Let's meet igor!

Hello all, new guy here. I live over in Japan and drive Hijet. I picked it up after I blew the motor in my Nissan and realised that it was going to be a long build on the new motor and I needed to admit I live a truck life. I looked at the Hijet and the Suzuki Carry. They both had modern fetching styling but the Jet had a lot more legroom and I found exactly what I was after, 5 speed 4WD. I would have like a Jumbo but the prices were astronomical.

These little guys are valued over here for low operation costs, gas, taxes, and inspection fees and also qualify for reduced tollroad charges and parking restrictions. Not to mention Japanese urban streets and a full-size vehicle can be a nerveracking experience.

I have a debilitating disease, I can't leave things stock. If left unchecked I can get pretty rediculous with strange mods that often do nothing more than amuse me. Case in point, my wheels. Those 12" steelies are not my style.



I went to UpGarage, a local chain store, used parts place, one day as I do from time to time. I don't go that often because I always seem to find something I can use and the prices are pretty cheap most of the time. Well this time they had a sweet set of wheels so I snatched them up.



How big are they, this big! The wheel on the left is stock. The Wedsports are 16 inches in diameter and 7 inches wide. I have seen 16" wheels on trucks like mine, very very few, most roll no bigger than 15 inches, and nobody has them this wide. All the dressed up mini trucks rock 5 1/2" wide wheels.



So, let's get started. Throw it up on stands and kiss the steelies goodbye!



As I said, nobody to my knowledge has put steamroller rims like these on a K-truck and there is good reason; they don't friggin fit! They hit the struts in the front and the parking brake cable in the rear. My only real concern was hitting the fender wells in the front, spacers could handle the rear clearance issues. Factory studs were never designed to handle thick aluminum rims and spacers so they would have to go. I would need long studs. How long? This long!



I started with the rear. Ah yes, drum brakes. Gosh I love drum brakes. Wait, I meant to say was F drum brakes!!! Yeah, so far I have found no source for rear disks but I will keep looking. For now though drums is what I got. Of course they were rusted to the axles so I had to use the bolt holes and a few hammer whacks to bust it loose.



Now after I loosened one shoe for clearance and pulled the nuts off the bearing cover I put this big sumbitch on the job. It has been forever since I worked on a live axle, it took me a minute to remember what to do.

 

Popped the old studs out, put the new ones, and slammed the axle back in. It was pretty straightforward but I wouldn't say it was fun, at all. No brake pliers in the shop.



The rear got a 5mm spacer before I put the wheels one, clearance on the parking break cable is good so I moved to the front brakes.
Check out those binders eh, almost as good as Brembos, NOT! Yeah, they are stunningly tiny. The rotors are maybe 9" in diameter and solid, no vents. The calipers are one piston and would likely have difficulty squeezing a decent-sized zit.



This truck is 4WD so the front hub is a bit involved. Pull the nut off and instead of the hub falling off you have to yank it off with a slide hammer.




Time for Mr. sledgehammer. Old stud out, new studs in. I pulled the rear studs through with a lug nut, I had no room to bang them in. With the front though I had free reign so I took advantage of it to make sure they were fully seated.




A little enthusiasm to get the hub back in.



The front took an 8mm spacer. I didn't want to go this big but it was what it took to clear the strut with all this meat.

 

You want flush? How's that for flush? The tire cleared the door but touched a little on the inner fender through the arc. The driver's side was better but both needed a little "persuasion".



Here is where the tire rubs, only on right turns and it is pretty bad with a passenger.



Nothing I can't handle with a few hammer whacks! I took a few tries but I have it clearanced to the point it only hits on sudden changes of elevation on a really hard right with a passenger; I can deal with that.



A lil front peekage.



And the rear is showin about the same.



Now that is a respectable footprint! If only I had the power to justify that much rubber but so what, it looks badass!



I am highly impressed with the change in Igor's look. I never expected to get a monster set of wheels like that for a decent price and then to get them to fit.



Now I don't have to roll around looking like an old rice farmer.

 

Rims look good,and that is one hell of a first(or second)post

If you keep up with the pics and tech talk,you will give 'Timetripper' a run for his money

 

Wait till the stereo is done. It's already got $300 worth of dynamat lining the cab and an 8" JL sub in a box waiting to drop into the passenger side. Mad needs his tunes.

 

Great set of photos and running explanation. Thanks! You have a sharp truckster.

Sam

 

Daihatsu wouldn't sell me the manual, they are kind of wierd over here on things like parts and shop mauals. They said something about trade secrets or some such drivel. I reminded them that it was a Hijet not a McClaren F1 and that Nissan sold me manuals for my Skyline without a problem, wierd. :sly:

So without torque specs we were left with PFT on the project.

Yeah, THIS was a gamble


And I rolled snake eyes, too tight and the right front wheel bearing sounds GREAT! :frustration:

Look for a "hey I messed my wheel bearing up, here is how to pull your head out of your butt" writeup in the future. I've got the new bearings ready, I am just not in the mood to screw with it right now.

 

Lemme speed up your education real quick... Welcome to greatness.

 

I have a few of those pics on my puter. I wouldn't mind setting it up but I have two cars and two bikes that need to get finished first.

 

I like the running commentary with the photos. It's a nice change from most of the text only posts. I keep a camera handy when i'm working on mine too...

keep up the nice work!

welcome,
Dan

 

I' ve been on "here" for almost a year now, and can honestly say, " this is probably the best post I read/seen"!. Well written, informative, entertaining, and down right fun to read!
Tmikewww
(tom)

 

I am really interested to see how the subwoofer goes in. I have a 2005 Hijet and I upgraded the stereo with 4" speakers that fir in the factory locations, and the bass sucks. I would love to find a way to drop a subwoofer in it.

Hey Mad, what year Hijet is that? How fast does it go?

Thanks for the info.

 

I am going to build fiberglass pods for the doors and I have already made a 3/4" MDF sealed box for my sub. It will be bolted on the passenger-side floor facing up. I expect the first time I crank it up the dash will rattle apart.

It tops out at about 70-75mph. I did the first oil change a couple of months ago with some royal purple. I wanted to try the oil and what better vehicle than the one that only needs three quarts!

I don't want to get too crazy right now but I will be looking at fabricating a ram air system to get that extra .0087654 hp and give him a basic tuneup, plugs, timing, fuel filter etc. It feels a bit anemic at the moment.

The K engines are very responsive to tuning. I am coming over from Nissan turbo cars and still getting my bearings with the lil three-bangers. I was surprised at how much power the turbo K cars were getting from basic upgrades. 64hp EF-DETs cranked up to 100hp with a new turbo, bigger intercooler and mild fuel tweak. That gives me hope that I could eventually have a real tire-smoker in a few years.

 

So Igor has a turbo? If not, are there turbo kits over in Japan for these? Sounds pretty cool. My 2005 tops out around 60 with stock tires, and goes about 50-55 with 23" Carlisle ATV tires on it. I would love to add some snot to my riceburner.

Acerguy, do you have a part number and mfr. for a thin sub. There is lots of room under the dash for something like that. I have a 6 1/2" powered Bazooka tube, and this wouldn't fit. But something a little smaller could probably be made to work.

Hey mad, I was able to cut my front doors to get necessary clearance. It was really easy with a jigsaw. I drew a line and cut it freehand, then glued the inside and outside door skins together with JB Weld and covered with touch up paint. Here is what it looks like:

 

Never mind Acer, I went on Ebay and found several compact subs that would fit. I put a bid on one so pretty soon I will be cranking the bass!!!!

 

Welcome to the forum.
nice "Play by Play" on the wheel install

 

"to the scientist"

Very informative post! I enjoyed it and will look for more to come. I wish someone from Japan would do something like this with the Sambar--the most different of all the Minis--and give some "tuning" information.

 

No, no turbo. It is a SOHC EF-SE at the moment. If I get my other projects done and find an Atrai turbo van in the junkyard it's game on though.

Nobody makes tuning parts for K trucks that I know of except dress up stuff. The EF engine appears in many Daihatsu vehicles though and there is a small aftermarket for the engine.
I found rods,



a super single clutch.



The rest like an exhuast I would have to fab.

Those IHI turbos are rediculously expensive too, over $1000 for something barely big enough to do doorstop duty, no way.

 

So I had installed these huge wheels on my truck a couple of months ago but at the time I did not have sexy nuts to hold the wheels on. I ordered them but they took forever first of all. Then; Work, school, crappy weather, etc. all conspired against me swapping the stock steel nuts.
I was going to get the Weds aluminum nuts to match the valve stems on the wheels but I thought about it. Aluminum nuts are cool but this is a truck and will be carrying a lot of weight from time to time. That, combined with repeated cycles of taking them on and off plus Mr. PFT behind the lug wrench, I was sure they would strip out or worse come clean off under a load.
I went with steel nuts with a titanium coating.



I have learned the hard way before not to assume things fit and just start tightening them. So, I checked the length of the stud protruding from the wheel, they are way longer than I actually needed, and checked the depth of the lug. All was well so I went one by one, switch out the crusty open steel nuts for the new ones.



I like my wheels, I would like to keep them, so I got a bit of security with these. They are not locking, or covered but they are 7-sided. You need the special socket to get them on and off. I have removed my share of goofy lug nuts on junk cars and I know a socket could be pounded on them to get them off but they would have to do all 16 of them like that. At the very least this will discourage the casual ******* armed only with a standard lug wrench.



All done! From meh, to wow!




I then pulled off the tie down bar from the back of the cab. This was built to be a work truck and it came equipped with a bar on the back to protect the cab. It looks ugly and I won't need its services so I pulled it.



It used to look like this.



Now it looks like this. I flipped the bed light's bracket and remounted it to the old mounting hole for the tie down bar. Me tricky.

 

I had washed and waxed it too, so I thought it was the perfect time to take some porn pics. Yeah baby!

 

Another most entertaining post. Thank you.
tmikewww
(tom)

 

I went junkyard hopping looking for some extra side windows today. The mirror tint is highly illegal and my inspection is in march. I'm not pulling my tint, it keeps the heat out, keeps curious people from checking out the inside and it looks too good. I already have to keep the steel wheels for inspection, might as well have "inspection windows" too.

Glad I only have to play this game every two years.

I didn't find any Hijets but I found some Atrai turbo vans! Engines were gone though, what a relief. I have no willpower and if I found one with a complete engine and wiring harness in it I would have come home with the darned motor in the bed of the truck.

 

i didnt see an answer to your question even thou it was a while ago. pioneer makes some decent efficient flat woofers in both their pioneer and premier branding.
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/CarAudioVideo/Subwoofers/Shallow#section=overview
did 4 of the 12 in premiers in an crewcab f350 and its very loud for what it is. not like any high excursion power hungry monster woofers but they take barely any air or power to make massive sounds. another avenue you could venture is pioneer also makes 8 inch coaxial marine speakers that sound awsome and play decent full range even into the bass notes.
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/CarAudioVideo/NauticaMarineProducts/MarineSpeakers/TS-MR2040
on a small amp these things get down. with a lil ingenuity u could do some door panels and stuff em in your truck, their only drawback is they are white... so u might need to look into some dye

*edited* didnt see u found some.. hope it worked out well