Dropside tray ??'s

[Meherio]

I have a 07 Dual Cab Hilux and am thinking about putting a dropside tray on it as I'm starting to put to much crap in it for work. At present it rides Ok and I am worried that if I put an alloy tray on, it might get a bit bouncy in the arse end. Has any one got any personal experince of the conversion from style side to dropside.

[Vindicator]

Never had a styleside, but being a farmer have always had an ally tray on. I've got an 06 lux and sure it may be a bit bumpier but once you've got it on you'll wonder why you didn't do it earlier.

Cheers
Kezza

[CT]

Do you blokes do much towing with the Luxes?

A baby on the way is going to force me out of the cruiser ute and I'm looking into a Hilux TD dualcab. Just not sure how good they go fully loaded and towing or what trouble I could expect trying to drag a 5m glass boat up the beach.

Cheers
Craig

[Brett1907]

You won't have any problems with the TD Hilux, plenty of grunt down low. If it doesn't have enough for your liking, go get the exhaust done and have it chipped. With those mods you can get heaps more torque and almost as much outright power as the V6.

Brett

[Meherio]

CT

I have no trouble towing a 2T boat, the lux pulls harder than my last truck which was a V8 cruiser and I get twice the economy. The only thing I find is that, my truck being auto, 1st gear is a bit tall but hasn't caused me any greif.

[CT]

Thats good news fellas!

On paper the figures look better than my old girl but the fact that it translates into reality is great.

Maybe I don't have to feel miserable having to trade a cruiser on a lux!

Cheers
Craig

[Brett1907]

I went to Rover Park for easter with the Gold Coast 4WD Club and had a blast. The lux was able to go evrywhere I wanted, until I punctured the air line for the rear locker. All I had to do was use more right boot then and still got up some extreme tracks that the patrols and cruisers found challenging. A few people were surprised at what the 'lux was capable of.

Brett

[CT]

Brett I see in your sig line that you've busted up your side steps a bit!

The factory ones look pretty low to me compared to my cruiser so I was wondering how much trouble they really give you?

The way they appear to attach sees to make them sit lower than they need to be. I was thinking that a set of sliders fitted differently would give more clearence and protection.

Any comments?

Cheers
Craig

[snatch]

Depends on what you are using it for. I am a tuler and my last ute had a drop side tray. Buckets liked to blow out and I was lucky not to cause an accident. My navara dual cab has a styleside tray and I stayed with it , because nothing blows out at speed.

[Brett1907]

Hi Craig, yeh the standard steps didn't last all that long. Did the first real damage to them during the September M&G last year. I would definately get some sort of steel side steps fitted. The ARB and TJM style are pretty good, but I have already bent my ARB ones rock crawling at Rover Park during Easter.

Next on the mod agenda is adding another steel tube each side, gusseting all joins and welding plate steel along the underside of the steps to prevent any hang ups. Also, am looking into a full inderbody bash plate that will run from the front diff all the way to the rear diff and cover the entire width between the chassis rails.

I would not reccomend buying the steps new and then modifying them as that would be too expensive, you would be better off getting some custom ones made up. That way you can get exactly what you want. I was lucky enough to pick up my steps for $100 at a wrecker.

Good Luck.

Brett