can someone explain the stripes on second hand cruiser trays?

HI Gareth,
That tray was built by MBI Eng in Ballarat.
All of these ute's that l have seen are ex DNRE
Hope this helps

Under ground utes at Leinster had simular ones. It is probably a safety requirement from the last place it worked - probably for interacting with heavy machinery at night. You need to find out where it has been used as a work vehilce it could well have been totally abused

Kms seem high for DSE (as DNRE) are now known.

Also those plates are getting on a bit R series rego numbers are a few years old.

I'd guess it's been somewhere else since the government dept ditched it at 40-50 thousand k's.

I also though that most of the DSE ones had winch bars and winches on them originally. Even mine did and it was only the apiarist controllers.

They can all end up where ever a fire is as only diesel vehicles are supposedly allowed on the fireline - though a few petrols ended up up there in 2003.

If it was in the 2003 Alpine fires in the north east you'd have to hope the air filter was in good nick. The dust was attrocious apparently. When I bought mine Dad made some enquiries with the DSE blokes and that was their only concern as they had a few vehicles end up with scored bores.

Dave

yeah if its got the funny angled lights at the back of the tray its definetly DSE, i dont think a ute could get a harder life - apart from undergroung mining .....

They generally get used for what they are built for unlike a lot of utes..

Its got a ding in the drivers side sill and the RHS rear mudguard has been ripped off. Don't think its been used for going to church.

Also those 2000-2001 models suffered from a weak gearbox shaft which was later fixed by Toyota. May cost a couple of grand to fix.

As others have said, probably ex DSE fire fighting vehicle. I was at the early 2003 fires in the Alps, and these units would have got an absolute flogging. Some of them were probably operating continously for weeks, and could have been driven by anyone, so the care factor would be low.

So if it was built in or before late 2002 I would personally give it a miss. However since then we have had relatively quiet seasons so a 2003 model onwards should be in good nick.