Kei Trucks: A Canvas for Lifting
Kei trucks originated in Japan during the 1940s to reconcile the nation’s limited post-war resources. The vehicles’ lightweight, compact, and fuel-efficient design lowered demand for materials like steel while maintaining enough versatility to haul hefty loads across the area’s uniquely challenging urban and rural terrain.
Nowadays, the popularity of kei trucks has spread beyond Japan to countries like the US, providing automotive and outdoor enthusiasts with fun practicality. Kei trucks also feature customizable platforms lending themselves to modifications like lifting via raised suspension, increasing their ability to tackle off-road territory.
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Let’s examine the appeal, design aspects, and process behind creating lifted kei trucks to better understand why this modification is more than just a trend.
What’s the Appeal of Lifted Kei Trucks?
Lifted kei trucks provide performance, economic, environmental, and aesthetic benefits, striking a balance between form and function.
Performance Close-up
Lifting a kei truck naturally increases the vehicle’s ground clearance, which helps drivers traverse off-road terrain with tricky obstacles like rocks or fallen logs. You’ll also establish better approach and departure angles, helping to avoid scraping on steep inclines.
Many drivers who raise a kei truck use the modification as an opportunity to install larger tires, providing higher traction on various surfaces and an even higher ground clearance for better visibility behind the wheel. While lifting a kei truck can increase the vehicle’s ability to handle road obstacles, the design’s enhanced visibility allows you to recognize obstacles far enough in advance to avoid them altogether when necessary.
A large percentage of Kei trucks have 4x4 drivetrain capabilities. Combining a 4x4 drivetrain with increased road visibility and ground clearance gives you fun efficiency throughout diverse terrain, creating a tiny road titan.
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Environmental Advantages
One of the most significant benefits of Kei trucks is their ability to consume moderate amounts of fuel—even after modifications. Drivers can achieve these fuel savings thanks to their small engines and lightweight frames.
A 660cc Kei truck engine with 3-4 cylinders can produce an average fuel economy of 40-50 MPG. These engines emit fewer emissions than larger trucks, which is especially important within urban areas. Kei trucks with electric powertrains are also coming to the US, paving the way for even less energy consumption before or after installing a lift kit.
Kei trucks, with lift kits included, weigh less on average than many vehicles within their class, reducing their manufacturing carbon footprint.
Aesthetic Perks
While function is at the heart of every off-road adventure, many drivers take pride in owning a vehicle that looks the part of an all-terrain titan. Lifting a kei truck helps establish this look while maintaining the design’s quaint charm, which helped spark its worldwide popularity.
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What Are the Downsides of Lifted Kei Trucks?
The appeal of lifted kei trucks is multifaceted, as described above—but lifting any vehicle will have some drawbacks.
Environmental benefits like higher average gas mileage can experience slight reductions, primarily due to wind resistance from a lifted kei truck’s higher profile. Lifted kei trucks will also weigh more and have heavier tires and suspension components, requiring more fuel for drivers to accelerate and maintain speed.
Automotive enthusiasts, outdoor aficionados, and anyone else who lifts a kei truck can expect to experience a slight reduction in handling. This decrease in handling stems from the modified vehicle’s raised center of gravity, which can increase tip-over risks during hard cornering or other sudden maneuvers—especially with its relatively lightweight design.
Lifting additionally presents risks for excessive stress on CV (constant velocity) joints because the drivetrain’s angle is altered, potentially causing premature wear. Other possible issues resulting from lifting include but aren’t limited to, weight transfer issues during acceleration, braking, turning, and roll-steer.
While lifting can allow your kei truck to accommodate larger tires, the vehicle’s smaller design limits usable tire sizes.
Optimizing Your Lifted Kei Truck
Lifting a kei truck involves more than slapping on a set of larger wheels and hoping for the best. It’s a detail-oriented process that requires knowledge of the vehicle’s capabilities and limitations.
Kei truck owners can mitigate or avoid downsides associated with lifting their vehicle with additions like:
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A proper lift kit
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Longer control arms
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Implementing or upgrading sway bars
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Installing adjustable parts
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A body lift alongside a suspension lift
—and more.
It’s worth noting that the unique nature of kei trucks in areas like their smaller dimensions and motor types can reduce drawbacks traditionally associated with lifting, like lower fuel economy.
From Stock to Off-Road Ready: The Lifting Process
When lifting a kei truck, modifiers often start with a lift kit featuring components like coil spacers or new shocks elevating the stance by 2-3 inches. Choosing a smaller lift allows you to raise your vehicle’s height without significantly harming performance aspects like handling.
The lift kit you select should hinge on factors such as:
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Your kei truck’s model
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Intended use
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Desired tire size
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Maximum lift height
For example, a kei truck needing to meet moderate off-road requirements requires a smaller lift.
Suspension Lifting
After choosing an appropriate lift kit, gathering proper tools, and establishing a safe working environment—a professional or seasoned DIY enthusiast will modify the front suspension before moving to the rear.
Lifting the front suspension of a Kei truck with a kit typically involves installing longer coil springs, strut spacers, and possibly modified control arms. The final result is a greater distance between the chassis and axles, forming a higher ground clearance. Some front suspension lift kits may also require adjusting steering components and brake lines.
The rear suspension is often simpler and usually includes raising the leaf springs with lift blocks or extended shackles and adding longer or upgraded shocks.
Finalizing the Lift
After any additional modifications, like longer shocks, steering changes, or brake line extensions, a lifted Kei truck will receive its larger wheels and tires before making final adjustments.
These final adjustments include wheel alignment, drivetrain angle adjustment if necessary, and a test drive.
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Popular Kei Truck Models for Lifting
Suzuki’s Carry, rebadged from the Mazda Scrum model name, is one of the most popular kei truck models for lifting. The Carry has gained a reputation as a go-to choice for farmers and outdoor enthusiasts because of its durability, approachable modification difficulty, and frequent use of a hi/lo transfer case for more optimal off-road performance.
However, the market offers other compatible and popular options, such as Honda’s Acty and Subaru’s Sambar.
Ready to Blaze New Paths?
Lifted kei trucks take automotive curiosity to new heights by displaying human originality and the desire to push boundaries, even if those boundaries are the size of a parking space. These modified vehicles establish a unique blend of practicality when traveling off-road while turning plenty of heads along the way.
Oiwa Garage makes it easy to import kei trucks directly from Japan and select the right parts to achieve a quality lift. Our inventory features lift kits tailored to popular models like Honda’s Acty, complete with vital components like spacers, extended shocks, and more robust springs—all of which help avoid hazards like toppling over during sudden maneuvers.
Contact us today for tailored support on your lifted kei truck project.
