road vehicle becomes difficult and costly as you will need an engineers certificate. I leave mine plated as on road vehicles and get a temporary plate sticker if I am going somewhere where I think I will see a lot of road time.
 
Back
Top Bottom