minitrucks

[Nauraushaun]

Is this an Australian thing? I don't just mean small trucks, I mean minitrucks, the sub-culture, the scene. Surely they aren't a thing in America since small trucks are inexplicably illegal and if they weren't people would be too scared about their self-image to buy something smaller than an F150.

I don't know much about them. I have a friend who had a tubbed Hilux for a time, until he slid it into a pole. They tend to be Hiluxes, Navaras or Holden Rodeos, air-bagged to the ground. I think it's common to cut out the inner wheel wells a bit to get it lower, and I think this is what tubbing is. They aren't exactly common here, but they're around and I saw one the other day with the plate DAMLOW.

Debatable whether you'd call these utes. People would, but strictly they aren't since they're not based on a passenger car. A lowered Holden ute is a very different scene.

[jminer]

@nauraushaun they've fallen out of favor as no company has made a small truck in 20+ years here but yeah they were huge in the 90s and 00s.

[Roadkilled]

@nauraushaun Mike Finnegan of Roadkill is a big fan of minitrucks. He has featured work on his C10 on his Finnegan's Garage YouTube channel.

[MM54]

They WERE but... wait... I feel like I just typed a reply to this

(this double posted )

[BicycleBuck]

@nauraushaun
They used to be a thing in the U.S., but as others have noted, the source material dried up long ago. I owned a small truck, then a mid-sized truck. I cared about them so much that I'd never have bagged one. They were useful for hauling small loads and doing this to them really ruined what capabilities they had.

[Boxer_4]

@nauraushaun It was a reasonably big scene from the ‘80s through the mid-‘00s. They were mostly D21 Hardbodys, 720s, S-10s, and Rangers. You still see them around on occasion.

[pickup_man]

@nauraushaun Like others have mentioned the mini truck scene was huge in the 90's early 00's, there was even a magazine, Mini Truckin', dedicated to them. But trucks started growing and the late aughts brought about the death of the truly small trucks and the fad wore out. I'm sure there's some dedicated people left, but I don't know of many off hand. Mike Finnegan and Dave Chapelle, both Motortrend hosts were/are still into the mini trucks and have a little content out there on them.

I love mini trucks and think it's one of the coolest truck scenes out there, it's just fallen out of popularity and I don't follow it all that closely.