Kia 2700 Double Cabin Truck
It’s not exactly a pickup truck like one of my old ’74 or ’78 4×4 Dodge Power Wagons, or my ’72 C20 Chevy 3/4-ton hotrod, but for The Philippines it looks like the perfect truck for me. It’s the Kia 2700 4×4.
This 6-seater can carry a 2-ton payload, and retails for PHP 818,000.00. (That’s about $17,500 USD.) Considering that a Toyota Hilux Pickup goes for about PHP 1,300,000, and Mitusbishi’s and Isuzu’s go for about PHP 1,200,000 ($25,000 to $28000 USD), the Kia 2700 seems to be a very good deal to me. It’s got a limited slip rear differential and double wishbone front suspension, standard.
I only have one problem with this stock vehicle. The published top speed is 113 kph (70 mph), which is actually a good thing because it means this baby is geared low enough that it can take some taller tires, much taller tires.
In The Philippines there are not a lot of roads where you would want to travel faster than 113 kph, but I would like that option.
Curb weight is 2045 kg (4508 lbs) and it has a maximum gross vehicular weight of 4070 kg (8973 lbs). That’s two metric tons of payload, or 4465 lbs, two tons plus me, my wife and my rottweiler (in the back). Since I don’t plan on loading it up that much, surely it must have the capacity to take a much larger tire. The current tire is about 26 inches tall, and the vehicle has only 6 inches (150 mm) of ground clearance. To get the vehicle to do 100 mph I would need to install 37″ tires on it.
Since initial inspection of the vehicle indicated I could get by tires with a 4″ bigger diameter, to put 37″ tires on it I would need to lift the vehicle 3.5″ inches minimum. 33″ tires would probably be more realistic, but would still require a 2.5″ lift. 33″ tires would also give me a ground clearance of 9.5 inches, probably enough for the insanely rough roads I’ve seen here.
June 29th, 2007 at 00:41
The truck looks pretty cool…but how difficult would it be to buy tires that big there? and the dual rims in the back…would that make it more difficult?
I just thought I would say your blog is great…my father is building a house there (somewhere near boracay)…and him and his wife are going to introduce me to the area in a few months…so I am trying to learn as much as i can
June 30th, 2007 at 04:20
Tires shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve seen a few trucks with big mudders moving around here. I would not buy the dually model, which is a heavier vesion. The image I showed does have the dual wheels on back. Also, I would buy the standard truck bed model not the one with the drop sides all around.
August 17th, 2007 at 16:01
I have the 2007 4×4 double cab and would not trade it for a toyota. Works like a dog and never complains. Climbs like a lizard. I have put 2 cubic meters of sand on it and climbs a path like a creek bed up a mountain building churches in Honduras. Fuel eff is great and Stockton wheels will make oversized wheels for the odd 5×6″ bolt pattern. The ground clearance is workable with skillfull driving. It has lifted more than 100 tons up paths some trucks cannot even go up…
Missionary
March 29th, 2011 at 05:35
is this cabin pick up model truck available in automatic?