Boarding out a van

[Monkey Mark]

I'm looking at getting a van and wondered if anyone has any tips for when boarding out. Anything special to go between panels to reduces noises from friction/movement? Tips on making the templates?

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

It depends on what you are going to be transporting. I transport furniture so have a ply floor and a series of rails up the sides starting at 6" and spaced 1' apart. This means I always have a convenient place to secure the piece with a tie. The one 6' from the floor may seem a little low but it is good for securing toolboxes ect.

 

[kostello]

When you fix it use self tapping screws and Glue it on with polyurethane sealant... No squeaks



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[kostello]

If it is a popular van there is a good chance that someone has a set of templates you can buy or download.....


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[xraymtb]

If you want to reduce noise from the panels themselves, you can fit flashing to the metal panels first. Stops them vibrating on the motorway. Very helpful if you don't have a bulkhead.

It also depends on what you are using it for. You could for example carpet the van after panelling which would help if you anything is touching the van whilst you drive. It's a reasonably cheap and easy job and gives a nice finished look but could get dirty quickly I you are loading it with rubble all day!

 

[Monkey Mark]

Thanks for the replies guys.

The majority of items I would be transporting will be electrical based I.e cable, light fittings etc so there shouldn't be much dirt. The more I think of it the more I'm leaning towards making some compartments/shelves too.

I'll probably how for a vivaro/trafic as I tow a caravan and some sites won't let you on with a commercial vehicle, so I want something that can be made to look like more of a large people carrier. They also seem to be loads cheaper than an equivalent transit.

 

[Mark A]

Ply lining kits are available on eBay for a good price. When we bought our Vivaro we paid the dealer £200 to board out the back, and it was only afterwards that I found suppliers of CNC cut panels for something like £140 online. I like to think I would have done a neater job of fitting them if I done it myself.

 

[klkarrier]

When i bought the berlingo, I insulated it with polyurethene cut down in thickness and put a sound deadening pad on the inside first. 3mm ply with a carpet adhesive fixed and screws to battens fixed to the reinforcing members of the sides. The van was for light use, mostly cardboard boxes. Put a piece of material at the end which draped over the coloured bumper when off-loading. All that insulation and carpet made for a very quiet ride indeed. I cut the ply out of a 8x4 sheet with paper templates. I had a drive previously in a demonstrator van and the workmanship in the ply lining was poor, done by their specialist too and cost £200 extra

 

[Monkey Mark]

Ply lining kits are available on eBay for a good price. When we bought our Vivaro we paid the dealer £200 to board out the back, and it was only afterwards that I found suppliers of CNC cut panels for something like £140 online. I like to think I would have done a neater job of fitting them if I done it myself.

How do you find the vivaro? That's what I'm thinking of getting.
Not sure I could use pre made ply yet as I may be doing it a little differently but I'm still researching into my options.

 

[Monkey Mark]

When i bought the berlingo, I insulated it with polyurethene cut down in thickness and put a sound deadening pad on the inside first. 3mm ply with a carpet adhesive fixed and screws to battens fixed to the reinforcing members of the sides. The van was for light use, mostly cardboard boxes. Put a piece of material at the end which draped over the coloured bumper when off-loading. All that insulation and carpet made for a very quiet ride indeed. I cut the ply out of a 8x4 sheet with paper templates. I had a drive previously in a demonstrator van and the workmanship in the ply lining was poor, done by their specialist too and cost £200 extra

Looks good. I was thinking the same with regards to sound deadening. Good idea on the flap to protect the bumper. Did you just roll /flip it over when not in use?

 

[klkarrier]

aye it was a pice of vinyl that was caught under the aluminium edge and flipped back inside before closing the doors..sometimes you'd forget and have this yellow bit sticking out like a warning strip

 

[worn thumbs]

Over the years I have done a few.The detail of each one must be determined by the intended use.I have done a handful with the metal tie down track on the floor so that heavy loads can be secured and I have used pop rivets to fix the track.I learned a valuable lesson when I drilled a pop rivet hole in the floor of a Fiat van and felt sure I had felt something after the drill bit went through the metal-when I looked beneath the van there was a shiny patch on the side of a brake pipe.I then made sure I always used a short drill bit,not much longer than the rivet,in such locations.I also found it made for a more practical van to fit a plywood floor so that the track and floor were flush.A dab of sealant on any new metal under the van did no harm.

 

[Doug B]

For fitting out vans a threaded nut riveter is a real boon.
http://www.justoffbase.co.uk/Threaded-N ... GwodQsEHbg

I've used one on the last four vans I've fitted out, it makes removal of fitments so easy particularly when it comes to swapping vans or removing racking etc when the full payload is needed.

 

[flying haggis]

i ply lined the works van some time ago and as there were some packs of cavity batts (the sort you use when building a house) lying around I put them into the spaces twixt the metal side panels and the new lining. definetly makes a difference

 

[deema]

I spent sometime a few years back making liners for vans, the big thing to watch for is NOT to use cheap ply. The glue in the ply can on a warm day give off a gas that will cause you to become drowsy. There is lots of info on the WEB about the potential problems. Top quality Birch Ply may seem an expensive indulgence, but it's worth it for peace of mind.

I gave up making them as people started to buy the panels online, copy them and then return them!

Where ever you screw or drill, check that nothing vital is on the other side is a shrewd idea..

Don't glue the panels in as invariable you will want to replace at some stage.

 

[HOJ]

How do you find the vivaro? That's what I'm thinking of getting.

Just check your needs, I had one, couldn't get an 8*4 sheet in without it being on the diagonal, PIA if you needed to get at your tools, had other issues as well, got rid after 3 years, and bought a Renault Master, LWB, very good mobile workshop, serves me well.

 

[Monkey Mark]

For fitting out vans a threaded nut riveter is a real boon.
http://www.justoffbase.co.uk/Threaded-N ... GwodQsEHbg

I've used one on the last four vans I've fitted out, it makes removal of fitments so easy particularly when it comes to swapping vans or removing racking etc when the full payload is needed.

Good idea. I've seen these before but never used them. A quick look on YouTube shows how easy they are and useful. Think I'll use them.

What size would you recommend for panelling?
Looks like the cheap tools are made of cheese and the good ones too expensive for a one off job so I'll make my own setting tool, looks easy.

I spent sometime a few years back making liners for vans, the big thing to watch for is NOT to use cheap ply. The glue in the ply can on a warm day give off a gas that will cause you to become drowsy. There is lots of info on the WEB about the potential problems. Top quality Birch Ply may seem an expensive indulgence, but it's worth it for peace of mind.

I gave up making them as people started to buy the panels online, copy them and then return them!

Where ever you screw or drill, check that nothing vital is on the other side is a shrewd idea..

Don't glue the panels in as invariable you will want to replace at some stage.

I'd rather spend more and have it right anyway as ill want it to be a good'un. And good tip on the shorter drill bits.

 

[Mark A]

Ply lining kits are available on eBay for a good price. When we bought our Vivaro we paid the dealer £200 to board out the back, and it was only afterwards that I found suppliers of CNC cut panels for something like £140 online. I like to think I would have done a neater job of fitting them if I done it myself.

How do you find the vivaro? That's what I'm thinking of getting.
Not sure I could use pre made ply yet as I may be doing it a little differently but I'm still researching into my options.

Hi,

We bought our SWB Vivaro new (older shape) just over two years ago and so far hasn't missed a beat. It's reasonably good on fuel, drives well and comes with a surprisingly decent stereo; though the quality of the cab is pretty naff overall and the back is just short of being 8ft long so sheet materials won't fit in flat, as HOJ mentioned.

You mentioned towing a caravan with a Vivaro - we recently bought an 8x5 trailer and our van tows it without any problems at all, but bear in mind so far we've only carried about 1/2 tonne in the trailer so that's about 1 tonne gross.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[Doug B]

What size would you recommend for panelling?
Looks like the cheap tools are made of cheese and the good ones too expensive for a one off job so I'll make my own setting tool, looks easy.

I only bought a cheap one though it was years ago after borrowing a mates when fitting out a van, it came with a selection of nuts but when they got used up I bought a bag of M6, there must have been about 100 in that bag so as I only use the tool once roughly every 4 years I just stick to that size. The infrequency of use of the fitting tool was why I bought a cheap version, it definitely wouldn't stand up to day to day use, but I accept its fallibility & use it accordingly.

 

[Monkey Mark]

Hi,

We bought our SWB Vivaro new (older shape) just over two years ago and so far hasn't missed a beat. It's reasonably good on fuel, drives well and comes with a surprisingly decent stereo; though the quality of the cab is pretty naff overall and the back is just short of being 8ft long so sheet materials won't fit in flat, as HOJ mentioned.

You mentioned towing a caravan with a Vivaro - we recently bought an 8x5 trailer and our van tows it without any problems at all, but bear in mind so far we've only carried about 1/2 tonne in the trailer so that's about 1 tonne gross.

Cheers,
Mark

That's great. My caravan is 1300 max so usually just over 1000 so that's good new.
Our current car is a little under powered for it.

I only bought a cheap one though it was years ago after borrowing a mates when fitting out a van, it came with a selection of nuts but when they got used up I bought a bag of M6, there must have been about 100 in that bag so as I only use the tool once roughly every 4 years I just stick to that size. The infrequency of use of the fitting tool was why I bought a cheap version, it definitely wouldn't stand up to day to day use, but I accept its fallibility & use it accordingly.

Sounds like a plan. I'll buy m5 or m6 and make a tool to match.