The rear panel is not weak, it is high-strength steel like the rest of the body. But it is sheet metal, so weld accordingly.

im about to do the same thing completely remove it all and make an infill panel below the rear window so theres a square edge for a hardcover to meet.
can anyone who has actually done it tell me whether it is extremely weak or not? surely if its welded properly it should be ok, im going to put a folded 1.6mm angle along the whole edge and weld both sides too

yer, i could weld some hooks to the inside of the tray.
but i dont really mind.
and i want to put a hard top lid on it
so i wouldnt be able to tie anything into it.
cheers for the help

Do it! It looks great, and I get many compliments on the smooth rail.





Of course the downside is I can't tie anything down.

hilux trays are different and much sronger, plus they have full a chassis..

most of the strength of the 1200 ute is in the inner qaurter, top rail and those puny little chassis rails..

yeah, ill do it anyways
it gets done heaps,
plenty of hiluxes have it done and they have much longer trays so yerrrrr

i wanted to do it on mine, but it will weakin the panel im pretty sure, so i took off the hooks

i don't really know, but thats what gives the walls their strength.
although plenty of people have done what you said.
just don't let people put pressure on it and it should be right i'd say.

so is it a bad idea?
what could ten to happen because of it?

you lose alot of the structural strength of the traywalls by removing the top lip and smoothing it.