Service Vans?

[reader2580]

I bet thieves are smart enough to realize that a cargo van is likely to have tools in it regardless if it has signage or not.

 

[Aileron]

get a flat sheet of 3/4 armaflex and glue it over the opening in the bulkhead. Makes a world of differance with the ac and knocks down the road noise from the back.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Here’s mine, 2019 250 transit, i went with the dewalt tough boxes and made custom racks. I like that as a gc i never know what I’ll need and with this set up i can swap out boxes in minutes. The boxes mount individually on foldable brackets so i can have an empty van in 5 minutes. I got the dewalt hand truck that holds the boxes and can be wheeled anywhere, also can be used as a hand truck. This has been that beat set up i ever used, clean neat and modular.

 

[HVACSD]

fwiw................ my work buggy

Hey now how'd you get a picture of my van...

 

[Catfishdan]

Here’s the back of my work van. I’d been looking for a clean econoline for over a year when one of my customers offered to trade me a 97 e350 for a house paint. Ended up a good deal for me.
I set it up with used shelving from craigs list and a cage from a prison van. I do general carpentry and painting, so I need a wide variety of tools. Everything has its place now. It’s rare that I don’t have what I need on a given day.

 

[Catfishdan]

And the outside… completely and amazingly rust free. I had the roof linex’d to protect it from ladders and lumber. These are, in my opinion, the best looking years for Ford vans.

 

[mike93lx]

Here’s the back of my work van. I’d been looking for a clean econoline for over a year when one of my customers offered to trade me a 97 e350 for a house paint. Ended up a good deal for me.
I set it up with used shelving from craigs list and a cage from a prison van. I do general carpentry and painting, so I need a wide variety of tools. Everything has its place now. It’s rare that I don’t have what I need on a given day.

Awesome van and setup.

Might be worth hitting the plugs before it gets too late. Manifold rust is also a big issue, but in CA, might not be a problem to worry about

 

[rick carpenter]

Lots of good ideas here, guys. Another source of ideas are the service van threads on electriciantalk.com and contractortalk.com. You have to be in the biz to join those two forums, but just looking is okay.

 

[ste6168]

Here’s mine, 2019 250 transit, i went with the dewalt tough boxes and made custom racks. I like that as a gc i never know what I’ll need and with this set up i can swap out boxes in minutes. The boxes mount individually on foldable brackets so i can have an empty van in 5 minutes. I got the dewalt hand truck that holds the boxes and can be wheeled anywhere, also can be used as a hand truck. This has been that beat set up i ever used, clean neat and modular.

That is one issue with mine, I have some specialized tooling depending on what the job is, and there's no easy way to switch things up. That said, a lot stays the same. The Vetos in the front carry very similar sets of tools. Tech XL is the main/largest hand tool bag, Tech LC is essentially the same just slightly less. Built out the Tech LC for my partner to use for the most part, there are times where having two sets on board really helps. The TP-LC is relatively new, but that's a small, basic set of tools I use for small jobs (like bilge pump repair/troubleshooting, estimating jobs, inspections, etc.) when there's no reason to carry 35lbs of hand tools on the boat.

The Tech XL and LC make up most of the hand tools for electrical work, HVAC work, and sanitation work. I do have a specialty bag for HVAC stuff, as well as a bag of cheaper hand tools for some toilet/blackwater work. Anytime I know its going to get foul, I have started using those tools. That bag is mostly cheaper stuff (no knipex, witte, vessel, etc.), but still good tools.

That is one thing, I don't spare on tools. I buy the best stuff I can, I think its worth it in the long run.

End of the day, not a huge deal loading up different stuff for different jobs. Maybe someday when I grow the business, well have a van setup for each specialty!

 

[nadogail]

I have a Chevrolet 1500 Express Van i bought new in 1999, my only regret is that I didn't buy the 2500. My van is the still plain white.

The Adrian Steel interior, installed by Commercial Van, was a free incentive from GM.

 

[sparky 1971]

That almost has me motivated to clean mine out. The kids baseball ️ will be finished after this weekend, then maybe I can find the time.

Little League ended last weekend so I finally got around to cleaning out the war wagon. I also added a Jet Rack for my 6' ladder. I made my own a few years back, but the metal wasn't strong enough to support the rivet nuts and after about three years, it came crashing down. I haven't had a 6' ladder on board for over a year. I'll be able to keep it like this while I am on a bigger job this week but next week I go back to service call and it will be a mess by the end of the first day.

 

[Catfishdan]

Little League ended last weekend so I finally got around to cleaning out the war wagon. I also added a Jet Rack for my 6' ladder. I made my own a few years back, but the metal wasn't strong enough to support the rivet nuts and after about three years, it came crashing down. I haven't had a 6' ladder on board for over a year. I'll be able to keep it like this while I am on a bigger job this week but next week I go back to service call and it will be a mess by the end of the first day.

Nice van. I like that inside rack, but I know I’d scalp myself on it.

 

[sparky 1971]

Nice van. I like that inside rack, but I know I’d scalp myself on it.

I already banged my head on it while putting everything away. It's just a matter of time before I'm bleeding. The rack I made used a strut trolley and a piece of 3/8 allthread bent to a 90°. It about took my ear off once when the ladder wasn't hanging from it.