After many months of procrastination I decided today to finish a project I started a while back, get a design and base materials for some cabinets to organize the gear in my van.
I have a 1999 Dodge Caravan that has three bench seats. I wanted to keep the rear bench seat so I needed to get a compact but useable design up. I also topo'd the back of my van in the area I was planning on building, man that reflectorless sure was nice for that.
So today I spent a few hours driving to different stores, hardware stores like OSH and Home Depot and a few unfinished furniture shops, which are very pricey. I finally ended up at Ikea and saw two different cabinet types.
Cabinet Type 1
This one is pine except for the back which is fiber board. This one has 8 inches more depth and is 5 inches higher than the one I choose. If I had of used this one I would have had to either do a cut out to accomadate the seat runners for the rear bench seat or build an elevated platform. They are $ 90 a unit and I needed two of them.
Cabinet Type 2
This one is particle board. Not as good as pine, but I am not planning on abusing it so it should last a while. It is already finished and has handles on it. It is not as deep as the pine so the problem with the seat runners has gone away. It has less depth but will hold all the glass and other small stuff that we all use on a daily basis. The cost is $35 a unit.
The Van Plan
I am open for critique. I just tossed this together and will install them tomorrow. As far as the prism rods go, they will be placed on the left side of the cabinets.
I have not decided what to use the open space for, probably use the lower area for lath. It will be pretty easy to instally cubicles into that area. The gun always sits on a bench seat where it's nice and soft.
Cones, sledges, shovels can go behind the cabinets..plenty of room back there.
That is quite a set-up you got there, Paul! I am impressed!! Good job!! :good:
I keep trying to talk Wendell into taking me to IKEA because we want a better TV stand thing/area for our big screen TV. Problem is...when we go to IKEA we're there for hours because...well let's not talk about that part right now. 😉
Sounds like a great plan. Be sure and post us some pictures when you are finished.
The only suggestion I have is make sure you have some secure way to hold the tripod and other things on the top in place in case of an emergency.
> The only suggestion I have is make sure you have some secure way to hold the tripod and other things on the top in place in case of an emergency.
Definately Deral. I will probably go with a different bracket type for the tripods. I'll nose around Home Depot and see what I can come up with. Velcro straps maybe for tie downs..or just bungie cords..dunno ..
I love what you've done with the place.
Have you considered metal file cabinets? They might be less weight.
JBS
John
> Have you considered metal file cabinets? They might be less weight.
Yes I did. The last time I built cabinets was for my Intl Scout in 1986. I used metal ones for that setup and they did last the life of the truck, it sucked a piston after 15 years of service.
I could not find any that met the area/height restrictions I am dealing with.
Deral is on the mark. I had a crew involved in an accident years ago. The prism pole became a very impressive javelin which went through the windshield like an armor piercing round, right between the seats of the suburban. No doubt in the world that it would have passed through somebodies head. Think about where that stuff on top of your box would end up in a similar situation.
Physics is really something to see in action!
Also, I've never had much luck with the melamine/pressboard stuff. It starts out ok but it can't stand up to the constant vibration of riding around in the truck. I have had a plywood box in my suburban for about 15 years. I used dadoes, screws and liquid nails. It is still tight as can be. I made it wide enough so that with the addition of some carpet remnants, it sort of wedges between the wheel wells and becomes part of the truck. I also have it secured in place with a couple of wedges on the side of the box so it can't slide forward in an accident, but is pretty easy to slide out onto a couple of sawhorses for the occasional camping trip.
I can send some pics if you like.
JB
John
> I can send some pics if you like.
> JB
Please do. Thnx!
> I am open for critique.
I don't think the particle board will stand up to the damp environment inside a vehicle. Certainly wouldn't last more than a few months in Oregon. Might last a bit longer in SoCal, but I predict a year, max.
Paul
Where did you find the 8" PVC pipe? I have been looking for a source and have found a place here in Simi where I can buy it, but it only comes in 20 ft lengths. Way too much for my needs. I need two four foot lengths (with two end caps) to store my tripods. I already have two tubes that came with two of my tripods. They fit nice in the bed of the pickup.
Great layout, but like most others I stay away from wood. I am extremely weight conscious from a wear and tear viewpoint on the vehicle, as well as gas mileage. I'd look for metal or plastic, a good fab shop could do what you want in thin sheet metal as a frame, then insert plastic tubs in the frame.
Many of us come from the day when 6 and 8 mpg was just a fact of life for a survey crew. When I began paying for both the vehicle and fuel, I decided to see just what was really necessary, and what was not. I found out file cabinets in vehicles could just as easily be a single plastic tub, and anything else (regularly consulted elevation datum, county tax plats, subdivision plats) could be scanned and kept on a laptop. I did away with what I thought was 'can't live without' documents that weighed out at over 50 pounds. Do away with the cabinets and there goes another 30 or so.
I replaced 200 pounds of tools with a single bag and a AAA card.
Paul
Those types of cabinets in my experience; the drawer bottoms are the weakest link. Might consider some 1 x 4 pine drawer dividers that will double as supports to anchor the drawer bottom and sides (glue and screws). Will help to organize your stuff and give longer life to the drawers.
get low head irrigation pipe.
extremely lightweight.
can be glued together along the springline on the outside.
if you need a box build it out of quarter inch AC-ex plywood. Much lighter than the thicker stuff. You do need to plan it so it'll be structurally sound but I bet it's more durable than that pressboard stuff from Ikea.
Go to Ikea for the swedish meatballs, not the furniture 🙂
Call around to your local plumbers and plumbing contractors, probably have some scrap they would sell cheap, or at least in the size you need.
I bought a single stick of 10" ultra ribbed pipe about ten years ago and cut it in 4' lengths to outfit two trucks. It was about 160 bucks if I recall, but considering I kept 1500 bucks worth of tripods in it, was worth the cost. Today I'm still using two of them, the other two grew legs and wandered off along with about 3 grand of equipment, another reason I work solo.
a tri-max will go into an 8" pipe except for the footsteps. I cut a 20 foot stick into four about 5.5 foot sections and the remainder I glued to the side with the back end forward a little. The tripod goes in head first and the footsteps hit the the pipe but the points don't stick past the ends of the other pipes.
I like your ideas. Consider having rollers on the drawers and locking system to keep them closed during transit.
Have to get on board the security wagon. I remember hitting a stump one night and my ice chest hitting the front of the bed of the truck did 10x more damage than the stump impact on the bumper.
The flying projectiles do the most damage because they build up momentum before the hit.
Look at many professional delivery vans and the headache racks around the payload.
Some even have a security cage built around the entire payload to protect windows, passenger and others outside the vehicle.
Some even have separate locking from the outside doors.
Here's mine. Been through a Ford Bronco, a Chevy pickup and now in the Suburban...
I use a pickup with Weatherguard boxes and an aluminum insert that I had a local fab shop make to my specs:
Both photos were taken before I glued garage door weatherstrip around the perimiter of the open back of the insert. It seals against the tailgate to keep the water out.
