Thread: Steel Tray for Toyota Hilux

Originally Posted by fransjordan

I am Planning on building a new steel tray for my Toyota Hilux could any one give me some tips or plans. all help would be highly appreciated

Steel may be a bit heavy, most trays are Aluminium, just a thought.

what year is the hilux?

steel everytime for a ute tray .

johno

My current tray is a steel one, brilliant. Carries bucket loads of weight without too much flex, yep, there is some surface rust and it’s heavy, but it still works as well as the day it was made, which was four years ago.

Mate has an aluminium tray that is about 8 months older; it’s done a comparable amount of work, but is now looking quite ordinary by comparison.

If you are thinking of a chequer plate floor, consider putting the chequer plate on the bottom for a smooth floor. When placing either a 20 litre or 200 litre drum on a chequer plate surface, the drum usually sits on three points and will slide all over the place at walking speed, let alone at normal driving speed.

Having a smooth floor allows said drums to have something like 90% of the rim in contact, therefore much reduced sliding effect.

You can of course use a mat, but they can be a bit problematic as well, especially with moisture capture. One way around this is to get a woven mat made from re-cycled truck tyre sidewalls. They are made in Sydney and will be made to the size of your tray.

I had one made and it’s brilliant, had it for close to four years and almost everyone who has seen it in use asks how much, where, and why didn’t I know about these before. Cost was about $220 delivered to my door in Melbourne via courier. They are not light either.

Consider the way you secure your drop sides, if you are having any that is. There are a couple of ways to do this, possibly the quietest was is to have the adjustable clamp types of clamp, as opposed to the drop into a slot type which basically rattle whenever on dirt or uneven roads. I unfortunately have the drop in type that does allow the sides to rattle against each other, unless I have straps holding something on going over the sides.

Consider having a step on either side with a flat piece for your foot to step onto. Having a round pipe like step is a slippery slope to an unwanted slide. My flat steps have a small piece of chequer plate (right side up) on top to allow grip.

As to actual construction and/or design, I cannot really help, but essentially it is not too much more than a rectangle of steel with pieces running across, which is laid on top of your chassis and attached using the chassis mounts. Keeping it as close as possible to the chassis and thereby reducing your centre of gravity is also a great help, generally; your choice though.

Some food for thought.

Mick.

Steel is definitely harder wearing. But it's also a lot heavier, so it reduces your load carrying capability.

That's why they go alloy. I have alloy and it's OK, but you can punch a hole through the deck if you drop something heavy and pointy on it.

Our old FJ Toyota has steel and it's way tougher. But it rusts.

They each have their good and bad points.

The Bro in law's old Datsun 1600 tray top had steel checker plate bed with wooden sides, that worked OK too.

Personal choice.

But steel is much easier for the average Joe to knock something out of with his basic welder.

Just check out someone's commercial design that you like, take a few photos, and copy that.

Rob

This mob carries all the hardware you might need, like hinges and latches: Transportation Hardware
I have purchased from them in small quantities with no hassles.

I have a sheet of 10mm mdf in my ally tray to protect it but I don't really carry heavy stuff anyway, just gardening tools. I once saw an ally tray that was used to deliver those modular steel rainwater tanks, the little square ones. Man was it hammered! Wrong tool for the job I'd say.

It's worth considering hardwood flooring, it's lighter, doesn't rust, is a lot quieter when loaded and the load doesn't slide around as much as on steel. I have a commercially made (Dekker in Adelaide) tray on my 2006 HiLux and the timber hasn't worn at all. Every few years I recoat it with a mixture of linseed oil and kero and it comes up like new.

When you make the side and rear gates, use heavy wall 1" RHS to top them off, it will stop the gates from distorting when you rope down the load.

Rgds - Gavin

Go steel for the hilux. I have a steel try on my landcruiser ute, its almost 20 years old now. Have one of those Kevrek cranes mounted to one side. Before deciding on steel was considering an alloy one for the lightness, was advised by the crane installer that alloy was not an option for their crane. Drilling through the tray to attach a bottom steel support with high tensile bolts would make the alloy weak when lifting load to half a tonne. Steel it is, carrying 44 gal drums or oxy bottles are always tied down to avoid any movement with checker plate up. Sure steel is heavy, but it will go the distance longer, have made a few mods to mine over the years, easy to weld to.

DD

Originally Posted by Gavin Newman

It's worth considering hardwood flooring, it's lighter, doesn't rust, is a lot quieter when loaded and the load doesn't slide around as much as on steel. I have a commercially made (Dekker in Adelaide) tray on my 2006 HiLux and the timber hasn't worn at all. Every few years I recoat it with a mixture of linseed oil and kero and it comes up like new.

Rgds - Gavin

Dekker still going ? Good trays.

That's what's on the Bro in laws Datsun, and is same as yours, all wood except for the base frame and hinge straps etc.

He put a sheet of checker plate over the wood floor.

Don't see many wooden trays these days.

Rob

Originally Posted by nearnexus

Dekker still going ? Good trays.

That's what's on the Bro in laws Datsun, and is same as yours, all wood except for the base frame and hinge straps etc.

He put a sheet of checker plate over the wood floor.

Don't see many wooden trays these days.

Rob

Dekkers are still going and producing well engineered trays. Mine is all steel except for the tray floor which is 3/4" hardwood planks. The thing that stands out with this tray is that after 7 years there are still no squeaks or rattles.