Roger Bisby takes a look at Vanguard’s racking system and talks us through the installation process as well as the additional options provided.
When I needed a roof rack for my Vivaro, I went to Vanguard. I also went there for seat covers, so when it came to racking out the cargo area I thought I would give the same company’s new racking system a try. This is not in the same league as some of the more expensive racking systems but it offers a crash tested solution at a reasonable price and you can, of course, add your own boxes and draw units. Vanguard also supplies optional non-slip matting.
The Vanguard system consists of straight shelves and sloping shelves that can be configured and built up as you choose to suit different heights and lengths. My approach was to rack out one side only but I also wanted to include a Vanguard tool chest, which fits along the entire width of the van up against the bulkhead. Because I also like to free up the cargo area for carrying pallets, I decided to make the racks easily removable by using wing nuts and bolts.
The racks arrive as flat packs and present no challenge to anyone who works with their hands. I wanted my shelving to fit over the wheel arches. The slightly tricky bit comes when you have to screw the brackets to the side of your van. Obviously you need to screw into the struts rather than the panels and, in order to find out where the struts are, I took the plywood panels off the sides and marked up the positions.
I also needed to make some fixings into the floor and, once again, you are looking to get a good fixing but avoid anything such as pipes and cables. My ply lining had been sealed around the edges with silicone so I didn’t want to lift it. Instead, I nipped down to my local Vauxhall van dealer to take some photographs of a new van interior before it was lined out. Once I had drilled the holes, I sprayed some wax oil into the holes to prevent any corrosion.
The steel tool chest has holes drilled in the bottom to allow you to fix it to the floor of the van. In actual fact, it is so large and heavy that I can’t really see anyone struggling out with it, particularly with dead locks on the rear doors. The largest tool chest comes with two Keyed Alike locks but there are smaller chests to suit different size vans.
Click here for more information on Vanguard.
