As I am just about to pick up a van to carry all the gear I am interested to see some of the options people have used to deck them out with racks...so post away.

Especially interested to hear if anyone has had success using plastic connectors for box alloy.

Not racks... shelves.

Pros:
- weight is kept low
- no possibility of boards or masts hitting me in the head
- sleeps two on the top shelf
- booms and sails drip onto the shelves (which can be replaced...), not onto the floor
- each shelf only has a few bolts to remove it

Cons: non yet...

Most people I spoke to that had racks, had a problem with the footstaps and the nose being "too high", resulting it a lot of waisted van height. They also found that without the board bags, the boards got marked/dinted on the racks. YMMV.

As for the third seat - is the van a three seater? I dont have kids and I mostly trust that my gear wont move, but I'd be very dubious trading the "easy access" requirements, with the "dinted kid when braking" problem.

Yo! I'm decking my new van out with racks at the moment. It's the second one I've done and it's great fun trying to fit everything in in the most efficient way to maximise space utilisation and minimise time to get the gear out and on the water.

I'll try to post some pics on the weekend but the concept is as follows:
- Keep all wet stuff to one side of the van
- Catch all the water runoff with a sheet of ploycarbonate bent to funnel runoff into tubs that can be easily emptied
- Build racks out of PVC pipes with elgate tube clamps. This is lightweight and gives the flexibility to change rack configuration for more or less boards
- front racks are narrower than back racks so boards can't slide forward
- 6 Masts in pvc tubes on the floor under the racks (and the polycarbonate sheet to catch water runoff)
- 6 Sails ontop of polycarbonate sheet and also under racks
- racks for 5 boards (4 windsurf 1 surfboard) ontop of sails, masts and polycarbonate sheet
- hooks on side of racks for 3 booms
- my van is LWB so there is room infront of the racks for more pvc pipes to hang my wetsuits towel and harness on. the polycarbonate sheet extends the full length of the back so it catches water runoff from wetsuits as well.
- Have a timber table on the other side of the van which is long enough to use as a single bed
- store eski and other camping stuff under table (or can put more windsurf gear if a friend wants to come along)
- Room infront of the table for a passenger seat but in my case it will be a change room for the cold winter melbourne days.

That just about sums it up. I've almost finished the wet side of the van (racks etc) and the next job (which will hopefully be the easy job) is to make the table for the other side. The van is a midroof long wheel base T5 transporter. I'll try and take some pics when it's done.

Goodluck and have fun! Vans are the best thing for windsurfing!!!

Cheers,
Fletch

nebbian said...
Do the boards drip onto the carpet and then onto the floor of the van which will rust?
I'm a bit worried about that, was considering some lino or something to stop drips.

Since the boards are in bags, they dont drip. Even if they did, the grey carpet is actually rubber-backed! ... and makes a nice lining with some sound deadening too. Got it from Bunnings.

I used silicon sealant around all the floor joints, before laying the carpet. This stops the sand getting into the "easiest to rust" spots. I then laid the carpet with some overhang up the walls and wheel-arches -> again silicon is used to seal any carpet cutting.

Other forgotten pros:
- there are 12 sails (not mine only...) - most other layouts I considered, wouldn't hold that many. I figure that it will hold at least another two or three.
- I can remove the bottom shelf, separate from the top **.

** I was planning on a decent trip next year, so need max-space and still be able to sleep. By removing the bottom shelf only, I can pack the gear more tightly - it sacrifices easy access, but allows for more gear.

FletcHuz said...

Yo! I'm decking my new van out with racks at the moment. It's the second one I've done and it's great fun trying to fit everything in in the most efficient way to maximise space utilisation and minimise time to get the gear out and on the water.

I'll try to post some pics on the weekend but the concept is as follows:
- Keep all wet stuff to one side of the van
- Catch all the water runoff with a sheet of ploycarbonate bent to funnel runoff into tubs that can be easily emptied
- Build racks out of PVC pipes with elgate tube clamps. This is lightweight and gives the flexibility to change rack configuration for more or less boards
- front racks are narrower than back racks so boards can't slide forward
- 6 Masts in pvc tubes on the floor under the racks (and the polycarbonate sheet to catch water runoff)
- 6 Sails ontop of polycarbonate sheet and also under racks
- racks for 5 boards (4 windsurf 1 surfboard) ontop of sails, masts and polycarbonate sheet
- hooks on side of racks for 3 booms
- my van is LWB so there is room infront of the racks for more pvc pipes to hang my wetsuits towel and harness on. the polycarbonate sheet extends the full length of the back so it catches water runoff from wetsuits as well.
- Have a timber table on the other side of the van which is long enough to use as a single bed
- store eski and other camping stuff under table (or can put more windsurf gear if a friend wants to come along)
- Room infront of the table for a passenger seat but in my case it will be a change room for the cold winter melbourne days.

That just about sums it up. I've almost finished the wet side of the van (racks etc) and the next job (which will hopefully be the easy job) is to make the table for the other side. The van is a midroof long wheel base T5 transporter. I'll try and take some pics when it's done.

Goodluck and have fun! Vans are the best thing for windsurfing!!!

Cheers,
Fletch

This sounds like it has it all. Would be great to see pictures of the finished model.

You blokes have TOO much gear !!!!

My version of a van,fits lots of stuff and cheep to repair when it rusts.Gave up on vans when kombi,s were the king.I do like the new Merc,s though.

I use this stuff quite a bit at work to build workbenches, custom jig fixtures, test rigs etc. It can be light, strong, corrosion resistant and very simple to assemble. Plus it looks very trick.

maytec.net.au/

or

www.boschrexroth.com/business_units/brl/en/produkte/mge_alt/index.jsp

Contact your local suppliers, give them a sketch (back of a napkin ), specify what sections you want to use as well as the joining method. There are countless numbers of extrusion types and joining methods available. They can precut all the lengths, all you need to do is assemble and fasten to the van/trailer.

Bondalucci said...

laff77 said...

.

Hey Laff,
I see your from NSW, but the pick with the van has got to be Shoreham (Pines)in Vic, doesn't it.
Otherwise you've got a parallel universe going on up there.

Yeah I used to live in Melbourne, but moved to Sydney late last year. Love that spot down at Shoreham, such an awesome place to kip for the night!

lanky said...

FletcHuz said...

Yo! I'm decking my new van out with racks at the moment. It's the second one I've done and it's great fun trying to fit everything in in the most efficient way to maximise space utilisation and minimise time to get the gear out and on the water.

I'll try to post some pics on the weekend but the concept is as follows:
- Keep all wet stuff to one side of the van
- Catch all the water runoff with a sheet of ploycarbonate bent to funnel runoff into tubs that can be easily emptied
- Build racks out of PVC pipes with elgate tube clamps. This is lightweight and gives the flexibility to change rack configuration for more or less boards
- front racks are narrower than back racks so boards can't slide forward
- 6 Masts in pvc tubes on the floor under the racks (and the polycarbonate sheet to catch water runoff)
- 6 Sails ontop of polycarbonate sheet and also under racks
- racks for 5 boards (4 windsurf 1 surfboard) ontop of sails, masts and polycarbonate sheet
- hooks on side of racks for 3 booms
- my van is LWB so there is room infront of the racks for more pvc pipes to hang my wetsuits towel and harness on. the polycarbonate sheet extends the full length of the back so it catches water runoff from wetsuits as well.
- Have a timber table on the other side of the van which is long enough to use as a single bed
- store eski and other camping stuff under table (or can put more windsurf gear if a friend wants to come along)
- Room infront of the table for a passenger seat but in my case it will be a change room for the cold winter melbourne days.

That just about sums it up. I've almost finished the wet side of the van (racks etc) and the next job (which will hopefully be the easy job) is to make the table for the other side. The van is a midroof long wheel base T5 transporter. I'll try and take some pics when it's done.

Goodluck and have fun! Vans are the best thing for windsurfing!!!

Cheers,
Fletch

This sounds like it has it all. Would be great to see pictures of the finished model.

Sorry it's taken a while with the pics, I've been away for the last month. Here's some pics of the nearly finished product. Cheers!

aus301 said...

It's a 2 seater up front, but has compliance for up to 5 seats. I want to keep all the gear on one side, so the other side of the van will have a seat for bub and space for all the stuff that goes along with baby in the back.

I want to do the same thing to our Delica. Still thinking about how to get around the dented baby problem (without getting a trailer or roof racks).

Great set up Fletc. Novel idea with the pipes.

A lot of good ideas here.

Shout out to FletcHuz...I like the water collection polycarbonate in particular!