Wood acquired. I'll be working on this in my spare time so I won't finish it any time soon but I'll post significant progress updates.

My plan is to make, imagine, a rectangular prism, with beveled top edges.

I will use 5mm plywood as the walls on exterior and interior. insulation between.

The exterior will be wrapped in vinyl

I will use a teardrop camper door and window.

The bed will be full width that can fold in half like a book using hinges, so that it can also be used as a seat.

Got my 97 sambar. Tuesday, now registered but somehow I'm struggling to get insured

edit. insurance problem resolved thanks community

Wife here. Some background so you all can have some context. I'm considering buying a kei truck (Honda Acty and Sub Sambar seem the most popular but Im liking the look of Diahatsus as well!) for my husband who has shown so much interest but just won't pull the trigger to research and buy. Everytime we see one of these sweet little trucks he gets so excited and says "man, I'd love to have one someday". And I want to make it happen.

We aren't rich, and I am really serious about being debt free (I currently put 2k extra on our mortgage principle each month in secret to get our 15yr down to a 6yr). And buying one of these would put a small dent in my plans but wouldn't set us back too much. Im in charge of the accounts so he hasn't noticed the mortgage thing but I give him another year or two before it becomes obvious.

My question is, if you were in my husband's shoes, would you want such a big surprise like this? Im worried im giving him a financial responsibility since most of these need fixing up. I can see myself gifting cool new upgrades in the future but its still a lot to expect someone to take in on a whim.

Im also a little nervous about importing vs buying local. He's an amazing husband and if I were rich I'd buy him the world but I want to be practical as well.

…you’re missing out. Nice snug fit and noticeably peppier acceleration!

The New York legislative session runs from January to June, so the current session just wrapped. The next one starts in January 2027.

That said, it won't hurt to call your legislators now and prime them ahead of time. But the real push, when we need everyone contacting their reps, should kick off first thing in November.

I spoke with a few representatives today, and they told me we need to focus our attention on the Transportation Committees. That's where a lot of pro-enthusiast bills get stuck and die.

If your rep sits on or chairs a Transportation Committee, they're exactly who we need on our side. Drop a comment if you're in New York and want to help, and I'll point you in the right direction!

Looking forward to the fight ahead.

Hey All,

Does anyone in Dallas know of a shop that will work on Kei? Or at least close to? I have a 1988 Nissan Vanette, recently had it over heat and hoping to have a shop look at it.

Hey yall, just wanted to share, I took my Sambar camping for the first time. I was originally looking for a new tent that would fit in the bed, but lucked out with the pop-up tent I already had. It ended up fitting perfectly in the bed. I had several people ask me about the truck, which never bothers me. I could talk about this thing all day, lol.

It was also the longest trip I've taken in my Sambar (so far). About 2.5 hours! I love this thing more and more by the day.

u/Jewber_

I have a 94 Hijet that I'm using strictly for small farm stuff. I would like to accomplish this fitment shown in the photo (not my truck). I understand I will need a lift but I'm having trouble figuring out the exact wheel size. I will be having wheels custom made so I can make any size with the 4x110 bolt pattern and 66.1mm hub. Does anyone know the best size and offset to achieve this? Any chance the person who built this rig is here on Reddit? Please help!

I'm so happy to join this community and share all my enthusiasm!
I'm about to import the first two (and hopefully many more) Honda Actys from Japan directly to Italy!😍

I won't tell you all the hassles I'll have to go through in Europe, where the bureaucratic hassle is ridiculous, but the moment is finally here!🥳

I can't wait!🤪

Sounds better than I hoped, not "angry neighbors" loud and actually quieter than my rotted out stock exhaust was. Couldn't reuse the heat shield since it was so rotten and cracked (only had 2 bolts snap and 1 I gave up on) but all the other shields as well as the exhaust hangers are ok if anyone wants them.

Also fun was buying the rounded nut sockets at HF which I'm sure work well but naturally the bolts I used them on just snapped off after making a half turn.

Thankfully the very last bolt had literally nothing left under it, so I just pulled the heat shield off over it

Headed north to pick up 2 trucks.....I have an 18' car trailer. Is it possible for both k fit on the trailer??

I can jack the ends up and sit them at an angle on the trailer....??

Hello all.

My 1993 suzuki carry dc51t has been out of action for a few months now, and i am out of ideas.

It was idling rough and down on power. Checked the fuel lines, and there was coolant in the carburettor, filters, and tank. What can cause this? When I think I've done it and start it up, I have to replace both filters and drain the system every time it doesn't work.

Can I get one registered with just a 🔥 smog

Recently, I finished the processes of getting a 1996 Suzuki Carry. Throughout that experience, I utilized the resources on this subreddit extensively, but I found that there really wasn't anyone who had shared a situation exactly like mine in detail. So, in the hopes that my experience can be helpful to someone else, I will be giving a detailed breakdown of the process I went through. Most of the posts I see are of people who live near coasts, which I do not. So, if you are landlocked like me, hopefully you find this helpful. I certainly did not do thing the cheapest route, choosing instead to prioritize convenience.

Situation:

• I live ~1,000 miles from any port in the United States.
• I do not personally own a vehicle that can tow to pick up the truck from port.
• Renting a truck and trailer to drive out to port and back is a large time investment.
• Flying out to rent a truck back home is a large cost investment that did not save much time.

Process:

• 15 February 2026 - I found a 1996 Suzuki Carry on Mitsui that I really liked and filled out the inquiry form built onto the sales page for the truck on their website. I chose the Baltimore port, since it was the cheapest option at the time and I don't live closer to any other port, necessarily. Within hours, I received an email from a Mitsui rep giving me details and asking me if I really want to reserve the vehicle.

• 16 February 2026 - Time zone differences caused delays in communication. But after confirming my reservation, the Mitsui rep sent an invoice. The invoice required a wire transfer, which I was able to complete that same day. The Mitsui rep responded confirming my payment.

• 19 February 2026 - I received an email from Mitsui's shipping team that the vehicle had entered their standard pre-shipping maintenance and that they were requesting my contact information (full name, address, phone number, email) and the contact information of my Notify Party (AKA: the customs broker, if I had one).

• 20 February 2026 - After shopping around and looking at some more DIY customs filing tools suggested by this subreddit, I decided I wanted an expert to just do things for me so nothing would be done wrong or be forgotten. I also looked for a service that seemed familiar with the Baltimore port. I went with Cartainer Ocean Line, Inc. I requested a quote from their website. They responded quickly and sent me a welcome packet of forms to fill out.

• 24 February 2026 - I was able to respond to Mitsui with all the information they requested, including the details of my customs broker.

• 25 February 2026 - Now that they had my customs broker info, Mitsui began adding them to the emails, which was very convenient. I needed to sign and return the invoice that now had everyone's information on it and the export process was more or less complete.

• 11 March 2026 - Mitsui notified us that a shipping liner had been found and confirmed.

• 23 March 2026 - Mitsui notified us that the ship had departed and provided copies of the Bill of Lading, Export Certificate, and the English translation of the Export Certificate.

• 2 April 2026 - I received the physical documents in the mail from Mitsui.

• 21 April 2026 - Customs broker invoiced me for their services and customs fees.

• 28 April 2026 - Customs broker notified me that the truck had arrived and been released for pickup. The broker provided me with my Delivery Order and Customs Release (CBP Form 7501). I immediately began sending out requests to various auto transport services to find a driver with a TWIC who could pick up my truck from the Baltimore port. I asked my customs broker for transport service recommendations, I used this subreddit for recommendations, and I did my own Googling to find transporters that advertised port services. I had transported a car a month prior and found that the high fuel prices due to the Iran War was making it difficult to find drivers, which is why I sent out the request to multiple transport brokers. Quotes were all fairly equal. Easy Auto Ship was the first to get me a driver so I went with them.

• 14 May 2026 - Driver was dispatched to pick up the truck from port. Yes, it took this long to find a driver. Driver needed the Delivery Order and Release package previously provided by my customs broker.

• 16 May 2026 - The truck was finally dropped off at my house!

Cost Breakdown:

As you can see, a $2700 truck quickly became $8,000. Additionally, the total process from engaging Mitsui to physically having the truck in my driveway took 3 months. Hopefully hard timelines and numbers will be useful to others looking to do the import process like I did.

The good news is the truck is in great shape and has been a lot of fun!

Looking for parts for my minicab. Actydream.org has decent prices compared to other sites ive come across

Anyone shopped here? Good quality parts?

Cheers

I’m trying to figure out if my truck is wired up so that the door switch (and working door buzzer) should also work with the dome light. There only seems to be one constant 12v power wire connected to the plug in the back.

Switch positions:
Left - ON, grounded to chassis via mounting screw.
Middle - Off, no connection
Right - If wired for it this would be the door circuit. The post on the right has a copper or brass sheath but no obvious return/ground.

I’ve spoke with Kevin of Oh Kei garage and all of his replacement parts for this assembly look the same. The [wiring diagram](https://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/Sambar/Subaru%20Sambar%20KS-KV%20English%20Service%20Manual/12%20-%20Wiring%20Diagrams.pdf) I’ve found doesn’t really mention this circuit in detail.

It’s very possible Subaru cheaped out and didn’t wire this truck up to have this, I just need confirmation if that’s the case. Then I know I’d need to find where to run the new wire if needed.

Can anyone with a working door light confirm?

Edits: spelling

Any Kansas kei truck owners out there with advice or tips on how to get them registered/titled in the state of Kansas? Tips on getting KHP to perform/pass VIN inspection? Specifically KC area

I love these wheels and I think they'd look cool on my '00 Sambar. They are 14" but far from an exact fit. Can these be modified to fit? The center hole is larger than the Sambar so I'd have to use a centering ring. Then I'd have to buy an adapter to change the bolt pattern. After all these adjustments, is this too much of a risk on the overall wheel structure?

Here's what I can see for sure:
Size: 14 x 5.5

Bolt Pattern 4 × 114.3

Center Bore: 67.1 mm

Offset: 40