Ute Trays Supplied & Fitted • Sunshine Coast

Swapping the factory tub for a purpose-built tray is the single change that turns a dual cab from a passenger vehicle with a boot into a working ute. You gain a flat, square, full-width deck with usable space right out to the guards, rated tie-down points, room for underbody toolboxes, and headboard and gate configurations you choose rather than inherit. For trades around Kawana and Caloundra, for anyone running a permanent canopy, and for touring builds carrying water, fuel and a rooftop tent, it is usually the right foundation.

Alloy or steel

This is the real decision and it is a genuine trade-off, not a marketing one. An alloy tray is typically 30 to 40 percent lighter than the equivalent steel one, and every kilogram saved is a kilogram of payload you keep. It does not rust, which matters a great deal in coastal Sunshine Coast air, and it looks better for longer. It is dearer to buy, it dents rather than bends in a hard knock, and repairs need a specialist welder. A steel tray is tougher against abuse, takes a dropped pallet or a rock hit and keeps working, is cheaper to buy and cheap to repair anywhere in the country - but it is heavy, and once the coating is scratched, coastal air finds it. As a rough rule: alloy for touring, for payload-critical builds and for anything living near salt water; steel for civil, mining, forestry and any ute that gets treated hard.

Configuration options

Trays are built to a configuration, not bought off a shelf. You choose the deck length and width, whether it runs a flat deck, three drop sides or a full ladder-rack headboard, the height and style of the headboard, whether gates are alloy, steel or mesh, and what goes underneath - under-tray toolboxes, drawer systems, water tanks, jerry can holders and gas bottle holders. Rope rails, rated tie-down points, tail light protection, mudflaps and load-rated tie rails are all specified at build time. Lighting, reversing cameras and a trailer plug get wired in during the build rather than added later. The tray also has to work with what is already on the vehicle: a towbar, a rear bar or a wheel carrier all interact with the rear of a tray, and it is much easier to plan that up front.

Brands and vehicles

Our tray range is built around Triple M Tray Bodies, with Utemaster covering deck and storage systems and Utemaster and Triple M both supplying under-tray toolboxes and drawers. We are an authorised dealer for the brands we carry and every tray we supply is ADR compliant. Trays are available for the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, Isuzu D-MAX, Toyota LandCruiser 79 Series single and dual cab, Mitsubishi Triton, Mazda BT-50, Volkswagen Amarok, Nissan Navara and GWM Cannon, in single cab, extra cab, dual cab and cab-chassis configurations - and cab-chassis is worth mentioning at the time of enquiry, because a cab-chassis and a tub-removed dual cab do not take the same tray.

Payload and compliance

Removing the tub takes weight off; the tray, headboard, boxes and canopy put considerably more back on, and nearly all of it lands behind the rear axle. A fitted-out tray-back build regularly needs matched suspension, and often a certified GVM upgrade, to stay legal once it is loaded and towing. We do those upgrades both pre-registration and post-registration, so the whole build can be quoted and complied as one job rather than three.

Built and fitted at Warana

Trays are measured, built and fitted through our own workshop at 4/43 Premier Circuit, Warana - one workshop on the Sunshine Coast, locally owned and operated for 14 years. We handle tub removal and disposal or storage, sub-frame mounting, lighting and electrical, and the suspension work in the same visit if the build calls for it. We service Kawana, Caloundra, Maroochydore, Mooloolaba, Buderim, Nambour, Noosa, Gympie and Caboolture, and we quote fleet builds where several vehicles need identical setups. Tell us the vehicle, the cab configuration and what the ute has to carry, and we will spec and quote the tray around that.