172 http://www.4X4australia.com.au2013 79 SERIES
LAND CRUISER4X4 SHED
078
WORDS
RON MOON
W
HEN I first looked at fitting a
new canopy to the Cruiser, I was
going to keep the original Toyota
tray, but it looked shithouse. I
was convinced a new tray would make
the overall package better, so we bit the
bullet and took the heavy galvanised steel
tray off and fitted a brand-new custom-
built beauty from Boss Aluminium in
Bayswater, Victoria.
This is more a work of art than anything
else and I’m super impressed with the
tray; its design, construction and quality of
finish. The tray is 1800mm long by 1860mm
wide. We decided not to have a headboard,
which allows the canopy to be 100mmlonger and, as I don’t have any intention of
removing the canopy when it’s fitted, we
didn’t see the need for a headboard.
When we took the old tray off we found
a few bent mounts, so all of them were
replaced by heavy-duty 5mm-thick steel
ones. Up front, a 57-litre water tank was
fitted complete with filler hose, a 12-Volt
SEAFLO diaphragm pump and a tap at
the back end of the tray. Taking up the rest
of the central under-tray area is a roller
drawer complete with a handy sliding top
that can double as a bench or table.
On each side of the tray is a pair of
underbody boxes with a tapered shape to
them to keep the departure angle where itshould be. Like the under-tray drawer, the
boxes are well-sealed from water and dust
ingress by good rubber seals and effective
lockable latches. Smart LED stop/tail-lights
finish off the tray.
Its aluminium construction allows for
a significant saving in weight from the
previous steel tray, but some people may
still be surprised at the weight of a good
alloy tray. In the Boss case, the tray (which
includes mounts, infill and guards) comes
in at 105kg. Each of the underbody boxes
weigh 15kg, the under-tray drawer weighs
40kg, and the 57-litre water tank (when
empty) weighs 5kg. Total weight of the tray
and attached componentry is just 180kg.THE ONGOING DEVELOPMENT OF MOONIE’S DUAL CAB CRUISER
SEES A NEW TRAY AND A 180-LITRE FUEL TANK FITTED.1722 http://www.4X4australia.com.au79 GETS TANKED
DATE ACQUIRED: APRIL 2016
PRICE: $59,000
KM THIS MONTH: 150KM
AV FUEL: 13.5L/100KM1099009 KM