Thread: Ute Trays; Aluminium Versus Steel

Anything to keep the weight down.

Our 130 has a 1.8x1.8m Ally tray. I rebuilt the headboard and made a removeable rear boat rack and upper mesh rack to sleep on.

I love the weight advantage and the non rusting advantage of Ali.

Ali probably flexes a little more which may look after the chassis integrity (speculation).

On a trip we load up with a 44 of boat fuel, gennie, recovery gear, 100L of water plus, big esky, two big camping boxes - ie fair old load into a an Ali tray and the tray doesnt complain!!

The only thing I would change (and I will one day) is make the two long dropsides strong enough and ridged so as to double as ramps. They wont be great to go to ground (too steep) but you can always find a mound of dirt or slope and ramps are great for barrows, rideon mowers and rolling drums of fuel. If I was building from scratch I would do this without a second thought!

Steve

Hi
I have a steel tray on my 130 dualcab the way of my thinking is the steel tray puts more weight on the back wheel when needed as well you don't get the flex in the chassie when off roading, I had a friend go up to Capeyork years ago in a Landcruiser with a alloy tray when he got back to Brissy his chassie was twisted and mounts on the tray were stuffed but his mate who had a steel tray had no problems, when you have no load on the tray they are to light, but thats my two bobs worth...

Ashley

Aluminum cracks, and steel rusts...take your pick

... for me, I'd take alloy where available to save weight

Hi all, first post.

Standard aluminium trays are generally weaker.... floors ding easily with heavy objects and the gates bend easily. The gates have a habit of rattling on corrugations. Aluminium will stain and needs a bit of elbow grease to keep clean. But, they dont rust.

In the past on various utes I've had steel with steel floor, steel with timber floor, galvanised, painted and various makes of aluminium trays. Steel trays are better if you are hard on your gear, but scratch and rust. Timber floors are good if you intend on sleeping in the back, and your gear doesn't slide around as much.

My next tray will be custom made heavy duty aluminium with a timber floor. It will cost a packet, but will have the strength of a steel tray and the no rust benefits of an ally tray, with the benfits of a timber floor.

By the time you rust proof and paint steel, you may as well pay for aluminium. Then there's all the savings in future rust prevention. Plus if you cut or drill or attach stuff, it won't rust. Plus it's lighter.

They say that to get an aluminium component the equivalent strength of a steel component, the alloy one would weigh about 2/3 the weight of the steel one, but be thicker.

I got rid of the steel tub on my off road trailer (chassis trailer) and replaced it with an alloy tray. Raw Aluminium doesn't really age the way steel and paint do.

I would prefer alloy for the reasons given above, in particular, if you really use the vehicle it is almost impossible to avoid chipping the paint, which then rusts if it is steel - but there are well built and badly built trays in both steel and alloy.

The "extra weight on rear wheels" is not applicable to coil sprung Landrovers and 130 dual cab in particular, where the tray is mostly behind the rear wheels.

John

well star pickets don't go through steel trays.........