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Mitsubishi Minicab: Offroad KEI Mini Truck. 4WD, lift kit, dump bed w/scissor lift, winch - SOLD!

Discussion in 'Mini Truck Sales' started by AGrayson84, Feb 13, 2017.

  1. AGrayson84

    AGrayson84 New Member

    1988 Mitsubishi Minicab - 4WD - 3 Speed Manual Trans - Dump Bed - Scissor Lift - Wheel & Tire Upgrade - Removable Winch - Custom Front & Rear Bumper - Custom Bed Rack - Nearly 50,000 Lumens of Exterior LED Lighting - Much, Much More!

    Cliff's Notes: This is a very versatile little truck. You can use it for off-roading, hunting, and/or farm use. Imagine dropping in the rear bed rack, tossing a camo cover over the bed, and taking the bed up to full height. Sit up in the bed with your buddy and your hunting weapon of choice, and you have a pretty bad-ass mobile duck blind. Or load up the bed with tents, coolers, and all of your other gear and do a weekend excursion of camping and trail riding like I did! It's a blast in the trails and goes nearly anywhere in 2WD mode. Put it in 4L, pop the winch in the front bumper just in case, and you shouldn't have to worry about getting stuck in anything. Any you can swap the winch to the rear bumper in just 30 seconds! Had a blast driving this thing in 8" of snow in 2WD... it went everywhere without needing to once put it in 4WD. Very strong little 3 cylinder engine... these things last forever! No fluid leaks whatsoever!!! Have enough lighting to light up a field or the woods. Custom, heavy-duty front and rear bumpers, custom side-steps to climb into the bed from the side, upgraded to a full-size (group 24) 12-volt battery, Herculiner roll-on bed liner in the bed and on the lower metal fabrication (bumpers, side steps, skid guard). Bed liner has also been coated in Herculiner. Load up the bed with dirt, sand, gravel, rocks.... and easily dump the load from either inside the cab or from the wired remote. Very fun, tough little truck and you'll absolutely have a blast with it!!!

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    Price: $10,950 USD

    Notes: This cannot be made street legal in Maryland. These trucks are not intended for street use, but other states may allow these on the roadways. Check with your local laws; Serious inquiries only please; I'm not interested in any trades; Please read ad and look over pictures before you ask me something I've covered in depth below :)

    Full Album:

    1988 Mitsubishi Minicab 4WD | Photobucket

    Videos:

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_hvumGrrtFKTWMDkK-RQs86XejW7gcm-


    Please feel free to share this post if you know of anyone looking for something like this!

    This is a 1988 Mitsubishi Minicab 4WD that I have for sale. It is an imported Japanese mini truck, also known as a "KEI" truck. This particular truck I have is very rare due to some of its OEM features, which makes pretty valuable. I'll cover those features below. When it comes down to it, it is the ultimate side-by-side, go-anywhere little vehicle!

    I purchased this around 1 year ago ago with plans on making this a very fun, and very capable off-road vehicle. As you will see, it is absolutely every bit of both. It started as a plain, white mini truck that had small, worn tires, horrible looking, rusty wheels, some surface rust on the paint, and it was just a bit of an eye-sore. I cleaned it up really well, removed all surface rust from the body, applied etching primer, and sealed up the body. I went a little crazy from there. I ordered some new, 22" mud tires, black ITP wheels, and some custom wheel adapters to allow the 4x100 lug pattern to bolt up. Along with that, I ordered a 2.5" lift kit (with front camber adjustment) to get the tires to clear.

    Next, I decided that the factory bumpers just weren't good enough. The front bumper had some dents and had no purpose, as thin as it was. I took the truck to Joseph Hunsberger, a local fabricator, after tossing some ideas around. He built a new custom front winch bumper with brush guard, and reconstructed the rear bumper with a bunch of new fabrication. I wanted to house a full-size 12v battery properly, and have a means of climbing into the bed from either side of the truck, so he fashioned some nice provisions for that as well. I planned on taking the truck on camping trip on some trails, and wanted to load up the bed of the truck with a whole bunch of storage containers of various camping supplies, but the short height of the sides of the bed were not going to allow me to stack things without having to spend a lot of time securing everything. He ended up making me a drop-in rack for the bed that requires no tools to install or remove. It's a 1-person job, and allows for stacking of items in the bed when going off-roading. I also wanted this thing to be able to put out a huge amount of light all the way around the vehicle, in case it was needed for anything. I ordered a bunch of a various 6000k LED lights and Joe came up with the perfect mounting locations for everything, and made a custom rack to hold much of this additional lighting. All of this additional fabricated metal-work has been treated in POR-15, some of which has also been coated in Herculiner roll-on bed liner. These items will absolutely never rust.

    Back to the lighting, every last fixture is properly wired, using Weather-pack connectors where possible. There is not a single butt-splice in this wiring. All of the lighting is powered via a fused, 10-AWG wire coming from the battery, that is activated via a relay, only when the ignition key is in the ACC or ON positions. Each light has it's own custom rocker switch, and each switch has the proper fuse ahead of it. I molded a switch pod to the ash tray lid on the dash of the truck to hold the rocker switches. Aside from the color of the plastic, you can't tell it wasn't there from the factory. The curved, 32" light bar produces 30,000 lumens of light. It's incredibly bright, and has a specially-designed lens to project the lighting much better than a standard light bar. The front bumper and rear bumper flush LED pods are 2,200 lumens each. The side LED's are 2,800 lumens each, and the upper rear lights are 1,800 each. That's 48,000 total lumens, not including the factory headlamps!! You will light up a trail or a field like it is daylight! And all LED lighting uses genuine CREE LED's!

    While Joe was starting fabrication on the front and rear bumpers, I came up with the idea of a 2" hitch style winch mount on both bumpers, so the winch can be used for recovery from the front or rear. I ordered a new, Champion 4500 lbs winch as well as a winch hitch mount and Joe made it happen! The winch can only be operated while the ignition is in the ACC or ON position, after a safety switch that I installed on the dash is turned on. I ran 2-AWG wiring through the front and rear bumpers and installed a heavy-duty connector on both ends. To move the winch from the front to the rear or vice versa you simply unplug the large red connector, remove the locking hitch pin, and slide the winch into the other hitch receiver and plug it back in. Simple as that. It literally takes 30-40 seconds to move the winch from one end to the other and have it ready to use. The best feature is that the winch comes with a wireless remote that you can choose to use from outside of the truck (if you're not using the button on the interior switch pod). Just turn on the safety switch on the dash, and operate the winch from either the wireless remote or the switch on the switch pod. I'm also including a brand new 60' ARB winch extension strap with a 9900 lbs capacity, a 6" tree saver winch strap, SmittyBilt 3/4" D-ring, and a hitch with a 3/4" D-ring installed to it that can be installed in either the front and rear bumper if you'd like.

    What makes this truck very special is the bed. It has a hydraulically-operated bed that can perform two functions: dump and lift. Set the lever for the bed in one direction and it will act as a dump bed, and set the lever in the opposite direction and the bed will lift straight in the air which can be used for loading or unloading things from higher off the ground, trimming tree branches-- you name it. It's a highly sought-after feature, but very few mini trucks have the dump bed, let alone dump bed and scissor lift combo. The bed can be controller from either inside the cab with a switch in the dash, or you can connect the wired remote. Another few rare features are the extended roof of the cab (plenty of head-room for tall people), and the left-hand-drive configuration. Over 95% of mini trucks out there are right-hand-drive, and when it comes to driving a manual transmission that way when you're not used to it-- good luck. This is just like driving any other left-hand-drive, manual transmission vehicle.

    The engine runs great and is plenty powerful. I have a newly-rebuilt alternator and 1-year-old Duralast red-top battery on it. I just installed a brand new plastic battery box, external battery terminal posts (great for charging the battery [shouldn't need to]) or jump-starting another vehicle, as well hooking up any 12v accessory that uses battery terminal clamps), with brand new battery terminals and brass lugs on all battery wiring. The engine has a fresh oil change and the carb was just disassembled, thoroughly cleaned, and put back together.

    The 4-wheel-drive on this thing is simply awesome. A friend and I loaded this truck up with camping gear last summer and took it to the Hatfield & McCoy trails in Man, WV. This truck went everywhere all the Polar RZR side-by-sides went, without struggle. The truck stayed in 2WD most of the time. I took it out during the snow we got here in Southern MD in December, and in around 8" of snow I never had to put it in 4WD. The tires are absolutely great in the mud and snow. They are NOT meant for use on roads-- the tread pattern causes a somewhat rough ride and vibration due to the design. The few times I have used 4WD I mainly used 4-Low for the gearing, going up steep hills on loose, wet terrain. It goes everywhere without effort! And in 4-Low these things can pull quite a load. I've seen videos of people towing SUV's with these things, and even one of a person towing an SUV that had a trailer attached with a gold cart loaded on it, with a riding lawn mower linked up the the trailer. These trucks are animals!

    I most recently properly prepped the body and laid down a free-hand camouflage paint job. It's nothing great, but looks way better than the original white that was faded and had surface rust coming through. My friend laid down 2 coats of matte clear to protect the paint. I then applied Herculiner to the bed, bumpers, side-steps, and the floor. The rest of the vehicle (frame of the body, frame of the bed hydraulics, etc.) has been coated in Rustoleum spray-on bed liner to eliminate the original white paint and protect from future rust.

    I have also installed a digital voltmeter so you can keep an eye on your voltage (mainly if you're running accessories with the engine off), and also installed a dual-port USB charger, so you can charge 2 USB devices at once. One of the 2 ports is a quick-charge, which is great for smart phones. I installed a 12v cigarette lighter which can also be used a 12v power port for whatever else you may want to plug in. All of these items are fused as well, to protect from damage.

    The truck has working heat (starts warming up quickly, and will keep the cab toasty in any weather!), windshield wipers, windshield washer squirters, horn, low beam and high beam factory head lamps, turn signals, front LED parking/turn lights, rear LED parking/turn/stop lights, and LED side marker lights, fuel gauge, engine temperature gauge, speedometer, glove box, external storage box, recently-purchased 5-gallon Jerry can mounted in the bed, and more! These things get very good fuel economy so you don't need to worry about running out of fuel, but I decided to install the Jerry can in case we started running low on gas last summer in the event we didn't feel like venturing out for gas once we made it to the Hatfield & McCoy trails for the weekend.

    As you can see, this thing has a ton of hard work and money invested in it. All of the add-ons I've done were done with a lot of attention to detail. You have to come and see this thing in person to really see how well everything was put together and just how cool the truck really is. It can be used for hunting (can even throw a camouflage net over the rear bed rack, put the bed all the way up in the air, throw a chair in the back, and have a perfect duck blind!!), off-roading, and/or farm use!

    I've decided, with all of the time and money I've put into this thing, and what lesser mini trucks have recently been selling for, I am looking to get $10,950 for this truck. This is MUCH cheaper than any decent side-by-side, with a whole lot more functionality and features. If you're looking for something cheaper that does less, then this is not going to be the vehicle for you. But if you're considering a RZR, Ranger, Gator, Kubota, or anything along those lines.... this should be right up your alley and will save you several thousands of dollars. A lot more, for a lot less money :)

    Serious inquiries only! If you'd like to come see it, please e-mail me at agrayson84 @ gmail.com. The truck is located in Lusby, MD. If you're seriously interested and have any questions, please feel free to e-mail for the quickest response, or post a comment. Thanks! -Andrew
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2017
  2. mr.mindless

    mr.mindless Member

    love that front bumper
     
  3. AGrayson84

    AGrayson84 New Member

    Thanks!!! Clean Minicab you have there, btw :)

    I wish I had taken the time to grind down the welds on the front bumper to clean up it's appearance a little, to be honest, but I absolutely love what the fabricator did when he built it. The 2" hitch receiver let's you mount up pretty much anything you want. if you don't have the winch installed.
     
  4. Little Jon

    Little Jon Member

    Is this a 660 cc?
     
  5. AGrayson84

    AGrayson84 New Member

    Hi, this is actually a 550cc engine. The 3G81 engine was the largest engine offered in the U15T (4th generation). It wasn't until the 6th generation (starting in 1993) that the 660cc was available.

    It has been a pretty powerful little engine though.... we've loaded the bed of this thing up with over 350 lbs of camping gear, 2 people in the cab, full tank of gas, full jerry-can of gas (another 5 gallons),the additional weight of the winch, bumpers, and all other fabrication that was done, on top of the taller, 22" tires. We climbed all the steep hills on the Hatfield & McCoy trails we were on without issue, and they all either had really loose but dry terrain, or they muddy, long and steep climbs. I put the truck in 4L when only really needed and had absolutely no issues of not having enough power.

    Did you have any questions or concerns about the truck? Thanks again!
     
  6. NYDEANO

    NYDEANO New Member

    Have you had any success selling this truck?
     
  7. kjamo

    kjamo New Member

    Hi,
    Is your truck still available?
    Thanks
     
  8. AGrayson84

    AGrayson84 New Member

    Not really... a ton of people have asked about it, will act really interested in it, and some will pretend they want to come look at it, but none of them apparently actually have the $ based on this and that. A few people that seemed to have the money wanted to make it street legal, which isn't going to happen in Maryland, Virginia, or surrounding areas.

    Hi kjamo, yes the truck is still available. Do you have any questions about it that I can answer for you or anything?
     
  9. AGrayson84

    AGrayson84 New Member

    ^And this is how most inquiries on this truck have gone lol... people asks if it's still available and never reply after. :)

    Anyhow, price is now dropped to $10,950!
     
  10. AGrayson84

    AGrayson84 New Member

    Sold!
     
    Red Rooster likes this.

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