Mini Truck on the Farm - We bought a Japanese 1996 Mitsubishi Minicab 'KEI' Dump Truck!

Well we did it. We jumped in and bought a Japanese Mini Truck!
This little beast is 1996 Mitsubishi Minicab U42T Dump Truck. After a 12 hour round trip to collect it from northern NSW (Australia) we have a look over it and discuss how we are going to use it on the farm.
These little trucks may not be for everybody, but we think it is going to be a big help to us on the farm.
Importer (Hugo) who we bought the truck from:
customcoasterconversions.com.au/
/ oldschoolimports
Yokohama Motors (Japan) for parts: yokohamamotors.net/page54.html
Megazip (Japan) for Mitsubishi Minicab U42T parts: www.megazip.net/zapchasti-dly...
Check out ‪@MotoCheez‬ on KZbin for some great USA Mini Truck videos

[@pb6839]

Just a inside tip for anyone interested in exporting. If you have time, it’s worth it to look on Japanese used car sites. The trucks you find there will have active Japanese inspection. That way you know it’s not a rusted out lemon. The auctions are a bit dangerous, the majority of the trucks are coming from the scrap yards, and there’s multiple middle men involved, Frankensteining the trucks together, hiding rust, faking papers. Looks like you got a great one though!

[@TreeChangeFarmer]

Great tip. The importer I used here has a team on the ground in Japan that inspect all potential stock. They sent me detail photos that showed up a lot more of the condition of the truck than the out of focus ones the auctions use. Cheers Dave.

[@patrickwong2823]

I like it. More useful than a dump trailer. Maybe I can talk the wife into letting me get one delivered to Oregon, USA...

[@TreeChangeFarmer]

Thanks for watching Patrick. Not sure if these trucks can be road registered in Oregon as I know some states you can't. Not that difficult for us and being RHD it all seems normal here. Cheers Dave .

[@Liberty4Ever]

That's a great looking Minicab! Congratulations on the purchase. I bought a 1996 4WD Daihatsu Hijet from Be Forward on 8SEP22. There was a two month delay before it shipped and another month on a cargo ship before it finally arrived at Newport News Virginia, USA. I made the 22 hour round trip and brought it home on a trailer on 8DEC22. Like you, I was very concerned with frame corrosion. My Toyota Tacoma (our version of the Hilux) had a manufacturer's defect. Their supplier, DANA Corporation, didn't dip the frames so they rusted prematurely. My Tacoma frame rusted through at 91,000 miles and rusted in half and was scrapped at 137,000 miles. So much for Toyota reliability. The dealer laughed because I fell for the deceptively worded not-a-recall postcard and was two weeks late, so Toyota did nothing for me to compensate for their manufacturing defect. I was very careful to get a Hijet that has no frame corrosion. I'll be applying Surface Shield, a lanolin based corrosion inhibitor, to the undercarriage, including inside the box frame. The clutch wasn't working when I picked up the truck at the port and I had to winch it into the trailer. I emailed Be Forward and they told me that the $80 seller's warranty that I purchased didn't apply because clutches are wear items. I guess there are used car salesmen in ever country. I still like the truck. It'll cost me another month and a decent amount of money to replace the clutch. I'm still trying to get Impex Japan to ship the parts. I didn't have any luck at Yokohama Motors or Megazip. I only paid US$265 for the truck so I figure I can't complain too much. Of course, shipping it to the US was almost $2000. Including all of the import tariff and fees, port costs, transporting it home from the port, taxes, title, registration, license, the clutch parts and labor, I have US$3,666.57 in the little truck. It still seems like a good deal to me. It's my current project, and I have many upgrades in mind. I'm piddling with the truck while waiting on the clutch parts. I did an engine flush and oil change today. I took the opportunity to install a Fumoto oil drain valve to make future oil changes quick, easy and neat. New spark plugs and LED brake lights arrived today. It's early winter here. When the weather warms in the spring, I'll "paint" the Hijet inside and out with Monstaliner polyurethane truck bed liner, and it's getting a double DIN Android stereo with a backup camera and a hardwired dash cam.

[@TreeChangeFarmer]

Thanks for watching and your detailed comment. I like the Mini Truck. It gets in many places easier than a car and trailer and being 4WD with high and low range is a blessing in wet and boggy spots. Luckily my truck came from the south in Japan and had little corrosion. When i bought it I couldn't see that there had been any timing belt changes but found after it arrived there was a sticker on the front of the engine that indicated it was done at 85,000 km (now it is up to 104,000 kms - about 60,000 miles). I will order another belt and some other stuff soon from Japan as there are no parts here in Australia other then plugs and filters. I found Megazip has all the bits but the killer is the freight costs to get the parts down here. Cheers - Dave.

[@21Coins]

You can buy a band expander so that FM radio will work outside of Japan

[@TreeChangeFarmer]

What! I googled that and never knew. Many thanks for the heads up. Cheers Dave.

[@TerraMagnus]

The 350kg load rating was more a part of the kei truck general spec. Make no mistake, that bed is on a full frame. 500kg should be fine. I think I’d want to revisit the leaf springs if I were regularly hauling that much.

[@TreeChangeFarmer]

Moving soil around the farm, I have loaded the little truck up to about 1 tonne. If I have to bring material in and have to drive on the road then about 500kg is OK before it starts to feel a little unstable. Installing the air bag kit really makes a difference though. Thank you for watching and commenting. Cheers Dave.

[@BansheeNT-D]

To be honest, 99% of the farmers don't need something like a Ford F-350. Kei Trucks doing the same job for less money. And for everything else there are Semi Trucks, Tractors or something like a Mercedes-Benz Unimog.

[@ultra9693]

They’re great little truck as long you are 5 feet tall to get in it.

[@TreeChangeFarmer]

I am 6ft and fit in OK. Trouble is the pedals are very small and close together so positioning your feet is the hardest part. Did think it was an issue when I first had it but now sort of used to it. Cheers Dave.

[@martynfrost3662]

Awesome. Looking forward to seeing it at work.

[@TreeChangeFarmer]

Yep already in some new videos underway!

[@MotoCheez]

That's cool, never saw the dump put on that way

[@TreeChangeFarmer]

It's all your fault Cheezy that got hooked on mini trucks. I subscribed to your channel to get the info on mini trucks before I bought mine. When I made this video I put in a link to your channel in the video description. Cheers Dave.

[@MotoCheez]

@@TreeChangeFarmer they're fun and a functional tool!

[@PoeticPeach34269]

That’s an absolute bargain for 12 grand

[@Tubingenstr]

Takamatsu has no snow. Dry place, seaside btw mountains. Japan's additional tax is not depends on kiles/kirometers. 5% additional tax over 13 yrs old car. 6:46 you should hide previous owners name and address. Enjoy Japan's mini truck!

[@masahiro7499]

良いね👍

[@TreeChangeFarmer]

ご覧いただき、コメントを残していただきありがとうございます。 すてきな一日を！

[@kdegraa]

We have a 4wd Club Car Carryall 295. It’s a good machine but can’t be registered for road use. If these trucks are reasonably capable off road with appropriate tyres I think it would be a more versatile farm vehicle than the side by sides land holders generally buy.

[@TreeChangeFarmer]

Hello Karl. Thank you for watching and your comment. I did look at the carryall just before I bought the golf cart project. It will certainly become more of a workhorse on the farm, but yes will be limited by not being able to legally register ed for the road. I am really impressed with the mini truck so far. I have just upgraded the wheels and tyres and the 4WD system is great for moving around and to be able to carry loads on the farm.

[@chrisdavis4492]

Hello Dave. In the process of getting a 97 mitsubishi myself. What wheels you going to use on the farm?

[@Tubingenstr]

Shinmeywa was Kawanishi, H18 great flying boat maker dyring WW2.

[@Jdjd12288]

Do you know that the most they pay for them is about $ 200 dollars or get them for free I live in in Japan and I have one I got for $500 bucks with 48 thousand kilometers

[@robertgros]

lovoio portò acasamia

[@user-hr5zt9ho3v]

個人情報出ちゃってますよ😅