Looking for advice on systainer boxes and my van.

T

tdfiver

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Jun 14, 2010
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I have a new VW Transporter and I'm a joiner/builder. At the moment, as I'm busy, I've made up some sliding shelves in the back of the van to suit my various systainers but they are temporarily fastened in with a vertical stick (I know its a bodge) to stop them flying out when I hit a bump or round a bend.

As I live in the Scottish Highlands (countryside) about 40 miles from civilisation (its life Jim, but not as we know it !!) I have to make do and mend sometimes, unless I drive into town to my local Travis Perkins yard.

I have used  drawer  sliders on 12mm ply shelves fitted between 12mm sides,  I have about 10 systainers with, drill, saw, jigsaw, sander, planer all usual Festool and Mafell tools.Anyway how can I fasten sliding shelves into  tall unit so that when I push the shelf/systainer back they stay put ??

I don't want to spend a fortune, just to carry tools around, as my money goes on tools and beer....LOL!!

Cheers Andrew

 
The rack system that's sold here: link. Uses a narrow strip with hinges on the side to keep the drawers closed in transit.  (The strip closes over an eye, and a pin is inserted to keep the strip closed, thus locking all the drawers)
I think an easy solution would be such a strip, made of plywood locked with a small slide bolt. (Basically your current stick-solution, but a bit more elegant ;))
 
Andrew,

Welcome, nice to see another Scot.  This is a dilemma i am struggling with at the moment.  I have just sold my 5 year old Renault traffic which is racked out for upright cases.  I have a new Traffic on order which i will get at the begginning of September.  As i have changed to all Festool over the last 2 years then i am going to have to rethink my racking system.
I was thinking of having fixed shelf's of varying heights to suit different systainers.  The shelf's would have a small up stand at the front to stop the systainers falling out.  I did think about sliding shelf's but wasn't sure about the same problem you are having.  I will also try to incorporate a dedicated space for an MFT3, which i don't own yet.  I like everything in my van to have its own dedicated space, a bit of a geek like that.  I will try to post some pics of the layout of my current van for our American Friends to see as it looks like pick up trucks are much more popular than vans.

Where in the Highlands are you as i am in Wick which as i am sure you know is very far north.  Cheers, Woodguy.

P.S - Post some pics of your sett up if you can.
 
Frank-Jan

Thats a cool set up, thanks for posting that link.  I am starting to re-think my plans already  [smile]

Woodguy
 
Hi Woodguy7

I'm just outside Alness, I will try the locking rail in Jans photos. I did think of that, I'll try to get hold of some alloy bar and copy your idea. The systainers are one thing, its the rest of the junk we have to carry about that creates a mess  [eek]

I haven't got around yet to sorting my Makita LS 1017 mitre saw, so it sits fastened to the side of the van till I can think of a fix for that. I need room for doors and wet wall and the like too.

I would dearly love some of the systems like in Jans photo's but the cost is just too much for me. I managed to get a new 15+3 for ?448 today as my makita gave up the ghost last week. Good old HIS  [big grin] its amazing what a smile and a bit of bull will do.

great site by the way !!
 
Yea, i buy all my Festool goodies from Garry at HIS, good guy.  Been waiting for the new T15  for 6 weeks now  [blink]
 
harry_ said:
a picture from another thread.
Click to expand...

That looks better, though I see they are in sideways and not on sliding shelves. I tride a sliding bolt but they kept jumping out allowing the sliders to run out spilling the boxes onto the floor.

Country roads arern't like city roads  [sad]
 
    Hello  tdfiver.I've all my power tools  in sliding drawers held in place with a home made turn button on each drawer.I'm in mountainous rural France and used to live in Aberdeenshire so I  know what you mean by country roads.Anyway it's a cheap simple solution that works.I've yet to have drawer come loose.
 
tdfiver said:
harry_ said:
a picture from another thread.
Click to expand...

That looks better, though I see they are in sideways and not on sliding shelves. I tride a sliding bolt but they kept jumping out allowing the sliders to run out spilling the boxes onto the floor.

Country roads arern't like city roads  [sad]
Click to expand...

That picture my van racking!   Tell me a reason why you want them front on?!?!?   To me sideways makes more sense because you can get more rows for the length of your van.  Also I have got dividers I screw on as you can see I have only done it with the first two on the right side. Having sliding shelves makes your van much heavier so more cost in fuel and they cost money to buy but also more space waisted because you have to allow for the runners but if you insist of sliding shelves the hinged 2x1 which you can see on the photo which I have put on to stop the boxes from falling out which also work for your sliding shelves.

Here is another close up picture of what keeps my boxes in place.

Also you can see I have my guide rails above and my 6ft level and props and other little levels all on top keeping everything tidy!

Also about the sliding bolt I thought of it when I was thinking about a lock and living where I live I also have bad roads and knew a sliding bolt wouldnt work so I bought them spring loaded cabinet things they wernt cheap though but they just simply push and it click shut and then pull down to open and no matter how hard of a bump you go over they stay shut trust me!
 
Hi TDFIVER,

I posted on here a year ago when I got my new T5 I too wanted to rack it all out for systainers I still havent  [embarassed] In the end I just put my van vault back in from my old van. If you get any good ideas let me know.

PS is yours the new shape T5.1 they never told me a new shape was coming when I bought mine  [mad] I had to buy one last year so I suppose it doesnt matter but everywhere I go now I keep seeing the new ones.
 
Hi Joiner

My van is the old T5 LWB 2.5, only problem with it is curved sides unlike some others.

When I get around to it I'm going to turn my boxes sideways, as long as I can get doors in flat on floor. Its time I really need as I'm fairly busy and would need a day to sort it all out and fit.
The systainers certainly help and have bought extra boxes so I can put my other non Festool stuff in, like grinder, dust sheets and SDS drill. Only Henry the hoover and Makita slide saw is odd stuff that gets in the way.

Some good ideas on here though.
 
Hi tdfiver.

I think you're looking at this all wrong. I don't think you have a bodge for a solution. I think you have something simple and elegant. Easily built, easily repaired, and easily used. Very few complexities, and it does the job very well. But I think the execution can be everything. If you've made good brackets that hold the bar securely, top and bottom, and made bars well, properly measured and fitted to each space, it's a good system. If you find a more elaborate (complicated) or elegant solution, and you do a hack job of putting it in, it might not work as well, if at all, and it might end up feeling like more of a bodge.

The center bar works, and it works well. We used something similar when I worked offshore, factory built to make sure that heavy cabinets and drawers full of steel hardware didn't open up on the road to the ship, or on the water during the job. And they locked. So another thing to bear in mind is that what you already have is very easily modified to add padlocks.

Something further to consider is that it's easier to pry open a side-piece, just enough to slide the systainer out around the side bar. A centered bar is simple, strong, and secure.

Consider the simple chisel. Some are beautifully made with fancy woods and modern steels. Some have cheap plastic handles and even cheaper scrap metal bits. Neither is more sophisticated than the other... there's not much to it. But when sharpened, they are functionally the same. The cheap and crappy one might not last too long, the edge might not hold up, and so on. It won't get stolen, either, but at the end of the day, both tools do the same thing.

Take some time to make some nice bracketry, add a latch and lock to the top of each bar, and put a coat of varnish or paint on it all, and I think you'll find it's a pretty good system.

Don't mistake simplicity for a poorly done job. I've seen some very involved catastrophes in my day.

 
tdfiver said:
Hi Joiner

My van is the old T5 LWB 2.5, only problem with it is curved sides unlike some others.

When I get around to it I'm going to turn my boxes sideways, as long as I can get doors in flat on floor. Its time I really need as I'm fairly busy and would need a day to sort it all out and fit.
The systainers certainly help and have bought extra boxes so I can put my other non Festool stuff in, like grinder, dust sheets and SDS drill. Only Henry the hoover and Makita slide saw is odd stuff that gets in the way.

Some good ideas on here though.
Click to expand...

Sounds like we are looking for the same thing, I have the SWB version, I have started buying empty systainers , Metabo and Mungo ones much cheaper than the Festool ones, same here with the Makita slider I have the 1013. When I get the time and the money I will try to kit my van out until then Im just using the Van Vault the systainers fit really well in it. One idea I did have before I bought the new van was to build a large pull out drawer at the rear doors then you can still slide 8 x 4 sheets underneath it. Like in the picture below.

3319140080_7ef78d82c3_o.jpg


 
vohringer lightweight ply is the way to go its lighter than air [big grin] comes in some nice colours
 
i spotted this the other day Im a member on that forum as I have a T5 , not much good for tools those cupboards he has done are more for camping. Suppose you can get a few tips from it though
 
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