[Jakey boy]

http://youtu.be/R84xXDdobYE

All diy, plenty of room for pressure washer!

[Spruce]

Thanks Jakey for taking the trouble to do a video of the inside of your van. I love to see people's ideas in action. You have certainly done a good job of using existing space.

I'm guessing that the back of your poles extend through your bulkhead into the cabin.

I also do like the solar panel for trickle charging your battery. I think it's a great idea.

When I fitted SIL's van he chose the have his tank running long ways so he could get his ladders down one side. I can certainly see how putting the tank across the van makes a lot of difference.

Thanks again

[Jakey boy]

Thanks spruce,

Yeah my poles go through the bulkhead and rest on the shelf, only the lwb has the roof shelf, so that lets the poles sit nicley.

I keep it minimalist as I don't like loads of clutter, I find it looks more professional when customers see it with the doors wide open, I definatly recommend the tank being that way round, as the bulk head protects it if I had to brake very hard. And it's fairly snug between the sides. So all I really need to be careful of in accelerating hard, which I never do, for obvious reasons. I also purposely kept all the gubbins over to the right so I had room for pressure washer and gutter vacs, I can even get my road bike in there!

Solar panel is really helpful, it does keep the battery healthy, and is simple to do, I always put it in the van over night, or if it's raining. It's not fixed to the roof, I used door stops from screwfix as barriers, means I can drive round all day with it sitting there, and take it off when necessary, eg motorways and bad weather...

[p1w1]

yeah nice set up mate looks very good...is that the connect lwb or transit lwb? and if the connect lwb did you just order the ply line of a swb connect.

paul

[Jakey boy]

Lwb connect,

My mate is a joiner, he cut me the ply, then I painted it and fitted it in the van, just using tech screws, The lwb has different dimensions to the swb, so swb ply kits wouldn't fit,

I found it's quite easy to do if you can get a decent carpenter/joiner to cut the ply to size,

I also found that tech screwing everything in is really simple and solid, everything I've done is rreally quite simple, just looks good because it's not cluttered, I'm no expert, just used some imagination really

[p1w1]

yeah i have a lwb connect and have put racking at the top for poles etc, i think the panels for the lwb are the same as swb for the main sides just the lwb has extra pieces for the top as lwb panels don't come as 1 whole piece.
do you find it a problem sometimes having your reel fixed?  

i see your just down the road from me i live in Braintree

[Jakey boy]

Not really, I'm not really sure what problems id face? Although it does sometimes get on my nerves when the hose doesn't reel in properly and starts to come off the reel, I suppose that's the only time I sometimes want to get it out to neaten it up! I find the hose guide which is right at the edge of the van really helps though, means it's easy to park anywhere and turn the hose round the corner of the van!

[Jakey boy]

So you ever go to polarbrite for water? May see you there if so !

[p1w1]

So you ever go to polarbrite for water? May see you there if so !

now and again but not often, i have a lockup on the edge of bishops stortford that i have my r/o so fill up there, as most of my work is that way and saffron walden. I have been looking for a while for something in braintree but haven't found anything yet that's not to expensive.

[Frankybadboy]

i would be interested to know what the axle weight is on the front when that tank is full

[Jakey boy]

My connect actually has a 898kg payload, it's an ex police van, full tank plus hose reel di and battery is around 850kg

Also please remember the tank is almost always only filled to 500kg, there are two jobs a month a May fill to brim

[Jakey boy]

So you ever go to polarbrite for water? May see you there if so !

now and again but not often, i have a lockup on the edge of bishops stortford that i have my r/o so fill up there, as most of my work is that way and saffron walden. I have been looking for a while for something in braintree but haven't found anything yet that's not to expensive.
[/quote

I see, I'm in the same boat!

[Ian101]

thanks for that Jakey ... much appreciated ... very tidy van 

[Frankybadboy]

My connect actually has a 898kg payload, it's an ex police van, full tank plus hose reel di and battery is around 850kg

Also please remember the tank is almost always only filled to 500kg, there are two jobs a month a May fill to brim

jakey i aint picking on you but the amount of people that dont know about they axle weight is un-real,totally different to the payload.

iam defo sure that with you and a full tank of water the front axle will be over weight

[johnny bravo]

jakey boy,    what battery charger do you use for your leisure battery,   it looks like a normal car battery charger,  am i wrong

[Jakey boy]

Well it's never been a problem? You have to remember the tank is in the middle of the van, the rear axle is supporting a lot of the weight, I only weigh 11 stone, perhaps under braking the front axle bears some serious weight, but with carful driving and mostly only 500litrrs in the tank, my expierence is that it's absolutly fine, remember I'm the one drivng it, steering is still light, power steering is working well, tyres aren't bulging, everything is good...

I can't actually find any maximum axle weights, if you know, I'd be interested to see..

[Jakey boy]

jakey boy,    what battery charger do you use for your leisure battery,   it looks like a normal car battery charger,  am i wrong

It's an 8amp battery charger with a slow charge mode, for 12 v leisure battery's, it does a good job !

[Spruce]

i would be interested to know what the axle weight is on the front when that tank is full

On my first Citroen Relay I fitted the 650 litre tank across the width of the van behind the front seats. When the tank was full the front axle was overloaded. I had to turn the tank length ways and step it back by about 300mm to get the weight distribution right.

I fitted the tank that wat when I replaced that van with the one I have now. The space in front of the tank is where I have my leisure battery.

I see that PureFreedom have mounted a 650 litre tank across the width of the van right up against the bulkhead on a swb Vivaro 2900 belonging to a local windie in town.

I have never been able to find a manufacturer that supplies a specific van diagram that identifies where the load must be placed for ideal weight distribution.

The extra LWB Mitsubishi Canter 7.5 t flatbed was known for this issue. Because of the problem of where the rear axle was situated, loading a flat bed to its capacity always overloaded the front axle.

[Jakey boy]

Yes that is frustrating, I can't find a single spec sheet on it, all I know Is that it drives well and I treat it carefully when driving, I think it's fine because I'm usually carrying 500litres or less everyday other than 2 per month, if I was overweight I can simply put less water in, as I roughly use 300l max a day, but I like to keep it at around 500 just in case!

The water tank is much nearer the rear axle than the front in the connect, I just checked! I think I'm fine, I will
Bare it mind though, maybe put less water in.

[Spruce]

There is a windie in a village about 10 miles from us with an old 600 LX Citroen Berlingo (600 kg payload.) He has a 650 liter flat tank in it and it is brimmed every day. He also has his wfp hose reels, a ladder and poles in the back. Ocassionally another windie works with him.

He has done this for years and never been stopped. The whole village knows him as he cleans a large portion of it. There are at least 3 policemen living in that village.