Van racking system, recommendations?

Hey guys,
I need your help. I am a janitor and I recently bought a VW van for work.
The van is really awesome, and I like having this much space for storing my tools.
However, I damaged a couple of tools at work last week because I didn’t store them properly. To prevent this from happening again, I need a good van racking system or something similar to store my stuff in a structured and safe way in the van. Right now I am just trying to put everything in the van and fit it in, but it’s really a mess. I have already searched the internet and came across this page:
https://www.mysortimo.co.uk/en_UK/products/van-racking
They seem to have good reviews, but I can’t really tell if they are good or not. Do you have any experience with them or any another company that offers van racking systems? Or do you know a reputable seller? I don’t really care about the price as long the quality is good. But of course I don’t want to pay more than necessary either 😀

Could you build your own?

This was one set up that really impressed me;
https://www.t6forum.com/threads/build-thread-new-crafter-for-work.22611/

What are you wanting to store? Powertools, tool boxes, lengths of wood etc.

Is it important its easy to empty the van at night? (or risk getting stuff nicked) or can you park the van in a garage and leave everything in place?

This isn’t a recommendation as I haven’t ever used them but came across them one day and like the look of what they produce

https://www.facebook.com/plyvanracking/

There are quite a few options on the market. Im not sure if any of them sell direct to consumer anymore but worth investigating.

https://www.bottltd.co.uk/vehicle-conversions/van-racking

Elite Storage System

If you are close to Derby then these guys are worth a try:

https://www.mackworth.biz/modular-van-racking/

They are all pretty similar in quality. The installation is the difficult bit and where the biggest difference is.

Thank you for your quick responses.
I’ll take a look at your suggestions and compare them with each other 🙂

@db
Mainly tools for work. And I usually let my tools in the van, because I have a private parking spot, where my van is safe 🙂
Yes, that would probably be cool too, unfortunately I don’t have that much experience, but I like to tinker anyway, so maybe I’ll try to build it by myself. But I doubt that it will turn out good haha

Understood. Depending on your tool boxes you may find stuff available for them. e.g.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-toughsystem-storage-racking-1800mm-70-/6251T?tc=SB4&ds_kid=92700055256569563&ds_rl=1244066&gclid=Cj0KCQiAzMGNBhCyARIsANpUkzMtdcJ0VLIfMjqJChA0jIPMYKJ-bS1rkIIng9RzvhSB1SoISJCfHWEaApaUEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

You can bolt this into a van using rivnuts. That way its easy it unbolt when you sell on the van. One of my pet hates is people that just screw straight into the metal work of the van!

For me the priority is to stop stuff sliding around. If you have a stack of toolboxes you might be able to just secure with some straps.

Good luck finding something!

Thank you so much!
That’s a good tip – I don’t want to screw the metal work of the van.
Yes exactly, the sliding makes me go insane haha.
I’ll definitely check this site and see if I find something 🙂

What van have you got exactly? There are quite a few big companies doing racking, bott, sortimo, bristor, tevo, modul, edstrom and others but it’s not cheap new (like very not cheap, easily 2k in one van), can find used sets on ebay (search van racking and used) to give you some ideas. I’ve got a caddy maxi set coming out this week from an ex BG van.
Tag me in a reply if you’ve any questions, I’ve had/removed most types at some point from various vans.

A lot depends on what you want to pack in the van. If stuff is getting damaged because its loose in the van its going to get damaged loose on a rack (more so if it falls off)

I’ve got an older version of the Sortimo FR5 rack which I picked up cheap (£300) on eBay from someone who’d bought a van with it fitted and didn’t want it. God knows how many thousands it cost new. The FR5 style is great as they fold flat and act as tie bars for larger loads so you sort of get two vans for the price of one

For bigger vans its essential to have some sort of rack to use the size effectively for carrying your kit other wise everythings covering the floor and 4m out of reach and you’ve got a huge volume of fresh air above it. But for a Transporter I think its sort of borderline whether they are worthwhile or not. Theres not much space you can reach from one of the doors so keeping a clear floor space isn’t so important

For a rack to be useful you need your stuff to be in boxes. If they’re good boxes, in a smaller van, the boxes pretty much do all the work the rack would do anyway , you can stack them two or three high, keep and clear route down the middle of the van and be able to reach and access everything easily.

If you’ve got power tools one thing that makes packing them well for travel difficult is the cases are all sorts of different sizes and shapes and dont pack well together often even if they’re all from the same manudacturer. I bought a whole bunch of systainers (because I’m a ponce), chucked away the original cases my stuff came in  and packed each tool with the accessories it uses, or sets of tools you’d used together – so jigsaw, circular saw and multitool are all in the same box with their blades –  and that way everything can stack and lock together on the floor of the van or is stable enough not to fall off the rack and you can easily grab what you need for a job. Makita’s own brand version of systainers are pretty cost effective and a company called ‘Vantainer‘ sells its own range of Systainers (ie its brand on Tanos Systainers) as well and selling a range of van racking.

Other Powertool manufactures have their own takes on stacking tool boxes – but theres not often as much range of size/shape and application as the Systainer compatible stuff.

Most cost effective for that style of box (although its not compatible with TANOS systainers)  is buying a set  these boxes direct from AUER in Germany (you’ll need to do a bit of homework on import costs because…. well you know why) They are absolutely amazing quality for what little they cost  and really cleverly thought out, and very light weight too, They are cheap enough that you can buy a lot of them and get all your stuff packed into boxes that stack and travel well together and they lock together really easily so you can pick up a bunch of stuff in one hand

If its bulkier stuff then you can get really good prices on ex-hire removal crates. The most recent set I bought looked like they’ve never actually been used. But I’ve got another larger set that has an 01 and 071 London phone numbers on them – meaning they’d been in use for 25 to 30 years before I bought them – they’re invincible. Measure up your stuff and think about what would travel together how much you’d want to carry in one go and buy an bunch with the folding lids that sleeve inside one another.

What either of these approaches does is resolve transport your stuff in the van cheaply  (with or without a rack) but gives you a quick way to get your stuff to where you;re working and then gives you an instant workshop. Two or three removal crates with a board over the top gives you an instant workbench, you can sit and stand on systainers and AUER boxes. My table saw is the same height as a size 4 systainer so tool boxes work they double as an outfeed table, the base on you mitre saw is the same height as a size 1 systainer so they’ve good for supporting longer timbers.

So – if you’re going to buy our build a rack buy boxes…. but buy the boxes first and use them to inform what rack to get, you might decide then you dont actually need the rack at all.

Bott.

Looks like it.