G'day guys,

I was just wondering who out there has checker plated their 1200 ute tray...
How did u attach the checker plate (welded or screwed) n how did u make it so water doesn't pool in the corrugations of the tray under the checker plate...

I think 2QK4U did have a look in his photo album but thats a lot of weight.
What about this.

I am considering doing this myself.

there are a few options avaliable.

Firstly there is removing the old tray and dropping in a new one.

then there is the option of fabricating a base and lying the checker plate over the top.

I guess it comes down to what your after and the condition of the current tray.

Some questions you might want to ask yourself are.

1. Is this for looks or practically?
2. How much time and effort do I want to put into it?
3. How much money am I prepared to spend?
4.would a little extra weight help or hinder what I want the ute for?


They are some of the things I am trying to answer at the moment,

I am basically building my ute as a weekend car. I want to run it at WSID a fair bit as well.

thats why I am looking at a complete replacement to try and keep the weight as low as possible. track use you might want the wieght to help balance out the wieght in the ute.

Also with regards to water draining, I plan to set the top end of the tray (closest to the cabin) roughly 5mm higher than the bottom end (tailgate) this should have more than enough incline to drain the water effectively

Also a good soft or hard tray cover sould also help prevent any water issues as well.

It can be bought in different thicknesses. It also would be a good Idea to use Dielecrtcal tape between the aluminum and the paint on the bed. Due to the corrosion of the two disimiliar metals. This is why you use Stainless steel fasteners to aluminum boats.

SEE WHY I KNOW

These are my products.

Mike

thanx for the input guys,
i'm looking at a weekend car 2 but at the same time i would like to take it down to the Bitumen sprints as well...
i like the option of removing old tray entirely and laying checker plate...
as far as for practicality i'm not going to be throwin sand or fridges in the back lol...
thanks 4 that pic 2 mark that is an other option i can consider...
so many options

Quote:

Thats why i am taking my time, I don't want to rush into anything and then at the end wish I did something different, or changing something at additional costs.

I will most likely go with a new tray, not sure if it will be checkerplate, but I do like the look, just have to wait and see.

i like the bigger wheel wells that gives me some nice idears

Quote:

What kind of ideas?.. (Curious my ute has been tubbed 2 )

Does any 1 know aprox how much extra weight aluminium checker plate tray will add 2 ute..

Ideas,

Wider rubber, its difficult to get fat tyres on the back and this causes traction issues. The wider the better will help get more power to the ground.

i dont like flare gards so for me too get fat wheels on the back i got too go in and wit my 15inch /205 / 60s there not much left i would like too go some thing crazy like 295s i think it would look sic