Kei Truck, Why?

Ive thought the Midgets and the like were cool since I played Gran Turismo and I live in the woods so I always figured one day I'd have one.

A couple years ago they were much cheaper and I found a site that would ship them extremely cheaply. I can't remember the exact figures but the trucks were insanely cheap , like.....$100 if you wanted them beaten up, but decent examples were still well under a grand. Shipping was about $800 and some other fees that I don't recall off hand. I think it was gonna cost about $1500 to get the truck and have it in port.

In the end I bought a Rampage instead, which really is remarkably close in size but mine is much much faster lol

Appleseed said:

In reply to stuart in mn :

Only one of them is a toy.

(Real pickups have 8 foot beds)

I agree.

Been a minute since I've posted here, but this thread is relevant to my interests.  Kind of surprised they're not more popular on here, to be honest.

My inlaws have had a Carry for a little over a decade now for relatively frequent use on their property hauling construction materials through the woods and whatnot. Super useful little truck.  My wife has always wanted one, and I think we may buy one primarily because we think they're neat. 

I rarely go over 40 mph in my daily commute here in NC, so I could drive it work if I felt like.  Could be used for taking the kid to school since she's big enough to sit up front with a booster seat (according to the DMV).

Talking with an exporter over in Japan about a particular Sambar we like.  @lownslow, I may be hitting you up to get your opinion on the import process.  Considering handling the customs stuff myself, I've heard it's really not that hard.

unevolved said:

I rarely go over 40 mph in my daily commute

That's the key. I think I'd already be shopping for one, but I see myself making a 50-60 mile run to get lumber, bamboo plants, or mulch (all real things I've done in the past month) and all but the mulch was a considerable distance. If I'm driving something that tops out at 45, I just nearly doubled my drive time due to taking the least direct rout, and driving slowly. 

The more I see these little guys the more I like them.

I drive 14 miles each way to work - ALL backroads (top speed I usually hit is 60 on a downhill, most areas are 45mph). 

I like the idea of getting full sheets of lumber, lot of space for mulch bags etc

Even with a 1500 silverado with a camper shell - those things are NOT fun to get. 

But, if youre topping out at 45, well, that does sort of suck ha

If they'd at least hit 60 or so it'd be something I was strongly considering. Upgrades to a kei??

From what I've read on dedicated forums and FB posts, 60 mph is doable if you don't mind being on the chip.  You just run out of gearing and it's not really viable for highway cruising without regearing and/or putting some taller tires on them. Which, honestly, is pretty reasonable given how much easier it is to find 13" and 14" tires. 

The dudes at Mighty Car Mods turbo'd their Kei truck. Along with other cool mods.

Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) said:

The dudes at Mighty Car Mods turbo'd their Kei truck. Along with other cool mods.

That's what I'm planning on doing to ours.  The Sambar vans had supercharged variants of the same engine that's in the early trucks. So I'll either swap in one of those engines, or do a little turbo build. 

Funny that this thread came up, as my Sambar is arriving from Japan soon. I got one because I wanted a truck but I have no interest in American market trucks, along with how big they are. I like my cars tiny. I'm also a huge Japanese car guy, so it kinda fit the bill. Basically use it for parts runs, a back up vehicle, and random cruising when I feel like it.

Im part of a Sambar FB group and there are many who have done highway runs with theirs at 60mph, and a few who have even done cross country drives. Probably not the best choice for cross country trips, but if you have the willpower its possible.

But yes they are death traps and thats something you should know going into it. I for one like them too much not to have one as a truck for random things. Its also so small that I can park it literally anywhere lol.

I think they make sense at 3-4k, basically what a utility quad costs. Beyond that, the novelty has to play a huge factor. I also enjoy small form factors, but it depends on usage case. I have a lifted Samurai, and cruising at 65 is a bit strenuous. I do love the small vans too. 90hp would make them a lot more usable.

The beds are about the same size as many US trucks and the sides of my ACTY fold down to handle larger loads. Great for getting around town and 60 mph is not a strain, but merging into 75 mph traffic would not be fun. $4,000 from Dan0 and delivered GRM Express by APEowner. Easy to register in Oklahoma with the import paperwork, it's a keeper.

AAZ-CD Jon,

What are you using for wheels and tires?

Did you also install a lift?

I am going to upgrade my springs before I do anything else.

The tires are "Forceum M/T 08 Plus Mud Off-Road Light Truck Radial Tires-165/80R13" picked up from Amazon with Priority Tire as the seller. *13s can be hard to find. The aftermarket wheels came from a Honda Del Sol I had about 10 years ago and I don't know the brand or offset. They have a 4x100 bolt pattern and are 13x5-1/2.

My truck is still on stock suspension. I get a little bit of front tire rub going over a bump unless I have a load in the back to shift CG off the front struts. I prefer upgrading to heavier springs to a lift kit. It seems that the 2" lift kits that some people have used wear the suspension components out pretty quickly and I don't really need much more height, just a heavier spring for the bumps.

Thanks.  I have heard the same thing about the lift kit.

lownslow said:

Thanks.  I have heard the same thing about the lift kit.

I checked availability and those tires in 13" are out of stock everywhere I found them. Hopefully they are restocked.

ShawnG said:

I agree.

As someone who has watched an awful lot of Cold War Motors, I feel both qualified and compelled to say that, despite the high-dollar two-tone paint and the absence of an obvious whiskey dent, that's pretty Saskatchewan.

As someone who also has eight feet of Real Pickup bed available, I feel both empowered and entitled to say that it's the way pickups are supposed to be.  But I also feel a tinge of embarrassment firing up eight cast-iron cylinders of American pride to move five thousand pounds (single cab stripper model) of bulk just to transport a bottle of welding gas or a couple of 2x6s or a single bale of hay short distances at ~40 MPH, and have often kicked myself for not picking up something smaller.

Them what's interested in a Kei truck might find something of value in Mike Festiva's YouTube channel.  He and his brother Andrew (who also has a YT channel with lots of Kei content) both have Kei trucks, and he walks through his decision process, test drives purchases, repair and maintenance, parts procurement, modification (mini campers in this case), etc.  I have no plans to buy a Kei truck and still enjoy his videos for both the content and the thoughtful, unpretentious presentation.

Playing around with some Prius tire options, I found that there are some reasonable KEI Truck tires that may fit stock wheels, shipped from Japan on eBay. Search "BRIDGESTONE RD604 145/80R12" or similar.

eBay does well with "KEI Truck" in the tire search. More MT 13"s:

Achilles Desert Hawk X-mt - 175xr13

MUDSTAR RADIAL M/T 165/65R13 73S

BRIDGESTONE RD604 145R13

In reply to DarkMonohue :

Mine hauls bundles of fence posts, 1200 pound round bales, pulls a trailer with a tractor on it, etc.

I also hate firing it up for small things. We have a Ford Escape lined with Husky Liner stuff and Yakima gear on the roof for that.

ShawnG said:

 

My buddy had one of those, in that same two tone, 460 powered, and did a beautiful resto on it. He drove it for a year then sold it. When I asked him why he said, I spent nine thousand dollars on gas last year and I didn't go anywhere.

Anyway, back on topic. I've been thinking about a Kei truck for years but was never comfortable with the RHD thing, and thought the prices were too high. During covid a lot of them were brought over and were selling really well at, you can imagine, crazy high prices. Well now that normal cars and trucks are available, there's a glut of Kei trucks, and prices are really dropping. So I'm trying hard to make a case for it. They will do everything I need, are great on fuel and would probably come in handy at the track doing track and trail maintenance.

I wanted to buy a kei fire engine from a local dealer but NY decided we can no longer register them here. 

I feel like more kei trucks need to invade GridLife's SuperUnlimited & SCCA's Unlimited2 catagories...

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

You have no idea how hard it is for me to avoid making the Subaru 360 Van another TT Kei vehicle.  

Maybe when it's got the swap I will run against it with my TT Kei car somewhere. 

Dumb question - are these RWD or FWD or 4WD?

hybridmomentspass said:

Dumb question - are these RWD or FWD or 4WD?

I think most are RWD, but there are a lot of them that are 4WD as well.  I have a friend who owns a Honda 4WD kei truck, he owns a resort and uses the truck for groundskeeping tasks.  A popular modification is to put ATV wheels and tires on them, which makes them more useful for offroad use. 

They were sold in other markets than Japan where they were left hand drive; I saw tons of them in Taiwan and rode in one once when I was there, and I'm sure they are sold in other Asian countries.  I've wondered why people haven't tried importing them from one of those countries, maybe used ones in those markets aren't in as good of condition as the Japanese market ones.

I was recently reading about an electric mini-truck from a company called Telo.  It appears they want to sell in the US market when it comes to production.  It's the same overall length as a MINI, but has a large enough bed to accommodate a 4x8 sheet of plywood when the back seats are folded away.  They also claim 500hp, 0 to 60 in 4 seconds, and 350 mile range. https://www.telotrucks.com