I want to prevent water getting under the plywood floor in my van after a muddy ride, or the inevitable heavy rain when loading/unloading. For wet kit (shoes, clothing etc) I'll get one of those large flexible garden buckets. But what do people use for the bike?
Just use a dust sheet; any water will get soaked into, and held by, the fabric of the sheet. You could even be a bit more paranoid and stick a shower curtain under the dust sheet
Before my riding buddy buggered off to France, he just used a big tarp in the back of his Sprinter if we'd been riding in the mud/rain.
put some rubber flooring down. its great.
i just got a roll and cut it to fit.
What do you do about the edges? How do you stop water just rolling off the matt and under the ply?
I think you might be overestimating how much water ends up in the van, it's really very little. It's not like you're hosing down the inside.
Rubber matting or a tarp & you could always varnish the boards to prevent any water that does get past from soaking in.
Unless it's REALLY wet and REALLY regularly, does it really matter? Isn't the whole point of a van that you don't need to worry as much as you do a car (and I've never really worried about muddy/wet bikes in cars).
If you're worried about the moisture/condensation accumulating then maybe add some ventilation?
That would have been about 6 months of my riding back in the day. Not to mention that there's no way a vans going to dry out effectively from probably November to March...Unless it's REALLY wet and REALLY regularly, does it really matter?
Though i prefer riding from home.
OP - heavy duty tarp is probably the way to go. I had a 3x2m one for wrapping bikes in/covering the back of the car/van. think it was 350 or 400g/m2. Long since been retired!
i just got a roll and cut it to fit.
Water just runs to the edges IME
Water will get in; it pools in the door striker loop-thingy trim on mine.
Sealant only makes it more difficult to either vent or pull everything out.
Try DPM plastic sheet from a builder's merchant
How much water actually hangs onto a bike? Sure, you wouldn't ride a muddy bike across your living room carpet after a slopfest ride, but it's not going to be filling the bottom of a van with water. Put a tarp down, you'll get a few drops of water and blobs of mud on it, just shake it out when you get home.
What bails said... and bounce the bike on the back wheel a few times before you put in the van.
Or blow the water off with one of these (also amazing for quick drying a chain after cleaning/before applying lube):
What do you do about the edges? How do you stop water just rolling off the matt and under the ply?
A waterproof tarp with something absorbent on top to stop any drips running off. That's what's worked for me for 18+ years of bike carrying in vans/campervans. Current van has carpeted ply panels down to floor level and no issues with water runoff damaging them.
I swap between an old duvet cover and old blanket, depending on what's clean.
As someone who regularly throws bags of ropes harnesses and boats in a work van, the water has never been an issue. I don't empty the kit out and dry the van.
Get an old sheet or bath towels and a shower screen or tarp as mentioned above and you'll be golden.
I just use a tarp in the back of mine, with maybe a dust sheet or couple of old towels if its going to really wet*.
As abve though bouncing the bike a bit gets most of it off even if you hose it down.
*Mines nice and carpeted so need to protect it, but i'm a fair weather rider nowadays so its not really a problem for me any more.....
A large tarp that gets turned up along all edges so any water that does land can't run off.
If you can get heat in the back of the van that'll help remove the water.
Doesn't need to be fancy, just something to help collect the water and stop it running off and into the vehicle panels.
What do you do about the edges? How do you stop water just rolling off the matt and under the ply?
you dont get that much water. even when its piss wet. Mainly its mud if you are riding in teh rain, or after rain. if you are precious you could use an old sheet as well. or a rag for a quick wipe.
the boot threshold of my van has plastic trim and the rubber floor laps under that (you take the trim off to fit the flooring - same with any flooring and the sliding door treshold).
with a lift up boot yu get next to no rain in. barn doors (like mine) you get a bit but if its lashing that hard you chuck yourself and the bike in and shut the door to hide/get changed. or wait till it slows down raining a bit. doors only open for a coupld of mins max (in the rain) so you dont get loads of rain in. if you want to leave them open longer you can get a tent thing to go over the barn doors to provide a shelter.
you could lap the rubber up the wall a bit if you are really worried as you cut it to suit. you`d need to weight and glue the floor at the bend up the wall (if that makes sense?)
If you havent got any platstic trims you can probably get some online to help seal the floor at the door openings. Mine was a commercial crewcab before it became my camper and had door trims. If its a basic commercal van you might not i guess.
Current van has a plastic floor cover instead of ply, but previous ones were wood. I never bothered about it, the kind of run off from bikes or a bit of rain just soaks in them brush it out when dry.
Or once you've had it more than 6 months, brush it out when seeds start to sprout!
I bought a roll of rubber mat and cut to shape - my van is a people carrier, so carpeted with seat rails, so important to keep dirty/wet bikes off the carpet.
have a look at rhino boot liners. I've had one in various vans for about 7 years now and its been great.
Motocross Pit mat from 24MX
Absorbs fluids.
https://www.24mx.co.uk/accessories/paddock--garage_c10031/pit-mats_c10174
I've never worried about water being an issue to that extent. Dripping wetsuits etc go over a bucket but bikes don't have that much water on them.
My van has astroturf over the whole floor, it's not waterproof but stops everything sliding around and seems to absorb mud, sand and everything else into it. It's looks good and feels lovely to lie on too - there are loads of websites that sell offcuts big enough for a van, it took about an hour to cut it around all the seat mounts etc.
My routine is similar to what most have already said, bounce the bike up and down a few times, quick wipe with an old towel, give the chain a quick wipe dry, chuck in the van and go to pub/cafe. But then I'm really not very precious about mine at all.
How are you storing the bike in the van? Upright in fixed mounts or just laid on it's side etc.? If upright you might be able to find a loft storage bag or something long enough to put under it (although personally I'd just use a tarp)
If you’re really fussy, mattresses are sent from the factory in huge, thick poly bags.
even a double sized bag should swallow up your bike.
maybe ask at your local bedding store???
I think the issue here is new van and the reason I only buy used.
Duplicate post
What do you do about the edges? How do you stop water just rolling off the matt and under the ply?
The answer is in the product photo, there’s 90deg edging strips clearly fitted, lots of adhesive very little moisture will get past.
More practically as removable cheap options, either a neoprene floor mat or a Bund/tray (normally for catching oils), motorsports especially MX solved these issues decades ago…
I use a plastic bag that a king-size mattress came in . My Ebike is usually covered in cow crap and I can just roll it into the bag and stick it in the back of the car to sort out when I get home.
Anything waterproof and half arsed fixed would concern me more that a few drips getting under some ply that will dry quickly. Absorbent and removable is more sensible.
Jamiemcf really does load wet stuff in the back of his van. Like all night long in the rain inspecting bridges wet day in day out not justa couple of drips from a bounced mountianbike.
Makita battery blower. Will remove all water from your bike in seconds.
Blows out crud from back of van and cockpit area
Lights your bonfire in God of War style
You will wonder how you managed without
Bike is upright in the van. Something removable would be best so maybe some kind of shallow tray. Like a plant drip tray. I've found some up to 120cm long but would need something about 200cm long.
Anyone know where I could find one?
Just use 2 and tape them together.
We put ours in the Tourneo on a boot liner that fits in the back and an old one from a previous vehicle. It allows us to get up to four in side by side with the wheels on
They both have upturned lips but it's more to stop the dirt than any water
I used a length of buffalo board (had some anyway) with some wooden strips round to stop water. Board has two axle mounts screwed into it to hold bikes more securely.
Large tarp is still sounding like the easiest solution...not permanent but easy enough to deploy and remove.
Makita battery blower. Will remove all blow water from into parts of your bike that it had never reached before in seconds.
FTFY
Find a waterproof table/sofa (etc) patio furniture cover that is big enough, turn it upside down, put bike etc in it..
in the Berlingo I sometimes use a shower curtain, one with the ring holes for rails at the top, they clip over the driver/passenger seat headrest height adjuster rails and then it hangs down to the back of the car
I've found some up to 120cm long but would need something about 200cm long.
Buy two. Either tape or zip tie the middle (or maybe both) to make a hinge. Bingo, one folding drip tray long enough for your bike.
Large tarp is still sounding like the easiest solution...not permanent but easy enough to deploy and remove.Hmmmmmm, Large tarp with magnets?
Attach them around the edge in such a way they can *either* stick to each other to wrap the bike, or the side of the van to hold it in place? Could even open the edge seam of the tarp slightly and hot glue them in place?
Would actually make for a useful van accessory. Wish i'd thought of it when i had a van...
You don't say what the van is. We've got a caddy maxi life, so it's a carpeted back and we've got the OEM version of this fitted.
https://www.carmats4u.com/volkswagen-caddy-maxi-5-seats-2007-boot-liner-mat-tray.html?
bikes get brushed off if it's damp mud, and if we're riding in properly wet conditions then we've got a Worx Hydroshot so they go back in cleanish but wet. Bouncing them on the back wheel a few times shakes off quite a bit and it's never been an issue with two bikes. I bought a couple of those big pouches of silica gel last year to help dry it out (we had found the kitchen roll that lives in the shelf over the cab has worked in the same way before).
Makita battery blower. Will remove all blow water from into parts of your bike that it had never reached before in seconds.
FTFY
I bought an AliExpress copy for about £25 and really impressed with it. Do you think it really does cause more problems than it solves? I use the 'flat' nozzle and it's like an air blade. Seems to get most water off the frame, and does a really good job of drying out the chain (rusting chain on damp bikes is the one downside of hotwax - but it's stopped that).
