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Folks,
I finally traded my piggy bank for an E150 van.
Now I’m looking for your ideas and experiences on how to fit it out to carry all those tools, plus be fit for camping, etc.
What works for you?
ToolBear
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got my first van in '81 (barter deal) and built all kinds or tool racks in it, tore them out within a year. More flexible that way. I bought a bench seat with floor brackets that I can put in to haul young hoopsters around. Cost me 75.00 at a local wrecking yard. (also serves as picnic bench when company comes!)
Don't think I could ever go back to a pick-up.
*I'm with YB. Every time I think I'll get around to organizing my van, I have to drag everything out to haul something. It's sitting out there right now half full of my old lady's sh*t while I am loading an airless and a bunch of buckets in the trunk of my Sunday cruiser. With a rope to hold the lid down. Only want vans from now on, though.
*I don't have one, but the extendo bed looks to be an interesting idea. I am following your comments on the van, and while I hate the looks, I think they probably have an edge on a pick-up. Got to buy one or the other next year. I still haven't worn out my 1981 Diesel Oldsmobile with the right side smashed in. Before that, it was a real show piece if you didn't mind measuring the acceleration from 0 to 60 with a calendar.DennisP.S. I have a Sunday cruiser, but haven't had it out of the garage for about a month. Too new to drive.
*Im thinking of getting a van next too. Have a pickup with fiberglass top now. I built a plywood box in back of 3/4 cdx top, sides,two dividers in the center 8' long and as tall as the wheel wells. Built three drawers to slide into it a littlt smaller than each compartment. Waxed the bottoms so they slide easy and filled them with all of my tools. Works real well,havent had to crawl inside in a while. All the big stuff, miter saw, compressor tool boxes go on top of the ply box. Also filled in the spaces by the wheel wells so nothing falls in there. Have seen people do the same on a smaller scale with vans at side doors, so they slide out from the side,mostly plumbers and elect, with a lot of small parts to store.I can still cary materials for small jobs, but i use a trailer for larger jobs. By the way, it takes me less time to empty truck now than when i had the jumble of tools in the back. Also makes small jobs more profitable by cutting down the time i spend looking for my tools. Wish i could show a picture of it ,its really simple and cost about 100 bucks.
*I drove a van for 23 years, until I just switched to the new dodge ram.I outfitted several vans. My last idea was the best, and also the fastest.I am a shelf guy. I build shelves on both sides, and leave the middle open. I don't leave the rear chairs in, and even took the passenger seat out of a long ford once. (I could dtick 14 footers in and shut the door!)Anyways, this last van had a raised roof. I didn't have any way to achor to the ceiling. Heres what I did.I built two simple Wall units. 1x12 shelves, with 1x12 sides, tops, and bottom. I backed them with 3/8 rough sawn ext. ply. I then set the units on the wheel wells. I extended the sides down with booger blocks (I should of built the side longer, but that would take too much figuring). The boxes tilt inward, and look like they will fall. They won't because I nailed a spreader on top of the units.They worked quite well for two years. I had to adjust the boxes once. (new spreaders with a few more nails).Start to finish: approx 1 hour!Oh yeah, I nailed a 1x4 on the frnt of each shelf. that keeps stuff from sliding off. The guns hang nicely on them too. The tilted boxes are nice, easy access, and your vision is good.4x8 sheetstock will still slide in.I then built a raised platform directly behind the seats. 2 2x10's wide, with a little space, and my generator, compressor, and mechanics box will ride high above the plywoood. I couldn't recline my seats into the prone position, but oh well!Blue
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I'm with Dennis on the extendo bed. I have one
with my pickup. Blue should get one with his
Dodge Ram. The weatherguard Pak rats are nice and
I built one out of 3/4" pts plywood and ball
bearing glides and it really works nice. Wished I
would have used heavier glides. It's 4' wide,
2'deep and 7" tall with three compartments. It
would sit on the deck right behind the passenger
seat in a van. I had a van and had to get a pickup
when I moved up to central Mn because I needed
4WD.Nothing like a van to work out
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It's no help with a van and I think this was covered afew months ago, but that doesn't stop my babble. I vote pickup with a tool trailer. Everything I do involves trash and I think having a tool trailer "FOR TOOLS" and a pickup bed for crap makes the most sense for me. I own a 14' ex-Ryder Rental Truck and as much room as that is, there are two problems at the end of the day. 1) I'm too tired to crawl to the front of it to put my tools away in the $700 lock box I installed for tools. 2) I tend to throw the days trash in the back, with, or on tools.
I knw this sounds like a personal problem, but I've had it for years and have thought about this for years.
*J.D. -I would like to add a dump trailer for trash. Here in THE GREAT NORTHWEST a van is great for tools. Stuff stays dry, semi-secure - you can stand up in there and change cloths (when wet, or before an evening at the opera) in the winter I keep an old easy chair in there and often take a nap! And with that sweet little GMC V-6 I still get 17 mpg. - but you're right, another way to haul trash/materials at the same time would be great. - yb
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Vans Rule, Dude!
Since I bought my first new van,a 1982 E 250 and sent it to the scrapper fifteen years and 245,000 miles later, I have loved vans.
I had a slide out drawer that went out the back and was six feet long. That way the floor space at the side doors was completely open. For vacations I built a deck for the drawer and had a foam mattress made to fit. An old kitchen cabinet with a two burner propane stove and three drawers made a nice kitchen. Removable for work.
Now my work van, a 1984 E350 has the drawer for the back. I found an old metal office desk and dismantled it for the drawers. The larger file drawer is on the bottom behind the driver and then the three smaller drawers are bolted on top. Cost:Zero, just a dumpster dive.
Now I am looking at a larger van. Today I drove all over the Twin Cities looking at cube vans. The one that gets me giong is an old Ryder van. 1994 E350, 460 ci gas, automatic. The cool part is that it has four seats. From the outside you see the front end of a van,like normal. The cube box has a box that goes above the cab and is fifteen feet long. Behind the normal van seats, but inside the cube, is a compartment with two seats that face each other. Not jump seats like on Rangers or S10's. Manly Man size space. Could be converted to storage or a catch all for the usual detritus that collects around any craft worker. My plan is to make a 30" to 36" wide toolbox out of the front of the cube,cut off the back and wall it off, leave the jumpseat compartment, and put on an eight foot dumpbox.
Tom
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It is nothing against vans, you guys have a side door which is what I want in a trailer. My thing is even caefully packed a van probably couldn't hold my stuff, and if it did it would require me removing thing to get others.I was shooting more for a vehicle that I could drop the trailer and leave the business behind.
Truth be told, with the new job my truck goes on the market, and my tools go in storage and I get a Jeep Grand Cherokee cause that is what the wife wants. I'm in the market for a trailer and an old pickup.
That's hopefully to do the honey do list.
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Charles,
I like the concept of the boxes that slide out. Saw this welded up out of steel with heavy duty runners.
I am working on a space plan for a 3/4 ply deck 6'6" long in the back (sleeping area for camping) with storage for 6 totes beneath (my tools are mostly in totes - frame, electrical, saw, etc.), but I can see a retrofit kit of really big drawers. Do they make glides to carry this kind of load?
ToolBear
*Don,Be nice if they made a 4x4 van - but I have yet to see one that was not a conversion. Very rare item.I am told that "air lockers" (limited slip differential on command?) are one cheap way round this problem. Of course, by the time I load up the van, there should be enought weight aft to provide traction (a problem in vans).I found the van market very tight - little product. And I shopped 9 months, 3 states and a lot of net time. Pickups - tons of them out there for sale. Bought this at Enterprise Auto Sales - the sales arm of the Enterprise rental company. Low milage, decent price (I should know after 9 months of pricing), no haggle, etc. Not the usual car buying experience. Didn't leave feeling that I had been bent over and had at.TB
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Tom - every time someone brings a high-cube van to a job I'm on, I can't keep my eyes off it. Ultimate van! I had a '72 E300 that I had to retire after 2 engines and 240,000 miles and 15 years of dailly use. Can't bear to part with it though, after 4 years it's still sitting up in the field. The missus just shakes her head. Dumpster diving, a man after my own heart! - yb
and J.D. - I'd say mentioning that you not only don't need your tools or truck at work anymore, you are looking for a Cherokee is a low blow!
*No offense meant, I'll miss my tools. I want a pickup, but the wife wants a cherokee. I'm still going to get a trailer and set it up. If any thing have pity on me, I got to shave everyday and wear coat and tie. What am I going to do with all the old jeans and tee shirts. They are like family to me.
*last winter I helped out with the girls basketball team at the high school and they insisted I wear a tie to games. (first I had to buy one) I think just that little bit did damage to some nerves in my neck. I can't even hang a pair of sunglasses around there anymore - it feels like 10 pounds! No foolin', I can hardly even stand to wear a shirt with a collar anymore. Wierd huh? Seriously - I'm hoping you get fulfilled in your new position and make lots of dough. I know I sure can't manage people and I respect people who can. - ybps - you could always wear an old t shirt with holes in the belly underneath your dress shirt!
*TB, Air locker? Wouldn't wish that on anyone except a "Jeeper".....S.
*I've been looking for a hourse trailer at auctions around here. I figure thay can hold a lot of weight in tools are tall enough to stand in have ventalation(sp) and well built. Figure shelves on the side with room above for 2x that can stick out the top of a half door and sheet stock down the middle. Then I would get a sticker that says CAUTION TRIM CARPETER
*My father did EXACTLY what you are looking for. He has a cargo van (1990 chevy). He bought the van new and first thing he did was build shelving on both sides of the van. He used plywood and cut out the vertical dividers to match the wall contour of the van and added shelves in between. He only put shelves about half way back and the other half he built a bed/platform about 1.5 ft off the floor. There is still 4 ft between shelving and enough room beneath the platform for what he needs to haul, then he can even add more on top of the platform. The bed is framed of 2x4 with plywood on top and bottom. The top panels are removeable for storage. If you lay on the bed with your head at one side wall of the van and your feet at the other, you fit just right. (then again, I'm 5'9) My father is 6'1" but seemed to fit ok. Watch out for whacking your head on the wall ribs in the middle of the night though and the amount of condensation (from breathing) on the ceiling is amazing. My father and I had lived in this van for 1.5 months once and 2 months the other time on two major camping trips. If the typing wasn't so much, I could tell you some great stories.Pete Draganic
*I'm all for walling off the tools from the rest of the truck. I have a 14' GMC cube. I bulit a work bench/ladder holder and some bins with space for my trash bin and drywall cart. I bought a huge job box for tools and bolted it across the hatch the thieves used. It has been a disaster. Everything, trash, tools whatever end up in a pile at the end of a day. I'm too tired or rushed to put things away properly. I have to crawl over trash to get to tools. If I had a side door, I would have made a tool room like your talking about. That's why I'm getting a trailer with a side door. Are you thinking of getting tools in and out through the cab? I don't know if that won't be a pain in your ass or not. P.S. Parking one of these in a neighborhood won't win you any popularity contests.
*Pete - haven't met a carpenter yet who didn't enjoy a story or two, have at it man! - yb
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Folks,
I finally traded my piggy bank for an E150 van.
Now I'm looking for your ideas and experiences on how to fit it out to carry all those tools, plus be fit for camping, etc.
What works for you?
ToolBear