internal van racking

[shezzaar]

I know many differenct aspects of racking have been discussed before, but i am just wondering what is better, metal racking or plywood racking?
I know metal racking comes to a cost, I have been quoted around £1,800. For what i want doing. (I do have the money but obviously dont want to waste it)
I just want to know what people prefer, plywood or metal racking?

also whether or not i get metal racking, I am thinking of having a false floor, to store different pipe and a ladder. Could this be done with wood/ply? And still be able to hold tools and a weight of a person?

thanks in advance

 

[Killy Bing]

i would use ply. i have metal racking that came with the van and in my case it suits me.

with ply you can tailor it to your needs and change it if need be, racking isn't that flexible, even the modeler stuff.
will also be a fraction of the cost and you could do it yourself or get a chippy who is good at racking to do it for a day or two.
in-fact i think there are guys just doing this now.

if you need more strength for the base just use thicker ply.

can you post up photos of the back of the van ? we could give you a few ideas.

 

[shezzaar]

another thing that I had seen is videos on youtube of them putting them to crash tests, but have also thought they didnt look stable on the videos when doing the tests, but I suppose a bulkhead would stop any splinters coming through in a crash.

At the minute i dont have a camera, but my van is a Renault master L2H2. there are a few pictures of the load area on google images

 

[Jimbob]

I just bought some halfords professional roller bearing units and installed them on a raised ply bench, worked really well and didn't cost alot because the units were on offer

 

[stevetheplumber]

ebay is the best place for second hand racking

 

[Gray0689]

Or a second hand van dealer

 

[Kyle87]

Why not just make racking yourself out of metal or ply. A bit of imagination and graft is all it'll take

 

[lame plumber]

some pre cut ply systems on ebay look ok. Metal sytems are best looking but costly, but some of the ex AA kit is rather nice and very strong.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

ply/wood dont rattle

 

[lame plumber]

very true

 

[shezzaar]

after comparing prices, now thinking of doing it with ply, now just to decide what i want of it

 

[Masood]

now thinking of doing it with ply, now just to decide what i want of it

Take your time and think - really think - about how you want to lay it out. Make sketches if that helps. You want the stuff you use all the time easy to access. Build the shelving around your toolboxes and storage boxes, customised to your way of working. It'll save you a lot of time on the job.

I have a deep section with a front cover panel, so my power tools, freezing kit, etc are hidden from view. The rest is laid out as described above, and was built to size to accommodate Stanley Fat Max organisers for fittings, etc, and plastic food boxes for other small fragile items.

 

[shezzaar]

yeah will do masood, has anyone else got any other ideas?
my current idea is to have space for fittings next to the two back doors and than on the opposite side to the sliding door, have deep shelving for waste pipe fittings and traps etc. with a tray for pipe above.
and than on the front to have space for tools boxes, pipe bender etc along with another tray for cut off pipe.

 

[Kyle87]

Look at Toms tips on YouTube. I love his van lol

 

[shezzaar]

it was a good van, gave me a few ideas thanks,
do you have any ideas where he might have got the pullout plastic drawers from, that he had hung on the sides?