Japanese Mini-trucks

[Reveeen]

Originally Posted by lego1970

you can always tell which roads haven't had any salt shakers on them by the number of cars in the ditches. Having said that, if people would learn to slow down they wouldn't need to use salt, except for really steep drives.

Sadly I believe it is the idiots in cars (and SUVs) that are the authors of their own demise. All season tires are not "fit" for snow, unless you have the kind of snow that falls, lightly dusts the roads, and melts when the sun hits it. If wet grass poses a problem for your all season tires what do you *think* snow will do? Just because your SUV has 4WD, if you have no tires, you are an accident waiting to happen. If the roads are so bad, that you wish, or are glad you have, a 4WD, stay home.......nothing you will HAVE to do is worth your life.

If you have to "go", spend the 2 bucks on a bus ride.

[MICRider]

Too bad the mini truck didn't have enough leg room for you, they look kind of cool! Some of the JDM vehicles are so unusual compared to what we see daily that they really stand out. A woman at work has a Toyota Sara, I don't know a lot of the details on it but it has gull wing doors and the whole nine yards... Stock!

I'm dealing with an importer on a Mitsubishi Delica L300 high roof. Nothing remotely like it here, it's a small van with a 2.5 liter turbodiesel engine and four wheel drive. Even comes stock with bull bars and big fog lights, it's kind of cool in a really really homely way . Not sure if I will go through with it though, low km's and all but $8K is a lot of money to spend on a novelty. My son's assistant soccer coach has one and it looks like it could about go anywhere.

Importing these to Canada is way easier than I thought. Dealing with a fellow in Edmonton, he does pretty much everything for you. Very professional and very knowledgeable. I thought it would be a lot trickier to get them in.

[katoranger]

I need more info on this mitsubishi.

[frostbite]

I asked a dealer in Halifax about the availability of a 'Jumbo'. Apparently difficult to come by but he may have been trying to steer my towards another truck he had in stock that had a seemingly larger cab.

Ahh used car-guys!

[MICRider]

Originally Posted by katoranger

I need more info on this mitsubishi.

Mini thread hijack alert:

Heres a little video walk around of the L300 with it's 2.5 turbodiesel engine idling. It's a cool little van with a lot of utility built in. That right hand side drive thing would take a little getting used to but a buddy of mine had a right hand drive Land Rover and he said you just don't pass


Mini thread hijack off:

Cheers!
Stew

[katoranger]

That would be great. I see a downfall. The sliding door is on the wrong side. :wink: Would have to back up to the drop off door at the school.


Still would make a good commuter van. I wouldn't need to the 4x4 here.

[MICRider]

Originally Posted by katoranger

That would be great. I see a downfall. The sliding door is on the wrong side. :wink: Would have to back up to the drop off door at the school.


Still would make a good commuter van. I wouldn't need to the 4x4 here.

Lol! I thought the same thing about the door, but I was thinking about getting out on the traffic side in the street. They are sweet little rigs and I found an awesome importer in Edmonton but I kind of got cold feet on it... Parts and service thing kind of scares me, plus I could get a pretty good Caravan for that money. Not as cool, but probably more practical

[katoranger]

Well if you could find one yet.

http://www.turbominivan.com/

Almost non existent now.


Sorry for the thread drift.

[frostbite]

I tried out the diesel mini from Kijiji add. I'm hooked.

In person it is slightly larger than a typical mini so it wouldn't be considered a true Kei truck. It's still smaller than a shortbox Ranger. The cab was just big enough that I could drive in relative comfort. I could roll up/down the window with the door closed - ahhh the luxury.

It is more 'heavy duty' than the other mini truck's I've looked at. It had 14" front wheels and dual 13"s in the rear - tires should be easier to find. The bed is about 7ft in length (typical Kei truck is ~6ft). Frame and springs were beefier as well. The owner mentioned he'd loaded 'about a tonne' of rock in the bed.

No leaks and the only rust was on the side panels on the box - easily fixable. The current owner had the truck undercoated as soon as it arrived.

Power was lacking but this was expected. It's a non-turbo diesel from the late 80's. Power is between 40-50HP.

Dad went with me on the test drive and got a turn behind the wheel. He loved it as well. It was the first time for each of us in a right-hand drive vehicle - no problems.

[MICRider]

Originally Posted by frostbite

I tried out the diesel mini from Kijiji add. I'm hooked.

In person it is slightly larger than a typical mini so it wouldn't be considered a true Kei truck. It's still smaller than a shortbox Ranger. The cab was just big enough that I could drive in relative comfort. I could roll up/down the window with the door closed - ahhh the luxury.

It is more 'heavy duty' than the other mini truck's I've looked at. It had 14" front wheels and dual 13"s in the rear - tires should be easier to find. The bed is about 7ft in length (typical Kei truck is ~6ft). Frame and springs were beefier as well. The owner mentioned he'd loaded 'about a tonne' of rock in the bed.

No leaks and the only rust was on the side panels on the box - easily fixable. The current owner had the truck undercoated as soon as it arrived.

Power was lacking but this was expected. It's a non-turbo diesel from the late 80's. Power is between 40-50HP.

Dad went with me on the test drive and got a turn behind the wheel. He loved it as well. It was the first time for each of us in a right-hand drive vehicle - no problems.

Cool! They are neat looking trucks, met one on the road the other day and did a double take. I believe it was one of the smaller ones though, because it looked quite a bit smaller than a Ranger. So, any pics? Are you going to buy it?

[Weldangrind]

Originally Posted by frostbite

- ahhh the luxury.

I have many questions, but I'll limit myself:

How do you service the engine? Is it a doghouse, or does the cab flip forward?

Does the tailgate flip down as well as the sides? Is there a provision for box side extensions to increase height?

[frostbite]

No doghouse or cab tilt. The front seats flip up and the engine is right there. It looked easy to work on. I figure it would take about 10 minutes to replace the injectors and/or glow plugs.

Both the tailgate and sideboards flip down. There is no oem provision (as far as I can tell) for extensions but fabbing them would be easy for a welder of even the most modest ability.

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

I have many questions, but I'll limit myself:

How do you service the engine? Is it a doghouse, or does the cab flip forward?

Does the tailgate flip down as well as the sides? Is there a provision for box side extensions to increase height?

[SpudRider]

I looked, but I couldn't find a link to the diesel mini Kijiji advertisement. :? If you have time, please do post some photos!

Spud

[frostbite]

Click on the picture in the first post on page one of this thread. It is a hot link to the kijiji ad.

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by frostbite

Click on the picture in the first post on page one of this thread. It is a hot link to the kijiji ad.

Thank you, Craig. I did not realize the photograph was a link to a kijiji advertisement. Are you going to make an offer on this mini truck?

Spud