When it comes to choosing a tray and canopy package, the three main features you want to take into consideration is weight, size and functionality. We'll dive right into the details a little later on this blog, but first we want to paint a picture of what it's like to travel with a removable tray and canopy package versus driving with it as a daily. On our recent trip to Barringtion Tops we travelled in the camera car which was a Toyota Hilux that utilsed a factory canopy as the main living and storage space. We piled our food, clothes, luggage and camera gear into this set up. After a day it was a mess, finding anything was a 10min ordeal of shuffling bags around and spilling gear out of bags in the process. The windows on the canopy certainly gave us access to clothes and items at the top of our bags, but if you forgot anything, you would have to repeat the entire process again. Granted the tray that came down at the boot gave you some funtionality to use as a table for simple things like holding a cup and puttting on your boots. But out of a 5 day trip, we didn't cook once in this car. The majority of our living, cooking and cleaning was done in the display vehicle, the 2020 Ford Ranger that recently had a Gworks tray and canopy package installed, it was the go to camping space for a multitude of reasons. Not to say the Hillux set up was not livable, it just wasn't set up for that much gear or that many people.
You'll find that on this Barrington Tops trip there was only two cars that did not have a tray and canopy packag, an MUX and the Hilux. Their owners are solo travellers and that's why their set up works for them, they've designed the internal space to suits their needs when it's just them, which is perfectly acceptable to use if you know the car like the back of your hand. The way this review will highlight how you can definitely make any car set up comfortable, but when adding a second or third person, a tray and canopy package is with out a doubt, a must. Gworks have designed their tray and canopy packages over a long period of time, undergoing an intensive RND process, where they employed their ambassoders Tyler Thompson and Brunette Driven to test run the original versions. Tyler quickly found the weak points, as he is well known for pushing the boundries on his vehicles and Bri fine tuned the living aspects. Another key thing to remember is that a tray and canopy set up is a pricy object. The large portion of 4WD enthusiasts will keep a car for a few years, build it, abuse it and start a new project. In some cases this means forking out for a whole new canopy. Gworks have perfected the set up where one canopy can fit most dual cabs, minus the tray. This means all the years you spent designing your touring canopy to your exact needs, ie installing a Travel Buddy, mirrors, storage, stickers, 12v upgrades, will have to be replaced. In this line thiking you can start to see how a canopy is a second home away from home and it would be a shame to have to sell something you spent a lot time getting used to. This is why the removeable canopy and tray package is a must have, with only 4 bolts in total to undo, a Gworks tray and canopy package slides off and allows you to spend the day doing more difficult tracks. This utilises the weight difference and allows you to drive normally, without worrying about bottoming out.
Functionality:
There are a mulitude of person touches you can request from Gworks to add to your tray and canopy package. There really is nothing like adding a personal touch. For example, if your a snowborder you can custom build your trundle drawer to those sizes. A music lover? There's plenty of sound system options there, but Gworks go to is the Ecoxgear sound bar. Light up a bush doof? There's lights for that. Gworks recommends the 2, 4 & 6 Tri Coloured light bars from Hard Korr that offer a war, white and orange light that works to deter bugs from swarming. Want a rooftop tent? There's custom brackets and supports for that, they even intall it for you. If you have a rooftop tent, theres a custom ladder that is permanately installed on the rear, we is personal favourite. Telescopic ladders can be a pain when they get sandy or dirty. Save time fiddling with a seperate ladder and just go for something more permanent. Need more fuel or water storage, you can opt for two jerry can holders. These are custom built so that you can lock your jerry cans and water jugs and prevent someone from tampering with them. These are the little creature comforts that can make a good camping trip into a great one, and if your serious about living out of a vehicle full time, there is no point leaving off these features as you will just end up adding them later.
Weight:
Weight is one of the most important aspects to consider, especially if you plan on carrying a lot of gear. The display vehicle features an alloy tray and canopy package that in total when empty is around 300 - 400kg. When full this tray and canopy package can be nearly 600kg. So to compensate for this weight we installed 300kg constant load leaf springs from Outback Armour and an Airbag Man helper kit. When the canopy is off you can adjust these airbags to the lowest setting and when the canopy is on you can inflate these airbags to 20PSI in order to stablise the vehicles drive line. Even though it may be tempting to install 500kg constant weight leaf springs, if you plan on utilising the jack off canopy feature, you will find that the drive without that weight will be incredibly uncomfortable and the drive shaft will vibrate. So it's important to set up an adjustable aspect of your suspension.
Not only is levelling out the drive line on your vehicle important for safety reasons and preventing a light steering situation, the distribution of weight evenly is key. Weight distribution is an essential aspect when designing a tray and canopy package. To start, make sure the majority of the weight is forward to the rear axle. You want all of the weight between the wheel and not hanging off the back. Be sure to look up or reasearch how your specific vehicle and it's wheel base might accomodate a tray and canopy package. A majority of the weight in the set up should be near the front, up against the head board. Staples like your water and 12v electrical system should always be up against the head board. You can accommodate weight on either side with addition tool drawers and drop shelves.
Size:
A dog box is great for tradies and it the smallest being only 800mm in length. They are typically used for dogs and very light set ups meaning you can retain a lot of your tray space whilst having a secure storage box. When you step up to a 1m-1.2m tray and canopy set up, this kind of size is good for just a fridge and storing motorbikes on the tray. The tray and canopy package you see on the Ranger is a 1600mm long 1850mm wide tray with a 1400mm long 1850mm wide canopy. This is a touring set up that allows you to utilise the entire canopy space as living and enclosed storage space. Anything larger than this, will require a hefty suspension depending on the vehicle or store the spare tyre in a different location.
A tray and canopy package is a game changer when touring. By taking off the canopy and carrying your spare tyre on the tray you have a much lighter vehicle, capable of doing tougher tracks, without compromise anything more delicate in the canopy. This set up is versitile, stylish, functional and will completely change the way you travel. Go further than you ever have before, stay for longer and push the limits of your vehicle and yourself than ever before. To see Gworks and their full range of tray andcanopy packages head to their website.
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