How's this for a bit of clever bit of 'thinking outside the box'...literally? When Stuart Smith's mechanically-sound 20-year-old Toyota Hilux workhorse started showing signs of body 'fatigue', he didn't hesitate to buy new wings and cab panels. However, the shock of sky-high prices for new steel panels for the pick-up loadbed put the brakes on any restoration of the faithful pick-up used by his logs-for-fires business, based in rural Warwickshire. But being a resourceful sort of cove, Stuart, who already used trailers in his business, realised that with some careful deck design he could use the dropsides and tailboard from similar trailers and make his own cargo 'tub' for the trusty Toyota. And here you have it....
''Once we had designed the combined under-floor structure and floor, and fitted the corner posts, sides and tailboard, it was simply a matter of bolting the new tub on to the chassis and wiring it up," he tells Biglorryblog. What's more one of the advantages of the drop-side cargo tub is that it readily transforms the Hilux pick-up into a more verstile flat-bed/dropside truck. The load capacity is also increased because the tub is 6" wider, slightly longer, and without wheel arches. However, Stuart reckons the key benefit is that tired or damaged load beds on an otherwise mechanically-sound Hilux pick-up can be replaced at significantly-reduced costs. "Customers get a new, more-practical tub that is galvanised and doesn't need painting," he adds. ''And we can build the replacement tub in advance on our jigs meaning that fitting and rewiring takes only hours. So owners need not take their vehicle off the road for more than a day - much less than if new steel tub panels were fitted and painted."
Sound like a good idea...want to learn more?
Then click through here where all will be revealed....
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