5 things i dislike about my kei truck

kei trucks

[@PowerlineRider]

Rims and tires for them all over ebay, like 300 for a set of 4 nice aftermarket ones.

[@Liberty4Ever]

1) They need a 6th gear... AND another 30 HP to drive 70+ MPH on the highway. Sixth gear won't help much with 40 HP. I'm not really interested in 70 MPH on the highway in my Hijet. That's not what they're made to do, and even though I drove my old '68 and '72 VW buses on the highway, like the 25+ year old kei trucks, they have only a sheet of metal between the occupants and any head on collision. There are no air bags and your knees are the crumple zone. Protectionist DOT rules prevent us from driving kei trucks newer than 25 years old, and they somehow pretend that denying us newer and safer kei trucks is for our safety? 2) Protectionist EPA rules prevent us from driving kei trucks newer than 21 years old, and they somehow pretend that denying us newer and more fuel efficient and less polluting kei trucks is for the environment? 3) My 1996 Hijet took three months to arrive after I paid for it. It arrived at the port with a blown clutch on 8DEC22. I winched it onto the trailer and took it home. I ordered the parts from Japan to replace the clutch on 14DEC22. The process was a nightmare. I was allowed to order the parts and pay for them. A week or two later I was told the parts are discontinued. I then needed to place another order for compatible aftermarket parts, and pay for them. Etc. Six weeks later, I finally managed to pick parts they could find. A shipping label has been printed but the order still hasn't shipped. Apparently there was snow in Japan? $47 for shipping and it should take another two weeks to arrive. I spent several hours researching oil filters. When I finally determined what I needed, I ordered a dozen of them and did the first oil change. BTW - the Fumoto F-133 oil drain valve works well on my 1996 Hijet, and presumably all of them of that generation. That fixed the leaky oil drain plug that had no crush washer and had been over tightened until it mostly stripped the threads in the drain pan, and it'll make future oil changes much easier. 4) When I was preparing to buy the Hijet, GEICO, my insurance company no quoted me on the Hijet, even after sending me to their special car insurance division. After seeing an online tip, I called Hagerty. They'd insure it but the premium seemed a bit high for basic liability, but it is a weird vehicle and assessing risk is difficult so they'll air on the high side. Once the truck arrived four months later, Hagerty no quoted me. They had changed their policy on mini trucks? I called GEICO and they insured it! That quote seemed a bit high too but was ~$100 less per year than Hagerty's quote and I could stick with a single insurance company. Good tip on Farm Bureau. I think they're here in Kentucky. All of my car insurance has gone WAY up the last few years. I'll give Farm Bureau a try next time, but it seems that all of these insurance companies are mostly operating as a cartel, and it doesn't help that government requires us to buy their products. To those who argue that requiring minimum insurance protects us, I've been hit three times, and all three times the driver had no insurance. The last time, I had been paying extra for uninsured motorist coverage for years, only to learn that without comprehensive coverage on my old vehicles, the uninsured coverage only applied to medical bills, which were already covered under my healthcare policy. 5) I'd like to have 25" mud and snow tires for off road use but that raises the effective gear ration so much that is prevents the engine from revving out to produce the power needed for near-highway speeds. 23" would be a good compromise between on road and off road use, but there are very few DOT rated options there as well. Either larger tire size will require a lift kit, which is in my upgrade plan. The tires on my new-to-me Hijet have good road tread remaining but the sidewalls are dry rotting. I'll probably buy five of the original kei truck 21" (145R12) sized tires but get Yokohama Super Digger II tires for better off road use. The tires are small enough that it shouldn't be too difficult to mount and balance them at home, similar to changing a motorcycle tire. That'll be handy because I'd like to keep the original steel rims, but sand blast them and powder coat them. A tire shop wouldn't want to let me take the rims home and bring them back a couple of days later. I an swap them one at a time at home. Storage Space - I bought two large military surplus (like new) 20 mm ammo cans. I'm going to use them to store tools and off road recovery equipment by mounting them on the headache rack, on either side, just below the rear window. This will leave the entire pickup bed area for hauling 4X8 sheets of plywood. As an added bonus, I bought an aftermarket remote electric door lock kit, and it has four door actuators. I'm installing the rear door actuators to lock and unlock the tool boxes. Radio - I'm going to buy a 7" ATOTO Android double DIN stereo with a backup camera, and install four 6.5 inch speakers in the corners of the cab roof. Thanks for the great video. Your issues are the same as mine. Anyone contemplating the purchase of a kei truck should watch your video. I'm looking forward to getting the clutch parts so I can finally start driving my Hijet. I'm also looking forward to warmer weather this spring so I can spend more time on my Hijet restoration and upgrade project. I have a thread on the Mini Truck Talk forum describing this project.

[@tacoman864]

Thanks for the kind words, hopefully things will get better for your situation 🙏 lets stay in touch..

[@Liberty4Ever]

@@tacoman864 - Impex Japan *FINALLY* shipped my clutch parts and FedEx is delivering them tomorrow. I'm close to having my mini truck on the road. It only gets better from there! Spring is close and I'll be able to work outside so the Hijet upgrades (tires, Monstaliner "paint" job, etc.) should commence soon. I'm documenting the repairs and upgrades at the Mini Truck Talk forum for anyone who is interested.

[@tacoman864]

@Liberty4Ever super cool where are u from?

[@Liberty4Ever]

@@tacoman864 - I'm in Lexington Kentucky.

[@kazumiinoue5043]

怪しいナンバープレート😮