Greetings, I recently took delivery of my first mini truck as a Father’s Day gift from my loving wife. It’s a ‘93 Suzuki Carry affectionately dubbed “Mighty Mouse”. It has 31,000 Kms on it, 4wd, 5 speed with “EL” gear, axle lock and rust free. Shout out to Amir at Boeki USA, an honest and helpful guy that only sells the cleanest mini trucks. I immediately applied for membership to this forum based on the threads I’ve already read. Y’all are either experts or maniacal fanatics of mini trucks (please trust me, I mean that in the most respectful way possible). I’ve driven this truck for 200-300 Kms already and I’m in love! So right off the bat I have questions: 1) I’ve read some of the problematic lift kit threads, but also noticed that those threads are dated back in 2007-2008. Are the 2” lift kits offered by GR Imports HERE having the same issues? 2) Has anyone added LED light bars to their mini truck? If so, are you having any issues with the increased load on the electrical system? I thank you all in advance for your time and consideration.
Matt, Welcome! Nice, clean looking unit! I far as the lift kit, I would contact G&R and talk with them on what your wanting, and explain to them your concerns. Several people have done the lift kit's, doing it different heights' and different ways! Most recommend not to go over 1 1/2 to 2 inches lift, which I agree with, for a light lift! Some want an extreme lift, going higher, which is a whole different thing altogether! Again, it's what you want and or need, that has to be considered, with your lift! There has been a few recent very good post's on what a few guy's have done! As far as the light bar, you need to review the post's on that also! There are several good ones, explaining a lot of what your trying to do! Is your unit ground switched like many are? If so, Jigs and fixtures just posted some great info on this, and on more than one occasion! Are you looking to use LED'S? Probably! Some more will add to this and you'll get the answers your looking for! Good Luck, and God Bless! Limestone
Limestone, Thanks for the input. My goal is to use this little truck for my short commute to work during the winter. I’m simply interested in adding 2 inches to the overall ground clearance to be able to cut through the deeper snow. You make a good point though, I’ll contact G&R directly and hopefully they can answer my concerns. As far as the lighting goes, I will check out those other threads. Cheers and thank you again.
The two inch lift kits are about as high as you can go, and not have the CV joints on the front axles binding up. You can buy new outer CVs, and CV boots for most of the trucks. But, The inners are typically unavailable. AS to the light bars: I added a bunch of lights on mine because I plow with it in the winter. So, I wanted a bunch of light. The LED kits are all overstating the Wattage. And the actual draw will be about a third of advertised or less. The headlights, and tail lights on most of the minitrucks, are ground switched which can make changing out the headlights, and tail light a bit of a problem. Based on the Watt ratings of the LED bulbs I ran way larger wires than I actually need, and upgraded to a 90-amp alternator. On my Hijet, I found that the “Mini-Denso” race alternators work just fine. I bought one of them with a plug which matched my truck, and had to re-clock it 90-degrees to get it installed. But that was pretty straight forward.
JnF, Thank you for the advice. I’m not too familiar with ground switched circuits but I I know I can figure it out. I’ll check out those “Mini-Denso” alternators too. When it comes to amperage, I would prefer to have more than I need. Cheers and thank you.
I run a 4 inch lift kit on my Suzuki Carry with no issues. There is a 4 inch spacer on top of the struts and the front diff is lowered by 2 inch so I dont kill my CV joints. You can run the basic 2 inch strut spacer in the front and longer shackles in the back with no issues. I am in the process of installing a bunch of led lights in my steel bumper on my truck and I strongly suggest you run separate circuits with relay so you dont mess with the original wiring. Nice truck!!!!
SAITCHO, Thank you for the anecdotal support. Is that lift a kit or is that a custom job? If it’s a kit, please drop a link, I’d love to research more about it. I think your tip on the relays for LED lights is right on the money. I’m thinking it would be a lot easier and more reliable to wire them independently of the truck’s circuits. Cheers and thank you.
I bought my kit from 4 sons offroad. It fits my newer DA63T model. Ask him if it fits yours or maybe he has one for your model. www.4sonsoffroad.com
I daily drove my 1992 Carry for 2 years in NY winters. You don't need a lift and I would not recommend it... Swap to 155/65R14 tires in a Nokian Nordman 7 snow tire. you will find 14x5.5" dual bolt pattern wheels on Ebay cheap that will fit them. your truck is either 4x100 or 4x114.3 depending on how late in 1993 it was built, but the wheels would fit either
Matt, Thank you for passing along your experience with winter driving. That definitely helps. That gives me both tire and wheels sizes to start shopping for. Those tires are pretty cheap and look like they would do just fine in North Dakota snow and ice. Cheers and thank you.
Nice looking truck , very clean , as for your wheels they are 4x114.3mm ( aka 4X4.5”) They are great trucks and as stated by others a lift is not really needed for snow use , stock hight,a good set of snow tires mid engine and 4 wheel Drive You’ll be fine . The larger you go the more wear on stuff that will cost more in the end I also look at it as stock being a “fuse” you may be stuck sooner but keeps you out of “really being screwed” Not sure what your DOT does to treat roads but with a truck that clean undercoat it now with something like fluid film, wool wax , bar and chain oil . Into every nook and cranny Stay away from any rubberised undercoating as It’s just a nice way to kill your truck from the inside out
Koffer, Thanks for the heads up on the bolt pattern. Not that I’m doubting you, but how do you know it’s 4x114.3 and not 4x100? The curiosity is killing me. I’ve decided against the lift. That definitely seems like a common opinion here. That’s a good call on the undercoating, they salt the roads occasionally where I live. Cheers and thank you.
Matt, Did you put 14” wheels and tires on your truck with no lift? If so, do you have a picture of what that looked like? Additionally, did you have any issues at all with rubbing?
155/65R14 Nokian Hakkapalitta R2's ( now discontinued ) on Raceline 14x5.5" +35 wheels.. 155/65R14 is almost exactly the same diamater as the 145R12 and only 10mm wider. No rubbing and hundred times better than the 12".. Nokian does the Nordman 7 in that size now. Raceline no longer has the wheel I used but they have one similar with the same specs.. 4x100 and 4x114.3 dual bolt pattern so it won't matter which one you have https://www.ebay.com/itm/One-14X5-5...718359&hash=item4d9a4de8bd:g:3DUAAOSwQmhdWyxb ..
Having seen enough carry’s at Amirs and getting burned by people saying the years where they “switched“ from 4x114.3 to 4x100s when I bought my first carry and taking 4x114.3 wheel spacers so I could put on my tow dolly in the pouring rain and finding out my 92 was a 4x100s . I can tell just by looking now and by the hub cap size in pictures the 100s have a little plastic cap and the 4x114.3s have a bigger metal one here’s my dump with the small stock caps and the stock rims have D hole openings I had to put the rims on backwards to get the wide enough track to get it home on the dolly that day
Koffer, It would appear that experience truly is the best teacher in this case. Thank you for sharing and for your expertise. Cheers.
Matt, I really like that look. Thanks for sharing the picture. That solidifies my decision against the lift. I like those rims too, ever since you first told me about the rims on eBay, I zeroed in on those exact ones. Any advice on a good summer tire I could seasonally swap?
Oh and there was no “year or time there was a change for it , they were both available thru the production up to at least 95 for the DD51T,s and Dd51Bs I believe there was 2 different plants in Japan building them simultaneously and that maybe why it happened , also Maybe the reason there’s 2 different air filter sizes and radiator heights
Nokian Nordman 7 snow tire is the only good tire available in the size, but the Federals or Achillies are cheap enough to try. The Achillies are XL load range which is same as the Nokian, I would probably go with those... With mine I just opted to run year round with the snow tires
I have two sets of street tires and wheels for my Hijet, which are the same except the tires of the winter set have studs. Many of the roads I drive on are gravel, and typical “summer” tires are slightly softer, and don’t wear well on gravel roads.
Ver very nice unit I just picked mine up last weekend. I have an 1991 trying to get the carb and all those crazy vac hoes hooked up correctly. If not I am switching over to a rino 660 carb. Have a great day.
Nice Truck. I also got mine from Amir. nice guy and good place to get a Mini Truck! Good luck with your new truck
Carlos, Amir is good people. I bought mine sight unseen (and was not extremely comfortable with that) and he did not misrepresent anything. It was all exactly as he described. Good to find honest people these days Thank you and same to you.