Gentlemen, Recent post on a Japanese mini truck got me to thinking. Look like they would be good to use around the farm/ranch through the year and then be great for hunting too. Light weight means they would not rut up the roads near as much as our standard pickups, which is a big concern. Looking for any information from folks that have used them. Are they reliable? Can you get parts in a timely manner? How do they handle in slick mud? Normally not that deep but slicker than owl [bleep]. What problems have you had with one? What do you like best about them? Your help, as always is appreciated.

Little background. We hunt 2800 acres in Middle South Tennessee. Rolling hills, some of which can be fairly steep but most are not. A little paved road but not much. Most is yoiur standard farm road/track. Lots of potholes, etc. though none are super big.

Ever thought about a mule or a ranger side by side

Look into a Suzuki Samurai.

this

Kubota, mule , side by side

Roxor jeeps are street legal but you could by a real Jeep for the price

Should you decide on a small truck, they come with small engines. If you lift the truck, oversized tires, enhance it in other ways you really change the performance of the power plant and not for the better. I learned this by trial.
If it’s going to stay at the property and used for little else it probably doesn’t matter.
For the cost of a sxs anymore a guy might get a decent Jeep and a trailer to tow?

Osky

I will be moving up there in about 2 years. If you need any more members in your club, shoot me a PM.

I got farm use tags on the mule have gotten it up over 50mph and still had room to go the dump bed is handy.If you go the side by side route don’t do the smaller 400cc there glorified golf carts and get stuck on wet leaves😉

I looked at it, but IMHO, it was too heavy for what I'd use it for.

My Mule works much better, and is light enough to not sink and get stuck as easy due to much lower weight.

Got like 900 hours on my Trans4110 4x4 Mule. Love it.

The advantage I see is heat, maybe AC and weather protection. Don't know about parts though. SxS are so expensive now. Some construction guys on my base ride around in a mini truck hauling crap. Seems to work fine but they arn't off road.

Roxors can be made street legal and you can make them fast enough to travel on the interstate if you uncork their 2.5 liter turbocharged diesel.

I briefly considered getting one when they first showed up. But for the money one would need to put in them, they're not worth it, to me.

I purchased a canam hd7 defender for 14000 last year, well built machine, goes anywhere, tight turning radius, 1000 lb bed capacity, 1000 tow capacity, sits three across front, and was brand new. The mini trucks I see are 8000ish grand, and Ive always worried about getting parts.

Here's a 1986 with 72,000 miles for 8K.





Pretty cool little trucks for a hunting lease.

Side-by-side‘s are out of my price range. Plus, trailering then is an extra expense.

Regarding the previous suggestion of a Suzuki samurai, last year I bought a Chevy tracker which is very similar for $4000. It has 136,000 on it and runs great. It is parked outside next to our 96 Geo tracker. They’re very dependable vehicles and have a great four-wheel-drive. (Plus they are great for the kids to learn on.)

I know it sounds silly, but we lay the seats in the back down put a tarp in there and some totes. We have taking elk out with no problem before. Many times with our light weight we Half past larger trucks because we can stay on top of ruts better with our small wheelbase.

Your buddies may make fun of you, but for what you describe it may be a more affordable option.

For 10 years I ran a GM intermediate truck with 4WD. It hauled quite a few moose home for 1,000miles
plus gear. I never had to use 4WD for more than a few minutes at a time to get clear of bogs, etc. I hated to get rid of it but my wife had quit driving and I had no need for two vehicles any more.

For me it was a great compromise, decent mileage, comfortable ride, adequate bed capacity for my needs. Not made for construction work, but a good truck for someone living in the city and wanting a
multi use vehicle.

Jim

TM - I had a Diahatsu super cab for several years. I bought it from a friend of a friend and it was stock with mud tires. They never had any issues with it. When I got it I needed more than traction and clearance for muddy River bottom areas so I lifted it 3” and put better shocks, Dana 44’s and larger mud tires on it. That’s where the problems started…. It began breaking CV joints every other week. We modified that to a fix. It did pretty well and the real cab was great with a great heater. It would haul whatever we put in it - 1000# corn - no problem. When we moved to another lease - much more gumbo mud, it stayed stuck due to on clearance . Get in a rut? Break out the winch.

I decided to buy a sxs and gave it to my youngest son (who builds rock crawlers). He wanted power and lift. Put a Honda engine in it and an auto transmission. It needed the bugs worked out and he tired of it.

My advice is get a Dihatsu or Honda. Common Parts are fairly available from several sites. My biggest advice is keep it stock and realize clearance issues will be there. No one but you will probably work on it, so that’s a consideration of your mechanical talent. Driving a standard from the right side was no issue for us. I also hunt a huge 40,000 ac ranch in central Texas and their ranch hands drive them. Fairly rocky terrain so little mud and they keep on rolling.

Don’t expect it to go anywhere near where a decent sxs will go. Hope this helps. - Txwildman

Mini-trucks have an infinite utility that few can understand.

But they will not do anything magical in the off road department.

I doubt they want a member who is afflicted with anal warts.

Sit in one before you commit. Test drove a Honda Acty last summer with thoughts towards ice fishing, running around local, etc. Not gonna happen at 6' 3".

I only own 160 acres, and have side by sides, motorcycles, 4-wheelers, M34A1 Military Jeep, and various trucks, but what I use most is an old beat to [bleep], high mileage metrosexual Honda Ridgeline.
I have thrashed the living daylights out of that thing and it keeps going. The suspension routinely bottoms out over the serious rough stuff and the under carriage gets dragged over all sorts of rocks and other debri, but it keeps on going. It's nice to have heat, air, four doors, a short bed, with a fairly plush ride. You just don't want to be seen driving it.

For those that don't know, which is probably everyone here, the Ridgeline is a small ugly front wheel drive truck built on a passenger car chassis, but has 4x4 capability by engaging the rear axle. But it's not a locker, so you can still get stuck if you spin 2 opposing diagonal wheels. But I also have a dozer to pull it out if the need arrises.

Tony Rumore
Tromix

Had two Nissan extended cab trucks , 2006 I believe , with slightly over sized tires , turbo v-6 , had plenty of power and seemed capable of going about anywhere . Common sense plays a big factor in what you can do with one .
I used to belong to a hunt club east of the blue ridge mountains, low flat land , the guys over there drove tall ass trucks with big mudders and cut some serious ruts rooster tailing mud holes.
I would just idle along riding the humps between their ruts and never slip a tire .
Ground would get greasy as hell around fields and these guys with their big trucks slipping and sliding , I just eased along .
On my side of the mountains, it went up some dam steep grades and unless there was ice on the ground , never had to walk if I didn’t want to .
Turning radius was great , in low range didn’t even have to put foot on accelerator unless it got really steep and then just mildly .
Turbo gave me all the power I needed for highway driving and gas mileage ran about 20-22 mpg or so .
Air conditioning in summer for riding fields groundhog hunting or heat in the winter .
I highly recommend the extended cab for guns and gear . It is amazing the stuff you can carry in one .
Just my two cents
Kenneth
And you can pick one of these up for about five grand with 100 plus thousand miles to go
Do check the exhaust manifold though , they rot out and ain’t cheap to fix

Have seen them out this way, raised a little bit, 235/75 x 15 tires.. and the really cool thing... engine swap with a VW Diesel Engine...

They only have like a 7 or 8 gallon fuel tank, but a 40 to 50 MPG VW Diesel engine, can make it go a long way on these backwoods Forest Service roads that can go for miles and miles of nothing...that and an extra 5 gallon can of diesel or Two of them... one can do a lot of roaming for days...

an electric winch on front....& brush guard...

haven't priced one for sale used any time recent, but their prices were no where near $8K....

I've seen them used for $100., with a shot engine.. but if you are going to swap it for the VW Diesel, which were selling for like $500., didn't take much to make them into a good little rig....

The little Samurai and Trackers are bad azz little wagons. Clean examples are pretty rare these days. Most have been hacked and beat to schit.

Clean examples of either have gotten pricey.

A had a $500 Jeep Cherokee that I beat the fugg out of. Pretty light footprint.

Traded it off for 3 pallets of ammo cans and some AR500 steel.

I run Isuzu Troopers now (I NEED Manual transmissions on steep grade.)...

Isuzu Amigo or Rodeo maybe?

Pure bs. No mule goes 50. I’ve owned them all except the teryx. Why lie?

Back in the eighties and ninties a lot of gues ruined the rear ends on those toyota sr5s putting big tires on them....they were engineered to be just good enough... Same with those gator nets...take off the tailgate and they got squirrelly as hell...it took two eigjty pound bags of concrete behind the cab to compensate for the lost weight of the tailgate.....all for a minor improvement in gas mileage...

Friend of mine here has a duck hunting club and he uses a mini truck that has a dualie back axel, only one I have ever seen like it. He told me it goes great in the mud. His land is all flat river bottom where he uses it.

Tony,

My buddy got one of those for a song and had the same sentiments. Nothing ever went wrong with it, but he still hated it.

His biggest complaint was the gas mileage. Apparently they are abysmal in that department.

Trackers are very capable and are re-branded Sidekicks.

Samurais had straight axles.

you could do worse than using an older Toyota truck with the 22RE 4 cylinder. My '88 4Runner goes about anywhere and can haul a lot of weight.

Mine does no bs

Think they make 2 Pro models that top out at 50sh.

I wouldn't sell my Samurai for $8k. It has a spool in the rear, a locker in the front and a 6.5 to 1 transfer case. It fits down planted pine rows easily, gets 28mpg at 50mph on the highway and poking around the woods. I've put it on it's side twice and drove it home afterwards. Always wanted a older Toyota Tacoma or R22 4x4, I'm just to cheap.

You put a Powertrax in it?

They're incredible little vehicles and I agree, would never sell for $8K.

Yeah those are super easy to find in running condition at a good price.

I think I just passed four of them going down Griffin.

Fugking retard.

The only truck that handles in slick mud is a bull dozer.

How often have you handled Owl poop to know its consistency? Where would you find a patch big enough to have to concern yourself with negotiating it in a vehicle?

I traded my 88 samurai that only had 25k on the odometer in 94 for a 94 Toyota reg cab 4x4. I just took it into the shop for a blown head gasket. I would love to have that samurai back but really love my Toyota. Probably be buried in it. Seen one of those mini trucks the other day. Honda Acty. Where do you buy one of those? Never seen one on a lot.

Your buddy must be a F A G. Only a F A G would buy a Honda phaggmobile to hunt out of.

Fuggen hilarious

I dont know about other states, but in La., atv's and utv's are not allowed, hate to say not because there are a few exceptions, to run on public roads. During the daylight, they can legally ride on the shoulder of most roads.

Having a mini-truck that can operate on the road is an advantage. Plus the heated and maybe ac cab.

Each vehicle has it's own 'sweet spot', where it outdoes all the rest.

Thanks for the input gentlemen. To give a little more info, we have a 05 tundra and 96 Dodge 1500 that we use a lot. They do the job but when wet can really rut up the trails. we have 2 Gators, 3 rangers, lifted golf cart and assorted 4 wheelers. Looking for something to fit into this mix that will not break the bank. Seeing them on line for 3 to 6K, which is interesting, considering a new Ranger is 20K+. The enclosed cab, heater, etc.. are a plus. It also looks like the bed (even if lifted) is lower than say the Dodge. Have a friend at the ranch who can fix everything but not looking for something that stays broken. Checked and there are quite a few places on line with parts but do not know how well they can deliver. How well they hold up is the primary reason for this thread. Unfortunately, have not gotten much info in that regard.

An older Toyota 4x4 80' or 90's pickup will go offroad into places that can be surprising and haul an elk or two deer home just fine. BTDT several times

I've thought a few times the last few years that an older square body S10 or the next generation S10 crew cab pick up 4X4 would be a great hunting rig. Good gas mileage, pretty reliable, still easy to get parts for them, and comfy enough for an all day drive in them if it comes to that. I've ridden in the Toyotas, Nissans, and other small trucks and hated the ride in them on rough roads. Crew cabs are handy to put fishing poles, rifles, etc in the back seat while driving- out of the way and safe but within quick reach if you need it when exiting the vehicle... and it used to amaze me how much you could haul in the bed of those little rigs when you needed to...

I had a 88 s15 that was a tank

I don't believe it was called a Powertrax. I know it doesn't release worth a crap in a slow hard turn.

60" wide (I looked it up)...

A Jeep Cherokee is 70"... and my Isuzu Troopers are 72".

I can see the utility in planted pines and such.

Nice rig!

Had an ‘82 GMC S15, first year of production.

What a piece of junk. 2.8 v6 was terrible. Auto transmission was very weak. First time I put a load on it, the transmission started slipping.

For a cheap and capable smallish 4x4, I’d think an xj would be hard to top. Definitely not small in the sense of a Samurai, but pretty compact.

They can be had for a song, huge aftermarket, and with minimal mods are pretty tough off road.

Never owned or used a mini Truck, but have used SXS Polaris, other than being noisy and uncomfortable to sit in I guess they are ok, but my LJ will go any where i want to go and drag a SXS behind it, and its got comfortable seats and it is Quiet, with the wind in my favor I can creep up on wild game, and with my winch's i can pull most other vehicles out if stuck,you would have a hard time getting me in a little truck at 6'4" and 250# Rio7

The tailgate weighs 160 lbs? Who knew?