Off-roading in a kei-car in Japan – what could go wrong?

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]Hey there, fellows. Just a few days ago, this cube right here was a car. But as always, things didn't go as planned.

[00:00:07]Let's find out what happened.

[00:00:10]>> I feel uncomfortable that we're missing a break.

[00:00:15]>> It is rough. Yeah, it's wounded, but it's not dead.

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[00:02:33]We traveled to Japan and were invited for some traditional Japanese off-roading.

[00:02:39]We've opened an auction site and are about to bid on a four-wheel drive vehicle on a Jimny here in Toyama. So, find the car, place a bid, and go to the auction house. There are a couple of cars that fit our budget parameters. We don't want an expensive one. We are looking for something that's nice and cheap.

[00:03:07]Now, those of you expecting us to choose a car that's super lame because like it's Garage 54, well, you are mistaken.

[00:03:14]Check out this Suzuki Every. It's a wagon. It's got a turbo and all of that.

[00:03:19]It's a lovely thing. And it's pretty obvious what condition the exterior is in. You might remember how we made a Hokla style lot when those kids painted the car. Anyway, in this case, somebody also drew stuff on the car. They tell us it was driven by a construction brigade.

[00:03:36]And so, I mean, it was driven by contractors.

[00:03:42]What's there even saying, though, almost forgot to tell you the price? It costs a mere 90,000 yen, which is nothing like 600 bucks.

[00:04:02]Right guys, now it's all a matter of off-road prepping this amazing vehicle we bought off the auction. As for what we can do, well, first starters, it's got tiny wheels and not much ground clearance, meaning we got to lift it. As for how we go about it, we don't have time to modify the suspension. All we have is one day, and so we need to fit a set of bigger wheels to this. Right now, we are sorting out that issue. Now, those might not I mean, they certainly aren't going to fit, but no matter.

[00:04:32]We'll just cut all of this out with an angle grinder to make sure they can turn. This car does have a fulltime all-wheel drive system.

[00:04:42]And even if up front, just one of the wheels is going to be turning, in the back, we need both of them to be propelling the car. How we ensure that?

[00:04:54]Well, our go-to recipe has always been a welded differential.

[00:04:59]>> Yeah, we are going to weld the diff, especially since this thing has got a live rear axle. And for now, that's about it. If we have any time left, we'll think about what else we can do.

[00:05:10]Ideally, we'd like to remove the transfer case and weld up the coupling, but that would be very timeconuming.

[00:05:16]Anyway, let's get started.

[00:05:22]I felt the radiator. It is hot. So, look, here's what I'll do. I'll take apart the front end, see where the sensors are. At the very least, we need to remove the unnecessary radiators, like for the AC, and see what condition the main radiator is in. From there, if we need to, we'll hard wire the cooling fan or it to switch on when you turn the key. Yeah, sure. In any case, I need to take the front end apart. We should set up a button or a switch for it. I'll get a wire or use a wire or a switch.

[00:05:51]They've given us access to an enormous trash heap. The videos we could make with one of those. I swear to God, I'll show it to you later.

[00:06:00]What else can we put to use?

[00:06:07]So, I found a set of wheels. They've got the same bolt pattern as an Aquam with studless winter tires. I mean, we can just fit the tires if we have a tire shop at our disposal. It's hard to find bigger 14s. Those are 15s, I think.

[00:06:30]>> Do you need wheel caps for your bicycle?

[00:06:31]>> I do. Here you go.

[00:06:38]>> What sucks is that we only have one day.

[00:06:40]Whether we're done on time is going to depend >> on how fast we work and how lucky we get.

[00:06:58]>> We are taking stuff apart. We need to sort the cooling system. Check the radiator because the car is overheating.

[00:07:15]So, look, we need to weld this wheel to that one. And once we do, we'll be golden. I think that's the way to go.

[00:07:28]This is going to be terrific, right, Slava? Do you like the offset? Yeah. So do I.

[00:07:35]>> Wait a second. No, that's not going to work. You want to weld in the middle portion. I'm going to cut like this. Oh, then take this bit, position it on that side, and weld it on. Sounds good. And it'll fit.

[00:07:53]>> It'll be about this size.

[00:07:57]Place it onto here. It fits. Yep. It'll fit just fine.

[00:08:06]That's another way though.

[00:08:29]>> Wow. The offset we're going to have just like you wanted, bro. Fantastic.

[00:08:36]Crucially, we need to finish on time. We are short on time. How to overhaul the entire suspension in just one day? I have no idea.

[00:08:59]>> What are you doing, you weirdos?

[00:09:06]Only thing I'm concerned about is the condition of the bearings inside the axle. Will they be able to handle the stress? Who even knows? For some time they will. I guess the car is Japanese.

[00:09:19]What have you brought? Support truck with a generator welder and so on. Oh wow. This even has welding wire for a TIG welder. This has got everything.

[00:09:48]offset isn't even that extreme. I honestly thought No, it's good. This just needs more massaging with a hammer.

[00:09:53]This area, right? Yeah. Yeah. The offset is awesome.

[00:09:58]I think this is going to be every bit as capable as those rigs.

[00:10:21]>> Do you think we'll be able to finish this in a day?

[00:10:25]After watching your videos, I'd say you will.

[00:10:33]Almost there. I'm about to test bit this wheel. I know there will be interference. That's the hardest thing about this build. Making it so the front wheels don't touch anything. This is sick. Almost no overhang. A bit less and you can drive up to a wall and crawl up onto it. It looks like some sort of cart. The way it looks is just freaking epic. It's perfect. Let's go look for a lift kit in that trash heap.

[00:11:22]We haven't lifted it yet, but once we do, we should be good.

[00:11:26]I marked everything up with a lift in mind. What do you think about how this looks?

[00:11:31]>> I think it actually looks pretty good.

[00:11:38]They gave us full access. And now we go look for parts that might come in handy.

[00:11:49]It's now a matter of sorting the struts.

[00:11:52]In this case, we need to lift this car by as much as we can. Given what we are trying to do, if we want things to be good, get out of here. These are tire chains and we're taking them. We can grab an engine. They said we can take any engine parts or engines that we want. BQ35D 280 horsepower. We going to take it?

[00:12:16]Yeah, sure.

[00:12:30]>> It is really hot outside. like 40° C in the sun. Walking over the metal is rough. I fell and hit myself a couple of times, but it's all right. Anyway, this is the factory strut that I pulled off of our rey.

[00:12:44]Here's the one I found, and I think it's going to fit. I might have gone a bit too far. Yeah, it would seem so.

[00:12:50]Hopefully, it fits. Did I go a bit too far, Vlad?

[00:12:57]No, that is great. I can't imagine any other place in the world with such access to parts. And those are good parts. I mean, they're not junk. I even found a prop shaft for a GTR in there, which is in good condition. Not even rusty. I just cannot wrap my head around it. I'm trying not to care too much about those parts and just accept the fact that you can take them and use them.

[00:13:24]Heat. Heat.

[00:14:09]We are severely lacking tools. We don't quite have enough at our disposal. For a decent lift, we need to bring the arm down. But there are a couple of problems. First off, there is not enough movement in the ball joint. Second, the axle shaft isn't long enough.

[00:14:32]These have to be bored out. I guess we'll bore them out. Yum. Just a tiny bit and it'll be good. Exactly. Do you see the edges? It'll fit. Yum. Okay, good. What about this then? Yeah, there's some drilling to do here and there. There is nothing we can do really.

[00:15:17]Okay. The bolt.

[00:15:18]>> The bolt won't go in.

[00:15:20]>> No, it's blocked by them.

[00:15:41]>> All right, Vlad. Once we fit the second one, it'll come up. This trucks will settle, but we will have a slight touch effect going. But I mean, touch trucks drive just fine, don't they? And so will this thing. Whatever we build always does. Yeah. Everything drives and flies.

[00:15:56]Even on this sort of camber, it'll drive like it doesn't care.

[00:16:12]>> The height of the strut. Design-wise, here's what we can do. Take a pipe, extend it, slip it on, drill a hole, stick a bolt in, squish it slightly, and install it. That's it. Maybe try a different strut with the same bolt pattern to simplify things. You think we'll find one? We will. We just need to look for one.

[00:16:31]>> Wait a second. Why don't we bring it down and try driving it around?

[00:16:40]>> Oh, what was that? Heat.

[00:16:53]Heat.

[00:17:15]It's still leaning to this side slightly because one strut is taller than the other.

[00:17:22]>> We got to bring the right side up, Vlad.

[00:17:24]This one you can turn all the way to the left and the car drives forward just fine.

[00:17:29]This works.

[00:17:35]Things seem to be on the up then.

[00:17:39]>> Okay. So, lift the S end and replace this strut. Once we do, we'll be super close to finishing in that direction.

[00:17:47]You got proper steering lock. It drives.

[00:17:49]There's no interference. You did a perfect job with wheels. Oh, yum. Yum.

[00:18:16]Weight reduction will be required.

[00:18:25]Oh, it's a space saver.

[00:18:34]It's already dark outside. It's late, but we are still at work fiddling with the car. We don't have a lot of time, but we need to get this done by morning.

[00:18:44]So, there you are.

[00:18:47]As for what needs to be done, Sirill is doing the strut up front.

[00:18:54]Doing the work required to lift this thing.

[00:18:57]Meanwhile, I'm trying to remove the shock and spring in the back to fit a longer shock and taller spring because just doing the spring without lengthening the shock, well, that's suboptimal.

[00:19:10]And I just realized I could do with another jack.

[00:19:15]Perhaps use some plates to lengthen the brackets on the shock instead of extending the shock itself.

[00:19:20]I don't know. Like cut the brackets off from somewhere and weld them on. Is that an option? I'll make it work. The problem is getting it out and I need another jack to remove it.

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[00:19:53]This allows for immediate shipping to buyers. How to buy? You choose a car.

[00:19:58]Send an application. Receive an invoice.

[00:20:00]You'll have 5 days to make payment. And from there, the car is assigned to you.

[00:20:05]The car gets shipped on the nearest ferry. On average, it takes one to three days to get to Vlatty Vastto. So, no unnecessary delays or risks. After purchasing, you fill out the recipient form and upload the paperwork. Then, it's down to logistics and shipping.

[00:20:19]After that, the car goes through customs and you pick up your car. You can look through the inventory on their website, and you can also use it to find out the total cost of the car upon it landing in Vladivosto. Links, of course, are in the description.

[00:20:40]All that's left is to reinstall the strut, which is the most difficult task back here. If we had some sort of spring compressor tool, this would have taken a couple of minutes. But since we don't, we're having to stuff the strut in. That long axle shaft is also getting in the way. I mean, damn it.

[00:21:02]Perfect.

[00:21:20]>> It keeps getting stuck. Come on now. Get out of there. I know you want to.

[00:21:29]>> There we go.

[00:21:35]Cut, fit the pipe, >> weld all around >> and reinstall it. Done.

[00:21:50]>> The freaking axle shaft is about to pop out.

[00:21:54]>> Damn it.

[00:22:01]Right.

[00:22:26]Keep it like that.

[00:22:34]This man, >> just what we need.

[00:22:55]>> Terrific. What do you think?

[00:22:57]>> That is excellent. I think it's great.

[00:23:08]>> Are they all the same diameter?

[00:23:09]>> I have no idea. I mean, they seem to be.

[00:23:13]>> One side is like this. The other is like this. Yeah, they all fit. I think those were the factory ones. Yeah. Install the stiffer ones then if they're a good fit.

[00:23:53]I'm telling you, we need to tighten it and install the wheel.

[00:24:10]Of course, All right, we're in day two of putting this thing together. Yesterday, we ran out of time. I mean, it's one thing when you're at home base, but when you've set up camp somewhere else, you don't know where to look for this, that, and whatnot. But we're almost there. We just need to put all of this together, weld up the rear diff. Also, yesterday we were toiling away with the struts.

[00:24:55]And to get the camber right, we fitted some bolts that are of smaller diameter.

[00:25:01]But then we decided we'll be better off welding these. And so that's pretty much all that's left for us to do. And from there, we'll be ready to head out.

[00:25:49]1 2 I know that noise.

[00:26:01]It's begging for help. Indeed, it is That's done.

[00:26:40]All right, we are fully prepared.

[00:26:42]Everything is good.

[00:26:44]The car is on fleek. We're waiting for a flatbed to arrive because driving this thing around Japan would have been a bit of an issue. So, we load the car, transport it to a so-called paved forest, and go for a spin in it. Let's go.

[00:27:28]So, instead of off-roading, we'll apparently be doing some tarmac racing.

[00:27:37]>> It is rough. Yum.

[00:27:46]in the sense that Oh, >> you can send your are flying here.

[00:28:13]>> This is epic.

[00:28:26]We are climbing higher and higher.

[00:28:29]But then I mean why wouldn't you? We were on a paved road.

[00:28:34]In some spots it is covered with some leaves, pine needles.

[00:28:38]You also have rocks on the road. And I mean proper big ass rocks. You really got to be paying attention. Also, we told that you might suddenly run into a car that is traveling in the opposite direction.

[00:28:54]This isn't exactly what you'd call off-roading, though. It's more of a road rally, I think, which we were preparing for incorrectly.

[00:29:16]I mean, this is cool and all. There is a twisty road which I think we're going to be ripping through.

[00:29:40]We have left the pavement and we are now driving on um I don't even know gravel road. You got rocks, boulders, anything you can imagine.

[00:29:50]Cliffs, grass. It's hard to work out how to drive this road and not damage your wheels.

[00:29:57]Just take it easy.

[00:30:00]Drive a bit slower and that's it.

[00:30:05]And sometimes you stumble upon stuff like this. This is a vehicle. Looks like it was a mixer. I mean, yeah, it definitely was. From the looks of it, the driver lost control or something went wrong. It's hard to tell. I don't even know what to say. It's pretty obvious that there's nothing left of this vehicle.

[00:30:52]Wow.

[00:30:54]Wow.

[00:31:22]Oh, that went well.

[00:31:24]That was fantastic.

[00:31:43]Okay, so here's where we split. We got one broken chimney parked over there, and there's a bunch of us here.

[00:31:51]Blood said he wanted to drive through a few puddles and here we are all of us.

[00:31:56]Each and every one of us who came here from Russia.

[00:32:00]So we're waiting here and Vlad just had a setback. He sent us this photo.

[00:32:19]We've been here for about an hour. The entire camera crew is up here and he posts this photo in our group chat showing that the car is cooked. Here we have the two camera guys. He's been typing for a while.

[00:32:33]Anyway, we all stayed here. We have a broken car. The host is absent. This is not a great situation. We have no idea what's going on with Vlad and how he got the car to this point because we were driving all day without any issues.

[00:32:49]Well, this is picturesque. Somewhere in the mountains of Japan, my car broke down.

[00:32:59]I'm alone up here and this is what happened to it. Look, the lower bolt on the strut popped out of the bracket that we bored out in order to align the holes. We did do a bit of welding to it, but at some point it took a hit and let go.

[00:33:24]That being said, even in this state, the car is still able to move around.

[00:33:32]Though the question remains, which way do I go? Straight or turn right and go that way? I don't even know.

[00:33:41]Only thing left for me to do now is just sit tight and wait. Hopefully they find me and at least tell me which way I need to go.

[00:33:51]Either this way or that way.

[00:34:03]How did this happen? Your freaking car broke down.

[00:34:07]How do we get it out? Like push it like barge haulers. He's at a crossroad. We decided to leave him there so he doesn't have to drive in the meantime.

[00:34:15]>> Turns out it's quite a distance.

[00:34:25]>> I feel uncomfortable that we're missing a break.

[00:34:32]>> What can I tell you? It's all good. It's wounded, but it's not dead. It's still able to move on its own. Yeah. Get in.

[00:34:40]Let's go. Here we go. One of the bolts holding the strut to the hub is missing.

[00:34:53]We are moving slowly, but the car is able to drive.

[00:35:00]It cannot go fast, but at the very least, I am ascending, and that is good. Hopefully, I'm able to make it to the very top.

[00:35:13]If we'd have taken with us at least some basic tools, which the boys never seemed to carry with them, I think we would have been able to fix this issue.

[00:35:38]>> We have a problem. The thing is, we've been walking for some time now. First, we lost Vad. We decided we won't go looking for him. And now we've lost Ivan, who we also not going to look for.

[00:35:50]And here you can see our dreary surroundings.

[00:35:54]And now it's just the three of us left.

[00:35:56]Also, you have landslides here sometimes. We've actually lost Ivan. I'm not even joking. He's not with us and hasn't been for a while. We've been calling him, but there is no reaction.

[00:36:09]Ivan, >> I do think this bolt is going to hold up. There is just one left securing it.

[00:36:21]One tiny slender bolt.

[00:36:24]If there would have been a thick one of the kind that's supposed to be there, I wouldn't even be concerned.

[00:36:42]It feels even worse driving on pavement because the wheel finds grip on the pavement and becomes harder to steer.

[00:37:04]This is day seven of us descending.

[00:37:07]>> And the sun has not once even fully set.

[00:37:10]>> Yeah, but this bear caught up with us and gave us Ivan back.

[00:37:15]It took us quite a while to wrestle Ivan from that bear's grip. I fought like a lion back there. The car is not coming back. We did have high hopes for it, but looks like it's going to stay in the mountains.

[00:37:42]We seem to be on the verge of brake failure.

[00:37:45]Does the handbrake work? It does. Yum.

[00:38:00]Oh, holy sh What? Flowers. You got daffodils growing out here for real?

[00:38:07]>> It's not like there's an emergency, right, Vlad?

[00:38:10]Can you take a picture of me with the flowers? It's like they're growing in my garden. They are so nice.

[00:38:49]Shake. Check this out, guys. We've gone for a ride and even though there were some off-road patches, but it was mostly I mean ups and downs, those freaking cliffs. Also, the car has had a slight failure, but in any case, if I can reiterate, it's wounded, but not dead.

[00:39:06]It drives and that's good. I was able to find my way out. As we were driving, we found this sort of ravine. They dared me to drive through it and I said, "Honestly, I'm not down." However, this guy is totally down. I can't put him behind the wheel, but at the very least, I can easily place him onto the gas pedal. All right, let's go.

[00:40:10]Oh, wow. That was a clean jump. I think the windshield is even still intact.

[00:40:16]Wow, the airbags in this thing were even functional.

[00:40:20]>> They have deployed. Let's put it back onto its wheels. The shell, I mean, yeah, the roof. Need any help? The roof caved in, but no big deal.

[00:40:39]>> Grab the pillars and the arches. Clear.

[00:40:47]Let's get it onto the flatbed.

[00:40:56]This is such a shame.

[00:40:58]Both axle shafts popped out. It's not going anywhere. The second shaft popped out. And that's it. If we'd have been close to some repair shop, 1 hour and this thing would have been happily driving around.

[00:41:14]So, look here. The car that we did a makeshift build on, it held up fine. And people ask us quite often what we do with project cars once we're done with them. I always say we scrap them. And in this case, we have the chance to see how exactly a car is recycled. It has already been taken apart. The suspension, engine, transmission, radiator, wiring, all of that has been removed, leaving just the bare shell, which is now going to be turned into a nice small cube. Let's do this one.

[00:42:30]In the end, you'll see that this car has been turned into a lovely little cube.

[00:42:36]a branded one, as a matter of fact. In any case, we're looking at a positive outcome. You just saw how they recycle cars in these parts. And that's all I got for you. Watch, subscribe. I'mma catch you guys later.