Stephens Brothers' DeWalt-Filled General Contracting Work Van

The Most Creative and Versatile Part of This Build?

The custom welded racking combined with the DeWalt boxes.

They originally started with a giant rolling toolbox - this is a pretty unwieldy setup and it isn't convenient or portable. So they bolted in some welded posts to the inside of the work van. DeWalt arms attach to the posts and DeWalt toolboxes and bins hang and lock onto the arms.

Toolboxes can unclip from the wall to be brought onto the job site directly from the van and it's easy to bring only what they need.

Once a toolbox is removed, the rack arms can be folded flat against the inside of the van's body. This makes more hauling space or just gets 'em out of the way. They periodically unclip all the boxes and bins to clean and reorganize the van.

Plywood Shelves

On the other side of the truck, they built custom plywood shelves. These shelves give them a little more versatility for fitting weirdly shaped or larger items, such as their air compressor.

Plastic brackets (specific to their DeWalt gear) bolt to the underside of some shelves to hang battery-powered drills, the nailer, the sawzall, and other tools that might need to be grabbed quickly.

Only Necessities

They keep the tools pretty slim in the truck, bringing only the necessities. For instance, miter saws stay in the shop unless they're doing trim. This keeps the truck from having a bunch of infrequently used tools.

They're currently on the tie down train, and have a few holding boxes and tools in place on the plywood shelf side of the truck.

Other Stuff

They don't currently have a bulkhead. Right now, they like the openness from the front to the back, but this does make the cab pretty dusty.

They added a plywood floor and LED lights.

Boxes and bins are all labelled because many of them look the same, and who wants to open 5 toolboxes to find a screwdriver?

Favorite Things About the Ford Transit High Roof 250 Van

• The van's flat-folding doors that open all the way out to the body. They lock in the normal open position or in the fully folded position.
• The low step height to get into the rear cargo area.
• The high roof is plenty for standing, with around 7' at the tallest inside height. The extra height also allows them to store track saw tracks on the ceiling with clamps.
• It's very easy to drive: "It drives like a car."

Also see their cool time-lapse video of a room being framed.