2016+ Ute Ltd. Tray Install

You want to get a flat deck? Well here’s an affordable option for North American’s.



Side note, I’m not done yet with this build, but this is a good start for those who have questions and are looking to go the same route.

I decided to start a new thread, solely for the purpose that this applies generally to 3rd generation Tacoma’s. This also uses some of the best ideas and improvisations that I found in other threads. This doesn’t apply to all brands, but solely the Ute Ltd. out of Seattle WA.

Ute Ltd. is an affordable alternative to Norweld. It’s simpler, not as beefy, bolt together, lighter deck system. The decks still come from Australia, and are still aluminum. There’s more DIY involved, but that’s where you save money.

I present to you, a lengthy, but detailed write up.


Let’s start with ordering.

The deck itself.

I ordered mine through West Coast Off-Roaders, out of BC. They have a contact that imports the decks from Seattle and saves me a bunch on shipping and border hassle. This is the solution for Canadian buyers. For the guys in the United States, just go directly to Ute Ltd. They include all hardware, and then some, to put everything together, ie; fender hardware, side panel hardware, headache rack.



Now generally, the length options are 5.5ft for 5ft boxes DCSB trucks, and 6.5ft for the 6ft DCLB/ACLB trucks. I went with a 6ft deck. I love it. It’s just like the Hilux trucks have in Australia. They’re generally 6ft long trays on DCSB trucks. So that being said, not sure if there are 7ft options available for the DCLB/ACLB trucks, but I will leave that up to you. That would be my choice if I had the long box.

Additional parts:

You will need new mounting bolts. That’s where the brackets mount the deck to your frame. Depending how much shimming work you do, the following lengths and sizes may be required;

• M12 x 40mm 1.25 Fine Thread
• M12 x 50mm 1.25 Fine Thread
• M12 x 60mm 1.25 Fine Thread
• M12 x 70mm 1.25 Fine Thread
• M12 x 80mm 1.25 Fine Thread
• 1”x2”, 1/8” thick aluminum square tubing

I used 40mm length bolts at the front, closest to the cab, and 70mm length bolts at the rear, with 1-3/16” spacer in the rear to keep the deck from looking like it was “sagging” or leaning.



Fuel System Filler Extension

This will come down to personal preference. I personally wanted the deck as close to the cab as reasonably possible. So I used roughly 2ft of hoses to extend these upwards. The end result is super clean and I’m extremely happy with it. Hose measurements are inside diameter. I picked up the following;

• 2.5” Exhaust Clamp
• 3ft, 1” Fuel Line
• 3ft, 5/8” Fuel Line
• 3ft, 1/4” Fuel Line
• Hose clamps to match the above hoses

Lighting

This isn’t finished yet for me, but there’s 2 main options.

1. Re-use your OEM tail lights but turning the sideways like I did (this is a temporary solution for me).
2. Cut and splice your own lighting or purchase the light kit from Ute Ltd. and cut and splice.

Tools Required

• Hoist, crane, forklift or a second, able bodied human
• Impact driver
• Ratchet
• 19mm wrench
• 10mm wrench
• 19mm socket
• 10mm socket
• 12mm wrench
• 12mm socket
• Torx T50
• Torx T30
• Tape Measure
• Philips Screw Driver
• Flat Head Screw Driver
• Plastic Clip removal tool
• Sawzall
• Pipe cutting wheel
• Drill bits, 1/2” 1/4"
• Large clamps

This is what I can remember for tools we used.

Installation

Minimum 2 people can do this by hand, unless you’ve got a hoist, crane or forklift, then you can do it by yourself. I had the deck delivered to my work, then loaded it on my box to take to my buddies garage.




Pulling off the factory box

There’s your main 6 mounting bolts, I believe these required a Torx T50 bit. I recommend dousing them in penetrating fluid before attempting removal.

The tail lights will have to be removed in order to disconnect the wiring. Easy, two 10mm bolts, and then just pull. Watch this video for reference.

Tail Light Removal



Using the Torx T30 bit, remove the electrical outlet, and disconnect the plug.

Using the T30, remove all the screws holding the tailgate cover on. This will gain access to your back up camera. Two 10mm bolts to remove the camera. Disconnect the camera, and then feed the wiring out. Reinstall the cover.



There’s a couple of plastic clips which suck to take off for the wiring. They’re on there good. Take off all of these that are mounted to the boxes underside and inside the tail light housing.



Now that all the wiring is disconnected, and the bolts are off. Time to lift off the box. It’s surprisingly heavy.



Wash your frame. Cover up the connectors and wash it. You’re already here, might as well do it.




Installation of your new flat deck


Depending on your length, you will receive 2 or 3 cross bars. The rear one is the fixed one in my case, and the front is adjustable.

Just snug up any hardware. Don’t tighten anything until it’s set in place and are 100% satisfied with its location.

The front cross bar has more left to right adjustment. Just make sure you don't forget to bolt the 3 pieces together, unlike myself... Whoops.

Assemble the front cross bar. Lay it place with your M12 bolts to keep it losing position.



Mount the rear cross bar. Now you can add shims right away, or afterwards. It’s not difficult to add them afterwards. Again, using the M12 bolts to snug the cross bar in place on the factory box mounts.


Now you’re ready to at least place the deck on your frame.



Bolt on the headache rack. It’s pretty easy. There’s a part to cover the gap between the rack and the deck, it slides into a rail on each end. It helps having a second person for this.



Once the head ache rack is in place, slide the deck forward on the crossbars to the desired distance from the cab.

Measure, measure, measure. If you want it perfect, you’re going to ensure equal measurements multiple times. So keep that tape measure handy.

Fuel system

We ended up doing this after putting the deck in place, but also measured to ensure we had enough space to mount it adequately.




We cut the factory filler neck in two locations. Removed the system entirely from the tank, which is where you’ll need the 12mm socket. To undo the clamp that holds the 3 lines in place. The main fuel line is clamped in and using a Phillips head screw driver, undo the clamp. The breather line is just held on with a clip. The vacuum line is also a push style connector. Then the hole system comes off.

Now you can cut it using a pipe cutter or sawzall. Sawzall is quicker...



Now comes the fun part, drilling the holes in the frame of the deck, to secure it to the mounting brackets. Using the clamps to ensure that the deck does not move during this process.

Drilled on hole forward, on the lower oval, and the other reward, so I had some room for adjustment with one bolt or the other.





Once everything is bolted together, you can attach the fuel filler neck using the 2.5” exhaust clamp. To keep the filler cap from going missing, we drilled a small hole into the window guard of the headache rack and it popped the lead tab right in.



Lighting

I just attached the factory lights until I find a better solution. Ute Ltd. also sells a light kit, cutting and splicing is required. One of the bolts for the original tail lights lines up with a pre-drilled hole on the deck, the other you have to line up and drill.



So once we had everything finished, I noticed the deck “leaned” towards the rear, almost like the frame was bent. That’s just do to the way it’s mounted to the frame. Simply added a 1” tall spacer to the rear mounting locations and it levelled the deck so the rake matches the truck.




Fenders

There's a bracket kit that comes with the deck. There's plenty of adjust-ability with the fenders. The holes are pre-drilled.



Attaching the side panels is easy. Mount the bottom latch to the pre-drilled holes and then snap the panels in place. They lock together easily.




And there you have your newly installed Ute Ltd. flat deck.

BEFORE



AFTER

 

First one to comment! Looks bad ass and I’ll definitely be doing this!

 

Love it! Can’t wait to see it in action! Let’s go hit ruby falls this fall!

 

Even though I'm now out of my Tacoma and into an '02 Sequoia, I had to stop in and comment. The Quicksand colour really gives it that FJ45 vibe, which I love. Great job man, I'm sure this rig will turn a lot of heads!

 

Nice

 

Just seen this on the True North Taco page on FB, turned out great!

 

Nice write up wish I had something like this to follow when I was building mine ha

 

Very cool.

 

Awesome. Nicely done

 

Great build thread! Thank you. Been wanting to flatbed by gen3 since I got it. If you don’t mind me asking, how much did the tray cost you with out the shipping. I’m in Hawai’i so I already know that part will be an arm and a leg.

 

Thank you! I really wanted to like the Ute product more, but it just didn't meet my expectations in the end.. It's certainly cost friendly. So instead, I took what I liked and designed my own. Now we operate Summit Expedition Trucks Ltd. Proudly manufactured right here in Canada!

I would love to steer you towards our product, as we have one schedule to leave for Hawaii in the coming weeks! Shipping isn't horrible due to the headboard being removable.

The Ute Ltd will run you about $4,000 shipped or so.

Depending on options, ours will run $6,000+.. But we also take a whole lot more into consideration. Proper mounting brackets. Full plug and play wiring. LED lighting. Modular system that you can add tool boxes and other items with extreme ease!

Currently I don't know the lead time of the Ute Ltd product. We are booked into September currently.

Hope this helps! Attached a photo for the current configuration, along with a few others we've done;