Options for van organization

This is my old CDS unit.....not really all that much room that you can do with one of theses......I can only offer a few suggestions....





This is a pretty standard set up for a CDS 4.8 with all the bells and whistles
If you get the live vacuum reel disconnect it and put a whip on the tank ..there live reel is a bad obstruction for air flow....



On mine I went with the blower shelf's...I did not carry blowers but you can organize a lot of things on these shelf's and if you keep the center clear it is easy to get to....Chemical shelves are a given....




Storage on the back doors is very handy to have...



good place for a water softener....







Might want to consider putting a security hole on the door to run all your hoses threw in case you do a lot of night work to help secure your van....



Also put a roof vet on it so that it can exhaust the heat and all the smell from the waste tank....Mine was wired to the key on the machine so it only came on when the machine was running...

If you know a good mechanic..have them hide a hydraulic shut off for the breaks under the driver seat...Once you park it and put it in gear before you shut it off....pump the breaks a few times and before you let off the break reach down and turn the knob and you just locked the pressure on the breaks and the van wont move..so if someone was to get in and put it in gear to take it it would not go anywhere.....Nice safety device..just make **** sure you have a mechanic that knows what he is doing......

CDS is a good unit...I know a few that have been running a long time..but it can be temperamental at time also....

E-trac is basically a system for securing cargo with tie downs and cargo bars. I have seen hooks for the system but am not sure about shelves.

It looks like you still have the factory liner in the Van. I would suggest at least taking it out. A spray in liner would be great but may be out of the budget.

You well find that water gets to the padding below the liner and then starts shell bad real fast. I would even go as far as to remove the plastic liners at the doors - you know the ones that hold down the liner. Notice how the picture look above - the liner was taken out for a reason. It is easy to do now rather that Later!!

Ps. I am posting my new Van here soon. I can not find the USB connector or it would be done by now.

Jim as usual you did a Great job with organization.

Here is how we organized our Van

Click Here for 1994 Hicks Carpet Care Van

We all would have different ways to organize the van due to different equipment and setup styles. For example, I like the hose reels and took the longest time to decide on actually installing them,but now I dont regret it.
With only 1 50 ft hose it seems like you would be using a portable? I dont know exactly what a hydramaster CDS is, but it sounded more like a truckmount, and if so, why only 50ft?

Anyways, as you move along you will mostly make lots of changes until you get it just the way you like it. Thats what saturday afternoons and a cold beer are for!

Remember you can fabricate roof shelves also.Simple cabinets which can be fastened to the inner roof ribs. A fifty foot section will be up and away.I am also big on magents to hold lite weght items.

Like my measuring roller.I put and eye hook in the handle,an it hangs of a magnet hook.
But just an idea.There is some good space up there you can utilize...

We get so trained in the wall an floor areas.We forget about the roof...

The reason your uncle Tom didn' have reels in your van was because Claude didn't. The difference was that your Uncle Claude had a 78 ford 1 ton 14 foot long 7 ft high cube Van which he had designed for traveling around doing flood dry outs in the late 70's. This cube van had a shaft drive Steam Vac with a #5 Switzer Blower (The predecessor of the CDS) places for stove icebox drop down table, which made into a King size bed, 140 gal fresh and waste tanks built like benches for the table/bed and being able to carry 200 ft of hose which hung on a special made rack in the rear corner took up less than 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 by 7 for both pressure and vac hoses. If I remember correctly Claude could haul 75 airmovers, and 25 Dehues of the time. I ran this truck from 87 to 93 when I sold it to a cleaner in Seattle.

You are loosing alot of useful space in your vans just buy laying the hoses down in the rear area.

I don't have a very good picture of these ..only from the ends..these gray shelf's are made for vans..they curve with the walls and set up tight...they can store a lot of stuff.....Gallon jugs will set under the bottom..

If you open the back of my truck everything looks almost exactly like the above picture with the exception of I carpeted the floor.....the fans up top I moved to a forward shelf and the bottles hanging on the left I put in a holder where the fans use to sit...

I can't wait till my truck even looks close to that !! .. One word ***WOW****

The only thing I can see with Jim's truck is there is no room to stick an area rug in there. However, I love the lettering. Crisp, clean and easy to read and understand at a glance. The big truck is organized "ultra cool"

Jim:

Looks good, except for the racks on the back doors.

Hinges in van doors aren't designed to carry weight, other than the door itself. Over a relatively short period of time, you'll need new hinges.

Best to either not have them, or keep the weight in them to an absolute minimum.

Duane

Jim Im really impressed with your setups. The braking system sounds like a stroke of genious. I like the way you think. I wish my vans looked that nice a clean. I've got really heavy pressure line reels on my back doors. Never had a problem.

I have no racks on any of my doors...my barn (back) doors are pretty much clear and the side door is a roll up.....The back doors aren't even in the picture....

I was referring to the first set of pictures of your CDS unit in the Chevy van- The picture of the back doors.

OK ..... sorry I forgot all about that one......I usually start at the last page....