For those who have followed along with my story I have been busy as of late. I have a regular construction job in which I've been working 50-60 hours/week. After that I work my own side gigs 10-20 hours/week. After that, I modify the van.
To what end? Well, work, of course.
I started with envisioning various ladder racks. They began with the idea of welding hitch points to the van body. I gave up on this concept when I realized welding to the body would set the van interior on fire. Undeterred, I slid comfortably into a less sophisticated solution: Sheet metal screws. I bought steel flat stock. Put an abrasive disc on my cordless circular saw. Spent an evening in a Lowe's parking lot cutting the flat stock into steel plates. Lowe's kicked me out. Never been told off by an 18 year-old girl in a red vest before, but there's a first time for everything.
To each plate I welded a 1/2" nut in the center. Couldn't get weldable steel nuts, so I used zinc nuts and ground the plating off. After welding I drilled eight holes in each plate. Then filed burrs, cleaned with mineral spirits, primed, painted, clear coated, and created rubber gaskets of the same size. Each of these plates and gaskets I screwed to the van body using stainless steel sheet metal screws, at predetermined points. Sealant under each screw/hole.
At this point I had a set of hitch points laid out in a grid.
Cut, drilled and primed some lumber to match my hitch points.... these are my cross-members...
Cross-members going on....
Passenger side now carries a 6' step ladder and adjustable 22' Little Giant ladder.
Driver's side is a little more substantial. On top of the cross-members are vertical uprights, upon which are attached lengths of flush-mounted angle iron. The angle iron makes this rack modular in that I can move hooks/blocks around for my needs. It is designed to carry sheet goods on the face (plywood, drywall) and on the backside, between the fiberglass top and the vertical uprights, I made a space for an extension ladder. Extension ladders are only 5.5" thick so this was an easy solution. I can slide a 40' ladder in there no problem.
Okay, maybe my van is starting to look a little crazy. But I'm okay with that.
To what end? Well, work, of course.
I started with envisioning various ladder racks. They began with the idea of welding hitch points to the van body. I gave up on this concept when I realized welding to the body would set the van interior on fire. Undeterred, I slid comfortably into a less sophisticated solution: Sheet metal screws. I bought steel flat stock. Put an abrasive disc on my cordless circular saw. Spent an evening in a Lowe's parking lot cutting the flat stock into steel plates. Lowe's kicked me out. Never been told off by an 18 year-old girl in a red vest before, but there's a first time for everything.
To each plate I welded a 1/2" nut in the center. Couldn't get weldable steel nuts, so I used zinc nuts and ground the plating off. After welding I drilled eight holes in each plate. Then filed burrs, cleaned with mineral spirits, primed, painted, clear coated, and created rubber gaskets of the same size. Each of these plates and gaskets I screwed to the van body using stainless steel sheet metal screws, at predetermined points. Sealant under each screw/hole.
At this point I had a set of hitch points laid out in a grid.
Cut, drilled and primed some lumber to match my hitch points.... these are my cross-members...
Cross-members going on....
Passenger side now carries a 6' step ladder and adjustable 22' Little Giant ladder.
Driver's side is a little more substantial. On top of the cross-members are vertical uprights, upon which are attached lengths of flush-mounted angle iron. The angle iron makes this rack modular in that I can move hooks/blocks around for my needs. It is designed to carry sheet goods on the face (plywood, drywall) and on the backside, between the fiberglass top and the vertical uprights, I made a space for an extension ladder. Extension ladders are only 5.5" thick so this was an easy solution. I can slide a 40' ladder in there no problem.
Okay, maybe my van is starting to look a little crazy. But I'm okay with that.
