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Part van, part truck, and 100-percent JDM, Off Road Xtreme has decided to turn this pipsqueak pickup into a useable miniature 4×4. But this wasn’t always the plan.
When I first came across this 2013 Daihatsu Hijet Cargo “Deck Van” in April of 2022, I didn’t give a damn about modifying the vehicle. Having something with four-wheel-drive and a second row with four-door accessibility and additional seat belts was more of a priority, with the pint-sized bed out back being but a bonus. Factor in all of the tax benefits, fuel economy ratings, and dirt-cheap Japanese “shaken” vehicle inspection costs, and you can see why this chassis seemed so appealing.
Furthermore, my wife and I had just purchased an entire mountain, complete with an abandoned farm, and a driveway that doubles as a trailhead to Japan’s longest public off-road trail. So, needless to say, getting around our neck of the woods is just as scenic as it is treacherous.
That being said, we require a vehicle that can get us to and from the mountain safely and reliably and still haul compost, firewood, and wild game carcasses down the mountainside. A ride that could get beaten and bruised, but always bounce back and haul groceries, kids, and camping gear when required.
So we bought our gently used automotive oddity with the best intentions of keeping it bone stock. But things often change.
The Daihatsu Hijet Cargo Deck Van combines the Hijet pickup and the Cargo Van and melds them into a quirky yet practical package.
Why My Daihatsu Hijet Kei Truck Sucks
A month or so into my ownership of my first Japanese kei truck, the downsides to this dinky little Daihatsu had become too much to bear. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the practicality that the pickup provides, for it truly is a useful little daily driver. No, my malcontent is based more around the mediocrity and missed opportunities that were instilled from the factory.
Sure, the laughably underpowered three-cylinder motor that powers the pickup has kept me pining for more power. Yes, the base-born four-speed “auto-tragic” transmission and its wide-open rear differential has caused me to mash the 4WD button more times than I would like to acknowledge.
But there are more significant automotive packaging issues on my mind than mechanical mediocrity. To truly be able to live up here in the mountains of southern Japan, I need something far more capable than what I have procured.
Interior Atrocities Abound
Interior amenities and aesthetics are about as bland and basic as it gets. Take the cheap plastics and leftovers pulled from the 1992 Toyota Corolla recycling bin for instance, all of which are atrociously dated and crap-tastic to the touch. There are also quite a few misses that the vehicle’s designers just flat-out forgot to include for whatever reason.
The top-tier grade of this generation doesn't offer much more than some fog lights and a few interior touches that many of us consider base-grade standard equipment in most vehicles. Hence me opting for the much cheaper and readily available mid-grade "G Edition."
A few prime examples include a passenger seat that does not have a sliding function, zero rear bench lighting, speakers assigned to the front row only, and a fold-flat rear bench latch that can only be accessed from the rear passenger side. Not to mention the seating comfort, cushioning, and quality is made of glorified cardboard.
Down By Design, Daihatsu Hijet Style
I can deal with these faults, mostly. It’s the cargo van’s ride height that perturbs me the most right now. That, and the fact that unlike most Japanese kei trucks, which are very bare bones and therefore constructed primarily from steel, the deck van relies heavily upon flimsy plastics. So taking my pipsqueak pickup off-roading really does run the risk of me putting the “break” in “break-over.”
Limited real estate within the wheel wells is also a concern. The 12-inch donut-sized steelies that come on this truck don’t do diddly-squat for aesthetics or clearance levels.
Proud Owner Of The World’s Smallest “Deck”
Additionally, this truck has what we believe is one of the smallest truck beds ever constructed, because… well… Daihatsu did turn a freakin’ van into a truck.
Instead of designing a four-door pickup truck from scratch like every other automotive manufacturer, Daihatsu opted to hack out the rear storage hold of its cargo van, and slap a bed in place, or a “deck” as the Japanese like to refer to it. As previously mentioned, this bed is quite deep by Japanese truck standards, so there is a bit of a trade-off here.
Naturally, this configuration has still caused quite a bit of stowing creativity over the past year or so. This is especially true when stowing cargo, packing for camping trips, and moving larger farm tools up on the mountain.
Winching out tree stumps, hauling hunting dogs to the campsite, torture testing bash plates and iron bumpers, and exploring Japan’s longest public off-road trail are all in the cards once “Project Micro Machine Daihatsu Farm Truck” gets underway.
A Build For Both The Farm And Off-Road Adventure
On the upside, Daihatsu has left ample room for improvement in almost every area of this generation of the deck van. So hell yeah we plan on taking full advantage of this fact in the hopes of making this bizarre build even more unique and useful.
Furthermore, being that I picked up this overlanding/hunting/farming/daily driver of a 4×4 for just a fuzz over five grand, I really don’t give a sushi-sized snap whether it gets dinged up, hacked up, and dirty as all hell. Bizarre off-road budget builds are a blast, and we here at ORX wholeheartedly support these sorts of projects.
So what does that mean for “Project Micro Machine Daihatsu Farm Truck” and its genetically pre-dispositioned shortcomings? From a creativity and customization standpoint, a whole lot.
With some choice parts from a few of our favorite aftermarket manufacturers and some one-off ingenuity, we plan to turn this little Daihatsu deck van into a useful pint-sized workhorse. For even in stock form, this pickup can go a plethora of places larger rigs cannot. And unlike UTVs, it comes equipped with A/C, airbags, and a DOT stamp of approval for when it’s time to head into town for a bowl of noodles.
So stay tuned, because we’ve got winches, bull bars, body armor, recovery gear, locking security upgrades, overlanding mods, lighting, electronics, and even some choice power upgrades to hopefully help get us up over 60 horsepower on the build sheet.
But before all that jazz commences, we will start with the classic combo of a lift with beefier wheels and tires. Partially because that is the most pressing (and arguably most important) missing portion of the puzzle at this point, and also because I can’t stand the sight of these dinky-ass steel donuts any longer.
