Utes and Utilities: All You Need to Know
Aussies love their utes. Ute season is usually when the financial year is approaching the end, during what Australians called the “tax time.” We have completed half the year of 2021. The statistics reflect that Australian markets have sold 567,468 ute vehicles.
Ute vehicles are short for utility vehicles. This refers to different things locally, but usually, they are used to refer to the truck. Utes refer to the ute tool boxes that are definitive of a utility vehicle. In the outbacks, this refers to trucks with the tops cut off behind the front seats, commonly called pick up trucks. These trucks are used for camping like canopies or are to move heavy things. This is where tool boxes come in.
What Are Toolboxes?
Toolboxes are quite self-explanatory. They are boxes used to store tools. Their contents usually vary depending on the owner’s requirement. In the case of trucks, there are two types of toolboxes:
- Cross Boxes: Also called Saddle boxes, these are slidable boxes like saddles that can even be accessed from the sides. These are the most popular type of ute tool boxes since they are easy to install.
- Chest Boxes: As the name suggests, these are boxes that resemble a treasure chest. They have an opening only on the top and have only one-way storage.
Canopy Toolboxes
Like mentioned earlier, these ute toolboxes are commonly for long drives or camping expeditions. These boxes offer a lot of utility, some of which are listed below:
- Trays: These are toolboxes for utes with a common rail and dual cabs. They are made of A-grade aluminium and serve as trundle drawers. Since they come at the back of the vehicle, they also possess LED lights in the rear tray. It roughly has an 80kg loading capacity. An added advantage is that it possesses dedicated brackets to install reversing cameras, LED sensors, etc., to make your driving experience better and safer.
- Canopy Boxes: These are boxes specialised for long-duration or long-distance camping adventures. With fully reinforced flooring and dyadic gas struts, these boxes support two capacity weights. They have a 300kg roof capacity and a jack offload capacity of 500kg. They also have two whale locks to secure your items. These boxes are made of sturdy corrosion-resistant A-grade aluminium.
- Half-Half Dog Box: This is very similar to canopy boxes in the making. But these ute toolboxes have a two-fold storage purpose. Not only do they act as an airy room for your furry pets, but they also have the second half of the box as a storage fridge. They achieve this dual-purpose box by having a centrally placed divided door. It is lightweight and extremely durable.
- Pantry Slides: These are also specially designed for canopies. When we go on long camping trips, we often pack a day’s lunch or take out easily preservable food items. But it always becomes a hassle when we whip them out of our bag and have no place to keep them! Pantry slides act as portable slide cupboards where you can place your kitchen tools and food items with ease. With three built-in shelves, one large and two small, these slides are easy to install.
- Steel Wheel Holders: These are made for touring expeditions. It can store tires up to 38 inches in diameter and has a foolproof padlock system to guard against theft. The device can be adjusted in different ways to ensure that the wheel weight is spread evenly. It is made of heavy-duty industrial steel and has multiple mounting points.
