[willy1959]

I know this forum mostly has a camper twist, but i thought there me may a few tradesman that would appreciate racking photos.

I used all factory mounting locations to secure all the racking, seat belt anchor points in a wagon I guess. I am not quite done with the project yet, i have another section to finish, as well as the top section driver side. I spent an incredible amount of time on this so far, but I guess it's a labor of love.

I designed the racking so my most common needs of tools and fasteners, lets me access from out side the van. Also the area at the rear that seems to be all enclosed, is by design. When I am doing remodeling, there is always debris to haul, sometimes nasty stuff, wanted to have my tools protected a bit, and have easy sweep out once to a dumpster

All of the racking is very modular, I used a shelf hole/pin 32mm system with "L" bracket supports, and then some Kreg pocket screws to hold everything snug. the pullouts at the pax door house my "hardware store"

 

[ultane]

I love my Festool stuff, more than I love my Transit..

 

[willy1959]

I love my Festool stuff, more than I love my Transit..

they are incredible pieces of equipment!

 

[Clam]

I know this forum mostly has a camper twist, but i thought there me may a few tradesman that would appreciate racking photos.

I used all factory mounting locations to secure all the racking, seat belt anchor points in a wagon I guess. I am not quite done with the project yet, i have another section to finish, as well as the top section driver side. I spent an incredible amount of time on this so far, but I guess it's a labor of love.

I designed the racking so my most common needs of tools and fasteners, lets me access from out side the van. Also the area at the rear that seems to be all enclosed, is by design. When I am doing remodeling, there is always debris to haul, sometimes nasty stuff, wanted to have my tools protected a bit, and have easy sweep out once to a dumpster

All of the racking is very modular, I used a shelf hole/pin 32mm system with "L" bracket supports, and then some Kreg pocket screws to hold everything snug. the pullouts at the pax door house my "hardware store"

Nice looking ride. I'm on the fence about going with the regular 3500 or going with the heavier duty dually version like you have.

I've never had a dually and some people have been telling me that they're actually worse in the snow.

 

[willy1959]

hehe
I drive anything. and I mean anything. I have a 4wd Tundra, I drive a Miata (love it in the snow) My old work truck was a dually chevy box. The last thing I would even worry about is how this truck handles in the snow. I live in Wi so it is not like we dont have white stuff. But really? come on, in this day and age the streets are cleared almost before we get out of bed! worse case 6 hours.

 

[Njhw]

Very impressive Willie! I love my Festools too I will post some pics of mine soon .. it's nice to have everything organized in its place and walk around without hitting your head, I really love my transit so far , thanks for the pics again! especially with the one of the exterior sign I have the Lunar sky as well and I'm struggling as to what color lettering I should do on mine.Great job!!

 

[Clam]

hehe
I drive anything. and I mean anything. I have a 4wd Tundra, I drive a Miata (love it in the snow) My old work truck was a dually chevy box. The last thing I would even worry about is how this truck handles in the snow. I live in Wi so it is not like we dont have white stuff. But really? come on, in this day and age the streets are cleared almost before we get out of bed! worse case 6 hours.

I live in some very hilly terrain and like to get my truck up some pretty steep driveways to get as close to the customer's house as possible when doing service calls. My E-250 is really good in the snow until the the hills start to make the weight I haul around work against me.

There's plenty of times it starts dumping before I'm finished working and I'm not interested in sitting around for 6 hours until the roads get cleared so I can get the business home in one piece.

 

[willy1959]

I live in some very hilly terrain and like to get my truck up some pretty steep driveways to get as close to the customer's house as possible when doing service calls. My E-250 is really good in the snow until the the hills start to make the weight I haul around work against me.

There's plenty of times it starts dumping before I'm finished working and I'm not interested in sitting around for 6 hours until the roads get cleared so I can get the business home in one piece.

Sorry didn't mean to sound rude. Was just trying to say that these days the roads are cleared so fast it doesnt seem to be much of an issue anymore for me, of course your situation may vary. Using a thought process of that I have seen dually dump trucks that are non 4wd with plows on them, and have not seen 2wd trucks with a plow it seems that a dually is better in snow than a 2wd. My chevy box dually went thru snow and mud well. The dually decission for me was more for the weight that I like to carry, so that I may have all my remodeling tools and hardware store with me all the time. Even with the dually I had to scale back a little of what I carry to be in this trucks gvwr

 

[willy1959]

Very impressive Willie! I love my Festools too I will post some pics of mine soon .. it's nice to have everything organized in its place and walk around without hitting your head, I really love my transit so far , thanks for the pics again! especially with the one of the exterior sign I have the Lunar sky as well and I'm struggling as to what color lettering I should do on mine.Great job!!

I have the sterling grey, After seeing the trucks in person, I think I like the lunar better. but I like mine as well.

 

[Clam]

Sorry didn't mean to sound rude. Was just trying to say that these days the roads are cleared so fast it doesnt seem to be much of an issue anymore for me, of course your situation may vary. Using a thought process of that I have seen dually dump trucks that are non 4wd with plows on them, and have not seen 2wd trucks with a plow it seems that a dually is better in snow than a 2wd. My chevy box dually went thru snow and mud well. The dually decission for me was more for the weight that I like to carry, so that I may have all my remodeling tools and hardware store with me all the time. Even with the dually I had to scale back a little of what I carry to be in this trucks gvwr

No prob. I guess I'm having some post traumatic stress after the Northeast Winter I endured. Having to take the long way to the job because the shorter route is closed due to ice/snow storms and then getting stuck in the customer's snow covered icy driveway takes it's toll. I'm almost considering not buying the Transit and waiting for the 4WD Sprinter.

 

[ehchvac]

Sorry didn't mean to sound rude. Was just trying to say that these days the roads are cleared so fast it doesnt seem to be much of an issue anymore for me, of course your situation may vary. Using a thought process of that I have seen dually dump trucks that are non 4wd with plows on them, and have not seen 2wd trucks with a plow it seems that a dually is better in snow than a 2wd. My chevy box dually went thru snow and mud well. The dually decission for me was more for the weight that I like to carry, so that I may have all my remodeling tools and hardware store with me all the time. Even with the dually I had to scale back a little of what I carry to be in this trucks gvwr

It's not the duallys that are good in the snow but the weight that goes with them. A single rear wheel with the same weight and tread will be better in the snow then a dually. Think about it as more weight per square inch of contact patch is better.

 

[#Vandemonium]

willy1959


Very impressive. You have a nice collection of tools in there. That Festool stuff tho...
Totally agree with you on the labor of love side of things. One of the best set ups I've seen. Wish I had those carpenter skills to build something like that, but I am an auto detailer....... so got to find some help!


Congratulations on your Transit!

 

[hammerdown]

Nice set up indeed. Do you have a CNC set up for the millwork side of your business, or a Cut Centre? I'm a carpenter as well, and I do all my custom millwork the traditional way (because I can't afford a cut centre yet). When you haul sheet material, do you simply strap it against the cabinets? I like the organization you've created, but I find if I have to haul a bunch of cabinets boxes or pre finished trim work, I need the floor space and total volume in the van. So I'm doing my cabinets a little more modularly.

 

[willy1959]

Nice set up indeed. Do you have a CNC set up for the millwork side of your business, or a Cut Centre? I'm a carpenter as well, and I do all my custom millwork the traditional way (because I can't afford a cut centre yet). When you haul sheet material, do you simply strap it against the cabinets? I like the organization you've created, but I find if I have to haul a bunch of cabinets boxes or pre finished trim work, I need the floor space and total volume in the van. So I'm doing my cabinets a little more modularly.

First thanks for the kind words.
next, no CNC I made a pattern and then used a router to copy each piece. I am unfamiliar with the term cut centre? please explain. I bought a Kreg Foreman just for this project and I LOVE it. but this surely could be done the old way. The 32mm holes I bought a inexpensive jig from rockler and it has done everything I needed it to do for like 50 bucks. Yes to strapping 4x8 to the cabinets. as big as my old box truck was, there was not 48" lay down in the back, so I have gotten used to this method.

I considered starting my cabinets above the wheel wells so that ply could lay flat, but with DRW there is only 45" between the wells anyway so really did not make a difference. I have the space by the sliding doors for a few boxs of cabinets, but any more than that I would just get them delivered or if I am making them I would use my trailer. As for trim, there is 33" floor space and that lines up with the bulk head door, so I can get get full length inside, havent really measured yet, but I think I can fit 16' . That is what works for me. I do haul around a lot of extra materials. 2x4/ trim/ 1x materials etc for impromptu work when in the field. Since these pictures I have added doors at the top of the driver side racking and it will live out of the way and stowed up there. (same location I used to store in my box truck, but it was a mess, hence the doors, need to up date the pictures one of these days lol) I thought hard about this layout while waiting for the truck. I thought about everything that irritated me in my old set up and attempted to rectify. So far I am 90% pleased. Some things just were not possible to achieve 100% So I listed the tools I used most on paper, assigned them a priority and designed the layout from that. Being careful that the real estate that is accessed from out side the van be most important. Even though the van is tall, any more than is 100% ness to climb in and out will save energy for the work to be done.

 

[willy1959]

willy1959

That Festool stuff tho...

not sure I understand? you like festool, or do not?

 

[#Vandemonium]

willy1959

I love Festool tools!

 

[willy1959]

willy1959

I love Festool tools!

you would have been the first person I ever talked to that didnt like em lol

 

[willy1959]

I did a little more on the driver side. Still not done, but it is getting closer

 

[JAM7]

So when you coming over my house to buil me a set up like this lol. Very nice job bud. How much do you think all the shelving weighs? I'm debating building my own wood shelves or buying metal shelving.

 

[willy1959]

I was very mindful of the weight I might add so I took the truck and weighed it empty, and then again once the shelves were close to being done. Once I started adding tools weighing for the shelves became useless. I estimated that I was 90% done when I weighed what I had put in, and it added 350 pounds. I would estimate when I am completely built I will have around 500 pounds invested in shelving. I am not sure what the metal shelving weighs, but it isn't zero. So that is something to consider. The metal racking wastes so much space (I have had that in previous vehicles) that I feel the trade off was worth it.