Jass's Extremely Organized Small HVAC Van
RIG DETAILS
| USED FOR | HVAC Refrigeration |
| MODEL | Nissan NV2500 |
| BODY | Full-Size Cargo Van, High Roof |
ORGANIZATION
Jass is an HVAC contractor in California. His Nissan NV2500 work van is organized to an extreme level. We've seen some of these ideas on other rigs, but this van has a very clean-looking implementation.
It looks like a very simple and minimal build, but that's probably because a lot of thought went into the layout!
See More:
The Plywood Shelf Foundation
The base of this setup is the plywood shelves, built with 3/4" thick plywood.
Custom-built shelves also permit Jass to make cubbies any size he wants. You can see that he does this to build slots that are just large enough to hold particular tool boxes.
This van has no tie-downs, which makes it easy to get to things and keeps it very clean looking.
The gray paint for the shelves is great! It's easy to see things and should let ambient light bounce around to keep the inside better illuminated. Black requires more light to keep it bright and unfinished plywood can get dirty after years of use.
Side Cargo Door Organization
The side cargo door is Jass's primary access into this HVAC van. Most tools are easily accessible from here.
His oxy-acetylene setup is stored in a cubby on the passenger side shelves with a gauge set dangling in front.
One of the super neat parts of this upfit are the tilt-out bins mounted to the bulkhead at the side cargo door. These bins have a clear polycarbonate front and hold screws and driver bits. Other builds have used bins or even just cloth bags to hold the screws commonly needed in HVAC, but this setup keeps the bits and screws visible.
These bins are mounted on the bulkhead and oriented outward. This is really convenient, although it's possible only because the bulkhead protrudes into the cargo area by a few inches. Most bulkheads only give you one flat face to mount to which means that bins point at the back of your van.
A compact Little Giant multipurpose ladder and a backpack are also located right at the door and are easy to grab. The ladder hangs easily on a couple of inexpensive L-brackets bolted to the bulkhead.
At the top inside of the door frame are some magnetic strips that hold small hand tools.
Material Storage
Parts are neatly organized on shelves and each shelf is labeled with what it contains.
A column of DeWalt organizers hold small parts. The shelves for these organizers are tilted back a little bit, so no tie-downs are needed to hold them in place and they can be pulled out easily with one hand.
At the rear of the truck are two custom plywood shelf tank racks, tilted for containment. Since he does refrigeration and AC, he needs space for 10 tanks, hence the double racks.
Each tank rack also has a couple of spool holders for wire. The spool spindles rest in plywood cradles so a spool of wire can be taken to the jobsite in a pinch. The spool holders also permit wire to be pulled off without removing or wrestling with the spool.
Dedicated cubbies hold the vacuum pump and recovery machine. Above these are shelves for miscellaneous, less-frequently used hand tools that don't go in the service backpack.
Rear Door Organization
At the back of the van, Jass keeps two nitrogen tanks and some hose. He has a charging station for power tool batteries and also keeps a couple of battery-powered drills here.
See More
Check out how Jass built the plywood shelves for his HVAC van here:
Get work trucks and tips in your mailbox.
Your time is precious. We write about organization, tools, and techniques that make tradespeople work faster and more efficiently. Subscribe to get our articles and tips in your inbox.
We will not spam you.