Daihatsu Mini-Truck

[AchingBack]

I know some of you guys are into mini-trucks. I have looked at the Suzuki Carry All, with a dump bed, and recently a Daihatsu. I was told the load capacity was only 780 lbs. Can that be correct? In comparison, I have a garden cart that has a 400# weight load. How could this mini-truck be rated so low? If so, is there something one could do to beef up the suspension? My main use would be moving shale to low spots in my 1/4 mile driveway.

 

[Dargo]

I actually bought one and only kept it for a week. The guy I got it from had Suzuki, Daihatsu, Mitsubishi and Honda mini-trucks. The Honda ones were bringing a premium price. I bought a Suzuki, but they all were very similar in almost every aspect. Even with 4 wheel drive I got stuck immediately in about 2" of slick mud in my yard. They need ATV type tires to get any traction. However, to put those tires on it required cutting of a lot of sheet metal and making up your own lift kit. I wasn't keen on cutting out 5 or 6 inches of metal around the wheel wells. It's been a couple years ago, but I think those mini trucks only have 12" wheels on them. I put in about 500 pounds of landscaping rocks in the bed of mine and it was about mashed to the ground in the rear and handled terrible. I took a few hundred loss just to get rid of it. The way I see it, a guy could make one really nice but would have to spend about $5k on it plus a couple hundred hours of work. Needless to say, you can see where I'm going with this. That is when I saw clearly that it was better to buy something made to do what I wanted rather than try to get off cheap and make my own version which, in the long run, wasn't going to be cheap anyway. Besides, where I live none of the mini-trucks can be road legal. That would have been the only thing that may have made it worth the trouble.

 

[AchingBack]

Thanks Dargo, this is just what I needed to hear. I'll keep my dough in my pocket. I agree with you about the Street Legal aspect. That would make a big difference.

 

[dfkrug]

I actually bought one and only kept it for a week. The guy I got it from had Suzuki, Daihatsu, Mitsubishi and Honda mini-trucks. The Honda ones were bringing a premium price. I bought a Suzuki, but they all were very similar in almost every aspect. Even with 4 wheel drive I got stuck immediately in about 2" of slick mud in my yard. They need ATV type tires to get any traction. However, to put those tires on it required cutting of a lot of sheet metal and making up your own lift kit. I wasn't keen on cutting out 5 or 6 inches of metal around the wheel wells. It's been a couple years ago, but I think those mini trucks only have 12" wheels on them. I put in about 500 pounds of landscaping rocks in the bed of mine and it was about mashed to the ground in the rear and handled terrible. I took a few hundred loss just to get rid of it. The way I see it, a guy could make one really nice but would have to spend about $5k on it plus a couple hundred hours of work. Needless to say, you can see where I'm going with this. That is when I saw clearly that it was better to buy something made to do what I wanted rather than try to get off cheap and make my own version which, in the long run, wasn't going to be cheap anyway. Besides, where I live none of the mini-trucks can be road legal. That would have been the only thing that may have made it worth the trouble.

Interesting experience, DARGO. I helped a friend buy a Suzuki Carry and he
loves it. It has 4x4 and an open truck bed with hinged sides, but no dump
feature. You are right the tires are small and have street tread, so better
tires would be nice if taken off-road. It drives great on the road, but is
governed by the importer to only 25mph, I am told. Not street legal, of
course. Oh yeah, lockable rear differential, too. Weather-tight cab
and excellent quality construction.

I did not know that larger loads would overwhelm the suspension, but it
sure looks like it would carry more than a Gator, Mule, or RTV. The owner
used to have a GEM electric mini-truck and that was a disaster in terms of
traction as it was FWD only.

 

[Dargo]

It drives great on the road, but is
governed by the importer to only 25mph, I am told.

Oh, that can be taken off in about 5 minutes. My property is over a mile from the south end to the north end. I'd guess it would run 50 or 60 no problem. I don't recall why they block off the upper gears from being used. I know they had to before they could import them. I can see where the mini-trucks would be great on a huge ranch that is dry and mostly flat, but they just don't do what I needed. I tried to make mine something it wasn't.

 

[dfkrug]

Oh, that can be taken off in about 5 minutes. My property is over a mile from the south end to the north end. I'd guess it would run 50 or 60 no problem. I don't recall why they block off the upper gears from being used. I know they had to before they could import them. I can see where the mini-trucks would be great on a huge ranch that is dry and mostly flat, but they just don't do what I needed. I tried to make mine something it wasn't.

Is that how they do it? Block the shifter from higher gears? I did not check
that and I only drove the Suzuki at lower speeds up to about 25 when I
was trying it out. The cab-over design is very space-efficient. I don't
need one here, but it kills me that farmers and ranchers pay $10K-15K for
new Mules, Gators, Rhinos, LandPrides, and Kubota RTVs, when you can
get these Japanese micro-trucks for $3500-5000.

 

[atgreene]

Our Fire Dept bought one instead of an atv. We had the lift kit and atv tires put on it.

Thus far, I have taken it to two fires and I'm not impressed. We tried to climb a mountain with it and ended up winching it up each time up the hill (very steep, but an atv with weight on the front could make it unaided) and coming down the hill, I did the Joey Chitwood Stunt Show. The vehicle literally stood on the two front wheels and rode on the front bumper with the rear tires off the ground. I had to make 4 trips up the mtn to haul equipment and no matter how we tried it, it was a hairy ride. No one would ride with me, not sure why?

My Polaris Big Boss 6x6 is much better and hauls more weight, but has less space. Of course the Suzuki has a/c and a cab.

 

[Dargo]

I believe ya. That's why I said they'd be best suited for "a mostly flat" dry place. Although I gave up on mine before I spent more on it than a good side by side would cost, I figured out right away that they aren't the most agile or capable machines off road.

 

[dfkrug]

Our Fire Dept bought one instead of an atv. We had the lift kit and atv tires put on it.

Thus far, I have taken it to two fires and I'm not impressed. We tried to climb a mountain with it and ended up winching it up each time up the hill (very steep, but an atv with weight on the front could make it unaided) and coming down the hill, I did the Joey Chitwood Stunt Show. The vehicle literally stood on the two front wheels and rode on the front bumper with the rear tires off the ground. I had to make 4 trips up the mtn to haul equipment and no matter how we tried it, it was a hairy ride. No one would ride with me, not sure why?

My Polaris Big Boss 6x6 is much better and hauls more weight, but has less space. Of course the Suzuki has a/c and a cab.

To what do you attribute the limitations? Not a low enough 1st gear? Too
much front weight bias? What?

You and DARGO have experience with these micro-trucks off road...I do not.
Do tell.

(BTW, I had to Google Joey--Joie Chitwood.)

 

[AchingBack]

This link will take you to All Terrain Mini Trucks, and a specification chart comparing the following: Mini Trucks, JD Gator, Cub Cadet, Kawasaki Mule, Kubota RTV900
Compare - Japanese Kei Mini Trucks To Standard Utility Vehicles

I'm glad I found this because I was confused, and thought the payload capacity of these mini - trucks was only 600 lbs., which is puny, but that is the cab capacity. Whereas the payload is actually 1200 - 1500 lbs.

Now, I just may reconsider, as I see it will be more feasible to move larger loads of shale, and soils with one of these rigs. The beds are approximately 4 yards.