Owning a large van does not necessarily mean that you need a complex racking system. In practice, the ideal racking configuration is always determined by functionality alone. The Volkswagen Crafter seen on this page is a case in point. This project was commissioned by a company that installs and services civil and industrial systems. Vans used in this line of work need a spacious interior and plenty of room for carrying large spare parts or even complete items of equipment for installation or substitution.
Given these requirements, the solution chosen was to limit racking to the bulkhead and leave the rest of the floor completely free. The van is therefore particularly flexible and able to adapt to changing needs.
Protective lining is always important, but if you have to carry heavy equipment and machines, it is absolutely essential. This Crafter is fitted with a birch plywood floor liner with a marble-look surface, complete with steel edges at all the doors. The walls and doors are fully lined with painted steel panels.
View other lining solutions for protecting your Crafter’s bodywork.
The solution adopted by the Syncro team in this particular case is certainly not the only way to maximise floor space in the cargo compartment. Racking could just as well have been installed along one of the side walls, or suspended along the tops of all three interior walls. Both these solutions leave plenty of free floor space. A shallow cabinet of transparent plastic containers is another good option.
In the Crafter shown in these photos, racking is installed only on the bulkhead and features a configuration consisting of five simple shelves, each with a non-slip mat and internal space dividers.
Here are the advantages of this solution:
Special attention was paid to the roof in this Syncro project. The selected roof rack is complete with cross-bars, side fences, a rear loading roller and an Ultrasilent profile under the front-most bar. To make access that much easier, a roof access ladder has been added to one of the rear doors. From this, users can easily climb on to a walkway extending the full length of the van’s roof if material has to be loaded or unloaded from above.