Nubee here. The plan is replace the UTV and the old 2wd Ford rangers in our fleet with Kei Trucks. They will see street use, mostly under 45mph and lots of dusty river silt, sand, mud, tall grass, low hanging branches including Russian Olive trees in a protected wetlands environment for mosquito control.
I'm thinking front and rear receiver bumpers, front metal skid plate, snorkel, bull bar, ladder rack for canoe, tool box, safety lights, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, 8" wide tires, and a few other things I haven't thought out yet.
If you're getting more than one try to get at least one with a dump bed or better yet a dump/scissors combo. . In all my working with these trucks my favorite and most useful was a Scrum 4x4 that started as a plain pick up bed, soon switched to a dump, then later to dump/scissor lift. I finally had to give it up as arthritis and old age caught up to me and I was having too much trouble getting in and especially out. I have a Kubota RTV900 now that is easier to get in and out of but no cab or heat and really loud. It does have hydraulic dump so that helps and I like the diesel.
MAD, Based on the Conditions, that your describing, and explaining, from past experience. I would choose a Mini Unit, with a front Cooling system, unlike mine, which is hard to keep dust, and debris, from clogging up the Radiator, and create constant, maintenance problems, down the road! Not sure where the KEI'S Radiator is located! I think the Carry, has the more traditional, front mounted Radiator, like were used to here in the U.S.! Limestone
Thank you all for the replies. I added a description to my signature line, but it doesn't seem to work. Anyhow, I'm now in possession on a 2019 S500P(?) HiJet with 34 kilometers on it. Single cab, 5-speed, 4wd with diff locker. It has AC (Yay!) and a heater. It's already been out fitted with a snorkel and Superdigger tires. It took my 30 seconds to learn left hand shifting, lol. I already love it! I chose the Diahatsu as I'm already a die-hard Toyota guy with a 1980 4x4 pickup and a FJ60 Land Cruiser. Anyhow, I started my adult life driving air-cooled VW's so I was super excited to see a mini version of their pickups but with japanese liquid cooled engines. The radiator is a concern. On our UTV's, we relocated the radiator up behind the headrests. This little truck has the radiator back to about the rear of the front fenders. It looks like it may pull foxtails and grass crud up into it from underneath. Maybe I could fashion some stainless screen than can be brushed off. I love the dump beds and scissor lifts. I can see how both would be handy.
Yeah, I truly do like and enjoy mine. I have threatened to move my Radiator up front under the windshield! Just another rainy day project! lol! Congrats on your unit! Good Luck! Limestone
Congrats on the new rig. Kubota tractors have a screen mounted to the front of the radiator that just pulls right up and out making it easy to clean the biggest part of the mess but you still have to give the rad. a good cleaning from time to time. If you are in an area with a Kubota nearby you might go look at one. They are of course different sizes for different sized tractors but you can get the idea. Shouldn't be hard to adapt. I'm sure other tractor brands have a similar setup.
Got a chance to remove the plastic nose and skid plate https://photos.app.goo.gl/5gQESVpDjBUmybDD9 Interesting bumper.. also the support structure across the nose. Thinking of ways to fab a jeep bumper/brush guard/receiver hitch to them. Also got to see the intake tunnel for the radiator. This will get a screen and so will the gap underneath infront of the front suspension assembly. It looks to me that lifting the front might be as easy as fitting spacers and longer bolts between the suspension assembly and the body, and fitting spacers on top of the stuts. Well, it can't be that easy, can it?
The only issue I see to doing it that way, is that you need to extend the steering column to attach to the steering rack. I think the change from a unibody cab and rear frame to a full frame occurred on the 300 series trucks. So, on your 500-series it makes far more sense than mucking with the suspension.
I need to have a closer look, but it looked to me to be extendable. Just being optimistic so I will verify as this takes shape.
I haven’t seen the 500-series, so it may have some extension built in. But, I would expect to have to cut the shaft and install a welded sleeve to adjust the length.
Well, I pulled all the plastic panels including the entire " bonnet" or grill. I somehow found myself on japanese websites that have some, but very limited aftermarket products, mostly cosmetic trim, but I did find a quality 4" lift. It has gusseted C channel blocks to raise the body/frame from the front subframe in the front, 4" longer struts (instead of spacers), engine/transmission/transfercase lowering blocks and mounts to keep drive line angles in spec, along with frame brackets to lower the rear's pins and shackles to keep factory specs. It even has lower brackets for the radiator. The cost is 230,000 yen but they don't ship over seas or they didn't reply to my emails. Too bad. I think this is the way to go. I'll check with some importers but if that doesn't work, we'll fab our own C-channel brackets and source different struts. I got the safety inspection and vin inspection completed, insurance for a govt entity is $25/year. I didn't have much trouble adapting to left hand shifting but the damned turn-signal switch is on the wrong side!! Lol, I turned on the wipers at every turn! Then I took the Certificate of Import to the DMV expecting to get a title. They didn't understand that the Japanese title is surrendered for the Export Certificate. Now I wait for the 7501 (?) document from the importer. I don't want to proceed until I got a title and plates (licensed as a SideXside, street legal in Utah except Federal highways).
What I do see is a niche in the market for a skilled fab guy to offer quality American engineered products for a soon to be booming business. Considering carbon emissions laws and the coming of electric vehicles, these vehicles are not only practical and efficient, but can easily be adapted for electric drive.
Hi Jim, I just picked up a 93 Autozam Scrum. I left port Dec 16, 2020. I wanted a dump but they were hard to come by. How difficult is it to remove the bed on a Scrum and make a dump out of it? Was there a certain hyd unit you used. Thanks for any info you can provide,
The bed comes off with a handful of bolts. The power unit for a dump trailer or pickup truck dump box is what you want. Building a sub framed hinge for a dump wouldn't be hard and you could just tie the frame into the factory bed mounts on the frame. Then bolt your upper frame onto the bed itself.. Pretty simple stuff actually. '93 Scrum is nothing more than a Suzuki Carry