Honda Mini Truck

Used Honda SUVs and Honda cars are so sought-after and the Honda mini truck is especially desired that they sometimes cost nearly as much used as new ones. This is largely due to the reputation of Honda for reliability. One of the most versatile among the small utility vehicles is this Japanese mini truck.

Honda mini truck is not switchable between 2wd and 4wd, meaning it is All Wheel Drive, so you can just concentrate on driving the vehicle. The engine is liquid cooled, 660 cc 3 cylinder engines. It is a 4 x 4 manual with 4 or 5 speed with high/low transfer case. The Honda mini truck has a 4’ x 6’ box that can be folded down or removed including the tailgate to make a flatbed mini truck. Dump and scissor lift beds and van bodies are available for a used mini truck. All the

models have a cab forward design due to length limitation.

The Honda Acty which came from the word Activity has been introduced in 1977 designed for the domestic market in Japan. There is a series of microvans and kei trucks that belong to the Acty group. The van version introduced in 1979 was work vehicles designed for agility and economy. Therefore they generally lack options for luxury except for power steering and air-conditioning and some decoration, trim and customization.

A Japanese mini truck or kei truck looks tiny but it is a practical truck which comes in RWD or 4WD versions and is very well known in Japan with their van counterpart, the microvan. The Honda 4-wheel Kei truck first came out in 1963 and was named Honda T360. This pick up has leaf springs in its solid rear axle and its wheelbase measures 200 centimeters. The 354cc engine can be found under the truck’s floor which in 1964 became the Honda T500 Keitruck with a longer truck floor length of 319 centimeters and an engine of 531 cc.

The arrival of the second generation Kei trucks in 1968 produced the Daihatsu hijet. Daihatsu Hijets featured oblong front headlites. They have a wheel base of one hundred sixty eight centimeters and the wheel overhang in the front and rear wheel was heavy. The Daihatsu 360 Cab kei truck were produced as export models.

The third generation kei trucks were released in 1971 which featured more rounded lines. The Daihatsu Hijets of 1971 were much brighter looking with round headlamps. The 547 cc engine were released in 1976 with floor lengths of 309 centimeters and were called Daihatsu 360 minitruck for export purposes.

Those falling under the Kei truck class have a maximum size of 11 feet under the 1998 law and a maximum width of 58 inches, a maximum height of 78 inches with a maximum displacement of 660 cc. The weight is about 1500 lbs. When ungoverned, the Honda mini truck can reach speeds of up to 75 mph. The governor is a truck part that works as a speed limiter or a device for measuring and regulating the engine’s speed.

The vehicles of the same class are the Honda Acty, Suzuki Carry, Daihatsui Hijet, Subaru Sambar and the Mitsubishi mini. A similar vehicle originating from Korea is the Kia Bongo.

A used mini truck appearing in the United States from Asia are mainly used by farmers and hunters for off-road use. Vehicles are encouraged to be surplassed by Japanese laws after only a very short life, so importers bring the used Kei trucks into many areas of the world by ship containers at very low prices.

The Honda mini truck can have a flatbed or have fully enclosed cabs, a radio, seat belts, heaters, windshield wipers, standard lights and signals and full instrumentation. It is claimed that one gallon of gasoline will reach 40 miles in this mini vehicle. The mini vehicles lack conformity with US regulations although they are legal in Japan and in many Asian countries. They are approved with some limitations in several states and for rural use on local roads. They have also been found on campuses as shuttle vehicles, rarely leaving the campus grounds. They are generally prohibited on interstate highways.

In 2005, the 2006 model of the Honda Ridgeline was released as Honda’s version of the sport utility truck into the North American truck market for pickups. With its unibody architecture ladder frame hybrid chassis, the Ridgeline has more bending rigidity with 20 times of the torsional rigidity of the standard ladder only construction of the chassis. The unibody hybrid chassis also retains the load carrying capacity of the ladder frame. This vehicle is bigger and sleeker than the Honda mini truck.

Many Honda Ridgeline cross over pickup owners wanted the lift option for their vehicle. ReadyLift came out with a Honda ridgeline lift kit for those seeking a suspension lift solution for their 2006 to 2010 Honda Ridgeline model. The lift systems bring the entire Ridgeline up by 2.0" through the front and rear lift systems allowing for a 31" off road tire. The lift gives increased ground clearance for off-roading trips.

The Honda mini truck may be tiny but its agility, low fuel consumption and reliability makes it a good vehicle to have around for those little errands and jobs.