So I bought a new to me 2012 GMC savana. It is basically empty as far as shelves. I think I am going to move some custom shelves out of one of the old ones but the existing ladder rack sucks. Any ideas? Which ones are the best?
Those racks and the full basket type they have are the only two racks I've had on a van since the late 80s. I like a three racks set for a 6' ladder and center support for an EMT box.
I suppose that price will be a determining factor, too. They have all kinds of fancy swing-up type racks. Those are great if you will never need to strap more or different ladders down, or any massive quantities of large PVC. If you will only need to haul the same two ladders around, the swing up style is faster and easier to load and unload. If you need to run back to your shop and grab a 12' stepladder for a job, it gets tricky. I prefer the flat racks with side rails for that reason alone. Spend the money for some proper bolt-on rack straps and locate them where you can stand on door sills to reach them, and the basic rack isn't that bad. I would love to hear differing opinions as well. Also, the white paint on the American Van racks likes to peel and rust.
I am just too cheap to spend the required loot to buy a swing up style of rack. I like their design and function and if I had the tall euro style van, there's no real practical alternative
FWIW on my Chevy 3500 Express I have the standard style three post from American van, I did however spring for the all aluminum constructed one. This was after my steel weatherguard that came with the van new started rusting out on me. Not that it was compromised structurally yet, but I didn't want any staining.
I took this pic myself. That's gotta be a $2,000 rack, huh?
That rack alone is probably over the weight limit for the roof rails. And the funniest part is that the ladder they have in it is a Little Giant that would fold and go in the back easily lol.
I took this pic myself. That's gotta be a $2,000 rack, huh?
That rack alone is probably over the weight limit for the roof rails. And the funniest part is that the ladder they have in it is a Little Giant that would fold and go in the back easily lol.
When I drove a van steel shelves drove me nuts. Every part nut and bolt banged away making noise. Plastic shelves and aluminum swing down ladder rack is how I would do it.
Well I took the ladder rack off my 2001 chey van and fixed it up a bit. The guys came in last sat and built their shelves out of wood to quiet things down a bit. The I ordered a 3 drawer stackble from american van. So I think I have that one pretty close to ready. I was gonna order a square conduit holder but we decided that there wasn't enough room for a 12 foot ladder then so we will stick with the round, might paint it burgundy to match my colors.
Here is my next dilemma. I went out and bought a Nissan NV2500. This thing is nice. Nicer than my pickup. Much harder to find stuff for it though.
No high roof, but is has locks, windows ans navigation....
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