CUSTOM TRUCK BODY BUILDS MELBOURNE.

Recent Custom Truck Body Builds from Metro

This page brings together recent custom truck body builds completed by Metro Truck Body Builders at our workshop in Seaford, Melbourne.

No two working trucks necessarily need the same setup. Cab chassis, payload, load, access, storage, equipment and day-to-day use all influence what the finished truck body needs to do.

That is why the projects shown here include different body styles, specifications and working applications rather than variations of one standard product.

Expect to see Tipper Bodies, Chipper Tippers, Beavertail Truck Bodies, Flat Trays and custom truck trays, Drop Side Trays, Service Bodies, toolbox installations and other specialist commercial builds.

For more than 35 years, Metro has built working truck bodies for trades, contractors, businesses, councils, fleets and commercial operators across Melbourne, Victoria and interstate.

Real Truck Body Builds. Real Working Trucks.

A specification sheet tells you what a truck body could include. A completed truck shows how those decisions work together.

Metro’s Recent Builds provide examples of actual fabrication leaving the workshop, including different body dimensions, construction methods, storage arrangements, loading systems and fitted equipment.

These projects are useful if you are researching a new truck because they show how Metro approaches real working requirements rather than presenting generic catalogue bodies.

You do not need to find a truck here that is identical to the one you have in mind. Use the builds as reference points for body styles, layouts, fabrication details and equipment that may be relevant to your own project.

Different Truck Bodies for Different Jobs

A commercial truck body starts with what the vehicle is expected to carry, load, unload, tow and access during the working day.

A truck carrying loose material has different requirements from one transporting machinery. A pallet and freight truck needs different access from an arborist vehicle. A field-service truck needs different storage from an open tray.

Metro’s recent projects therefore cover several distinct areas of custom truck body fabrication.

Recent Tipper Body Builds

Custom Tipper Bodies are designed around commercial loads that need to be hydraulically discharged.

Individual tipper builds can vary in body dimensions, steel specification, floor construction, sides, tailgate arrangement, storage and fitted equipment depending on the truck and material being carried.

Where the application calls for higher wear resistance, Metro can use Hardox as part of the specification rather than treating one material as the answer for every tipper.

Recent Chipper Tipper & Arborist Truck Builds

Metro has particular experience building Chipper Tippers and arborist truck bodies for tree crews, arborists, vegetation-management contractors and commercial operators.

These specialist builds can include enclosed high-sided bodies, hydraulic tipping systems, rear barn doors, fully welded internal floors, full-piece side walls, toolboxes, pole-saw storage, tarps, towing equipment and other arborist-specific fit-out.

Completed Chipper Tippers are especially useful examples of why Metro does not treat every truck body as a generic box. The entire vehicle needs to work around the crew, material and equipment.

Recent Beavertail Truck Body Builds

Beavertail Truck Bodies are designed around loading and transporting machinery, plant and equipment.

Recent Beavertail projects demonstrate how deck length, rear slope, ramp arrangement, loading angle, machinery dimensions, load restraint, storage and other equipment combine in the finished truck.

Metro builds fixed and hydraulic ramp configurations depending on the truck, machinery and working requirements.

Recent Flat Tray & Truck Tray Builds

Metro builds custom Flat Trays and steel truck trays for open commercial carrying applications.

At Metro, we call them Flat Trays. These builds can be configured around pallets, timber, building materials, freight, tools, equipment and other commercial loads.

Recent Flat Tray builds can show different floor specifications, side combing, rope rails, load-restraint arrangements, racks, access, towing equipment, toolboxes and crane provision.

Metro’s Flat Tray work is focused on custom steel truck tray fabrication for commercial trucks, rather than aluminium ute trays, truck hire or complete vehicles for sale.

Recent Drop Side Tray Builds

Drop Side Trays combine a commercial carrying deck with hinged sides that provide load containment while retaining practical access for loading and unloading.

Individual builds can incorporate removable drop sides, hurdles, over-cab racks, custom headboards, toolboxes and other equipment around the way the truck is used.

These projects are useful when comparing a Drop Side Tray with a completely open Flat Tray.

Recent Service Body Builds

Custom Service Bodies are designed around field work, tools, equipment and organised storage.

The useful part of looking at completed Service Body builds is seeing how storage, access, electrical equipment, lighting, toolboxes and other components have been arranged around a working vehicle rather than considered separately.

A service truck needs to work when somebody is standing beside it on site looking for the tool or equipment they need. The layout matters.

Built Around the Truck and the Work It Has to Do

Choosing a body type is only the beginning of a custom truck body build.

The completed vehicle also needs to suit the cab chassis, available payload and work expected from it. Body dimensions, access, loading requirements, load restraint, storage, towing and fitted equipment all form part of the discussion before fabrication begins.

This is why two trucks with the same broad body type do not necessarily leave Metro in the same configuration.

One Flat Tray may be built primarily around pallets and forklift access. Another may need racks, toolboxes and towing equipment. One Beavertail may transport an excavator. Another may be designed around access equipment or landscaping machinery.

Custom truck body building gives Metro room to build around the job rather than force the job around the body.

3D Design Before Fabrication

Many Metro custom builds are worked through digitally before fabrication begins.

Troy handles much of Metro’s quoting and technical design work and uses Fusion 360 3D modelling to develop custom bodies before material reaches the workshop floor.

This allows dimensions, body configuration and major components to be worked through before steel is cut.

Scott then runs the workshop as those plans become finished truck bodies, working alongside the fabrication team and keeping jobs moving through production.

The technology has changed considerably since founder Doug was quoting jobs over the phone and scribbling details onto bits of paper.

The fabrication itself is still hands-on.

People still need to measure, cut, weld, fabricate, fit, check and finish the bloody thing.

For more information about Metro’s truck body design, materials and fabrication, visit the Truck Body FAQ.

Construction, Materials & Working Requirements

Material and construction choices depend on what the truck body is being asked to do.

Wear, body weight, strength, available payload and the type of material or equipment being carried all affect the specification.

Metro works with different steel specifications where the job calls for them. This includes selective use of Hardox steel in suitable higher-wear applications, particularly relevant Tipper Body builds.

Hardox is not automatically the correct answer for every truck body. Nor is thicker steel automatically better.

The useful question is whether the construction and material selection suit the application, workload, cab chassis and finished vehicle.

Toolboxes, Storage & Equipment on Recent Builds

A body is only one part of many working truck setups.

Recent projects can also demonstrate how Metro incorporates storage and equipment into the vehicle rather than leaving those decisions until the body is finished.

Depending on the individual job, equipment can include custom truck toolboxes and underbody toolboxes, tie-down points, tow bars, Redarc brake controllers, amber beacons, LED work lights, racks, additional batteries, inverters, water tanks, fire extinguisher mounting, ramps, hydraulic equipment and crane provision.

Metro specifies, supplies, installs and integrates suitable toolbox arrangements into builds, with toolbox manufacture sourced through specialist suppliers.

When viewing a recent build, look beyond the main body shape. The smaller decisions around storage, access and equipment are often what make the finished truck work properly for its operator.

Recent Builds Show More Than Standard Truck Bodies

Some commercial vehicles fit neatly within an established body category.

Others do not.

A customer may arrive with unusual equipment, an uncommon loading requirement, a storage problem or a job that does not suit an off-the-shelf body.

Recent Builds gives Metro somewhere to show those specialist custom truck body projects without pretending every unusual job needs its own permanent product category.

The common starting point remains the same.

What does the truck need to do?

From there, Metro works out the body and fabrication required to make it happen.

Can Metro Repair or Modify an Existing Truck Body?

Yes. Recent workshop work is not limited to completely new truck bodies.

Metro also undertakes truck body repairs and modifications in Melbourne where an existing body is suitable for repair, alteration or further fabrication.

Truck bodies spend their lives working. Floors wear. Components get damaged. Hinges and doors need attention. A business buys a truck with a body that is nearly right. Equipment changes. The job changes.

Where appropriate, Metro can repair or modify the existing setup rather than automatically replacing the entire body.

If you have a damaged or unsuitable truck body, send Metro photographs and explain what needs to change.

Truck Body Builds for Melbourne & Victoria

Metro Truck Body Builders operates from Seaford in Melbourne’s south-east and has been building commercial truck bodies since 1989.

The workshop works with customers throughout Melbourne and Victoria, including businesses and operators around Frankston, Carrum Downs, Dandenong, Cranbourne, the Mornington Peninsula, Gippsland and regional Victoria.

Recent projects provide customers researching a truck body builder in Melbourne or Victoria with real examples of the type of work Metro undertakes before they start discussing their own truck.

For suitable projects, Metro also works with customers beyond Victoria.

Interstate Custom Truck Body Builds

Metro has completed custom truck body work for interstate customers, including projects connected with New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.

Suitable enquiries are also welcome from Tasmania, including operators around Hobart, Launceston, Devonport and Burnie.

For an interstate build, detailed information becomes especially useful before the truck travels to Seaford. Cab chassis details, body requirements, dimensions, loads, equipment and existing drawings give Metro a better basis for discussing the project remotely.

The further the truck has to travel, the more sense it makes to work through the job first.

How Should I Use Recent Builds to Plan My Truck?

You do not need to find a completed Metro truck identical to what you want.

Instead, look for projects that share something with your application:

• The same or similar body type
• A similar truck or cab chassis
• The same type of load or machinery
• A useful toolbox or storage arrangement
• A ramp, towing or load-restraint setup relevant to your work
• A fabrication detail you want to discuss
• An unusual solution that solves a similar problem

Then visit the relevant body page for more detailed information about how Metro approaches that type of truck.

Compare Tipper Bodies, Chipper Tippers, Beavertail Truck Bodies, Flat Trays, Drop Side Trays and Service Bodies.

Why Metro Is Turning Completed Builds Into Proper Project Content

Metro has been building truck bodies since 1989. That means the workshop has decades of actual fabrication work to draw from.

There is more value in showing a real custom truck body build, explaining the truck, the job, the body and what Metro fabricated than filling the website with generic articles written for the sake of having articles.

Selected recent projects can therefore become detailed build records covering things such as:

• Truck make and cab chassis
• Customer requirement
• Body type
• Body dimensions
• Construction and materials
• Storage and toolboxes
• Loading or tipping arrangement
• Towing and electrical equipment
• Special fabrication
• Finished truck photographs

That gives future customers useful reference material and creates a growing record of what Metro actually builds.

Family-Owned Truck Body Builders Since 1989

Metro remains a family-owned Australian truck body building business.

Founder Doug started with welding equipment in the back of a Datsun 120Y. Today his sons Scott and Troy run Metro from the Seaford workshop, using modern equipment and 3D design while remaining directly involved in the work.

The trucks shown in Recent Builds are the current chapter of the same business.

Read the full story on Family Owned Since 1989.

Planning Your Own Custom Truck Body?

Use Recent Builds as inspiration, not as a catalogue you have to copy.

Your truck, load, equipment and working requirements determine what Metro needs to build.

If you have seen a feature on one of these trucks that would work for your own vehicle, tell Metro. If your job needs something completely different, tell Metro that too.

If you already know the body type you need, explore Tipper Bodies, Chipper Tippers, Beavertail Truck Bodies, Flat Trays & Truck Trays, Drop Side Trays, Service Bodies or Custom Truck Toolboxes.

If you are still working out the best body configuration, visit the Truck Body FAQ.

Talk to Metro Truck Body Builders about your next custom truck body and request a quote.