Level van for shelving/racking?

[Sayn3ver]

This is my first time doing a van shelf install.
Do you guys level the van with jacks before doing any wall paneling or shelving or do you just use a square off the plywood floor?

Like most I always am grabbing a level or laser for anything I do.

My goal is to plumb and plane out the van walls with some solid lumber running horizontally across the ribs as if you were furring a ceiling then attach plywood over to obtain plumb flat walls. From there I'll have a nice surface to attach cabinets, shelving, etc.

Using a level and laser seems faster than using a square  and to me tends to be both more accurate (tolerance) and more precise (repetitive).

I need a way reasonable way to obtain masurements for the furring strips myself. Im not using the van yet so it can be left jacked in the driveway if necessary.

Thoughts?

 

[peter halle]

First,

Welcome to the FOG!  You aren't that far away from me - I live in Powhatan.

What van are you trying to shelve?

I used a square on my Transit.

Peter

 

[Sayn3ver]

Promaster 159 hightop.

I know you loose some room planing out the walls vs scribing. For what I want to do I think it's the better option. It'll make any changes in the future easier to do for me as well.

 

[3PedalMINI]

Welcome! Where in NJ are you?

When I did mine I prebuilt all my cabinets and installed them. the floor is "true" to the van. Theres a ton of different ways todo this, however I dont think I would "level" my van. nothing is square in the van and spending the time trying to level it out wont save much in the long run!

It is challenging and time consuming but well worth it!

 

[peter halle]

I spoke to [member=1018]builderbob[/member] a today (after reading your post) about racking in his Promaster van.  He said that he had to allow about 2 inches for scribing on the rear of the cabinets / shelves if you wanted them neat against the van walls.

Peter

 

[Sayn3ver]

I don't want to level the floor.

Let's try again.

I'd like to fur out the van walls so they are square with the van floor. I'd then like to install plywood over the furring. I'd then have a large flat continuous plane to install cabinet's and shelving.

I have no desire to scribe cabinets to the van sides because I have a feeling I will be making modifications and tweaks. This is my first van and I'm not quite sure what layout is going to work for me best.

By having fhe plywood walls square to the floor and continuous the length of the cargo space I feel it will allow to to move and change things much easier.

I was asking if it would benefit be from a one time jacking up of the van in four corners to level the floor both front to back and side to side with gravity which would allow me to fur the walls plumb with a laser or level vs installing a couple control lines or using a square to measure off of.

I realize that the van shelving will never be "level or plumb" in day to day use. 

 

[3PedalMINI]

Just prebuild the cabinets then and install them. I used heavy duty Lbrackets to attach the units to the ceiling in my van. If you don’t care about getting every inch out of the van by scribing it doesn’t matter. Build them in the comfort of your shop and install them in the van!

 

[Sayn3ver]

It occurred to me that my pls180 has the laser lock function so this thread was kind of a waste time. Sorry for the brain fart. Haha.

 

[TPatti]

I have a sprinter 2500. The curve of the side walls is pretty consistent so I found the medium of the curve and made a pattern. I then build my shelves with curved back. 3/4" sides that are rabbeted to receive 1/2" back. The Sprinter has horizontal bracing so I simply attached them into the bracing. This way they are modular, different depths, can be removed if necessary, and I don't lose ant storage space. I roughed out what would go where and determined depths, obviously wider items on the bottom and narrower on the top.

 

[Fathers Woodcraft]

I'll be taking delivery of a new 2017 Sprinter 3500 170 EXT next week. I probably have over 60 systainers & sortainers as well as a whole host of other large bulky things to figure out how to store in the van. Any ideas anybody would like to mention would be welcome. I am particularly interested in ideas regarding where to even start the design of this upfit!
Thanks in advance for any input which may be forthcoming!

 

[BUTTER]

Most efficient means will be to mark centerline at floor and at ceiling from front to back and measure consistently out from there.