Looking for Van configuration advice

F

firehawk

Veteran
Hoping to finally start configuring my Van. Looking for ideas since you guys usually have great ideas.
The van is used to transport small crew (2-4 people) and gear to shoots.

Thinking of having wood shelves on the left side and less wide shelves on the right side. The shelves will have box frames that go down to the floor on the ends unlike the crude pics that show them suspended on the side wall.
Maybe have a section at the end of the left shelves for tripods and stands to go (indicated by colored cylinders).
The left side shelf will have attachment points to secure my RockNroller cart to. And later on maybe a rubbermaid rolling cart.

Thinking about having the shelves on the right side have space between the back and the van wall to slide in large flat objects like bounce boards etc.
Also need to figure out how to transport a single loading ramp since I've damaged by back and will need to roll cases into the van.

The purple box is a 2 man seat already installed (and removable). I want a narrow fold down table for a laptop that the person sitting there can work at on location.
Will have inverter installed somewhere too.

The kind of stuff I transport are usually camera bags, pelican cases and various light bags that I would want on the shelves. The Jib bags and large rolling cases would stay on the floor
 
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I'd tape the van cargo space on the floor of a garage, as well as the shelves you're thinking about to give you an idea about how everything fits together.

You're on the right track, I think a narrow set of shelves is good for long/thin objects, then a deeper set of shelves can be for chunkier cases.

Metal shelves obviously weigh more but will give you better mounting points for other objects.

A thin flag box can go up against the narrow shelf or towards the front of the van like you mentioned.

Your area for tripods would personally annoy me, I prefer to be able to remove items from the shelves without having to move anything else first.

Do the other two crew members travel on that purple block, or is it in addition to their seats? That's an obvious place to take advantage of another floor to ceiling shelf but if the workstation is critical then keep it as is.

You should have a "hallway" or "alley" left over in the middle for your carts. A loaded rock n roller is pretty bad to use with a ramp, rubbermaid with 10 inch wheels is a lot easier. It depends if you want the carts to be fully loaded already, which can be heavy but might not be an issue if you have multiple people to help.

Also it looks like a huge van, if it's already too big to fit under any car park/parking garage bars then there's the option to add roof racks to carry even more gear.
 
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Thanks NorBro to the rescue! :)
Thanks Rob. The purple block is the 2nd row removable seat where 1-2 crew sometimes sit. That seat is behind the front bucket seats. I thought of putting a floor to roof shelf at the back of it but that would defeat being able to remove the seat should I need a big space.
Marking the garage floor to plan out the fit is a great idea.
The van is already too tall (8.5') for some spaces.
Yeah the middle should have an open hallway for carts which is good.
I haven't got a ramp yet. Still looking for one.

One other possible idea I'm toying with is being able to add a removeable platform with a rear facing seat attached in the rear for when shooting cars from the rear mounted hitch camera. But the van may not be smooth enough to do that so I may not even explore that idea.
 
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