van plywood floor.. how to and other ???

LDB · Oct 6, 2009

My van came with a semi padded rubber mat that has carpet pad type material under it. I think that's going to have to come out to avoid insufficient clearance from the plywood for the 48" mandatory door clearance. I hate to lose the insulating and noise reduction benefit but see no other option. That means the plywood will go on the bare metal floor. Do I need to bolt it to the floor or is screwing it down sufficient? Should I put a bead of glue along each rib it will lay on? How many screws/bolts is typical?

Does anyone offset the plywood from center? I was looking at it with the sheet laying so the edge was along the edge of the trim piece of the side door, about a 1.5" offset to the right. That still leaves about 2" clearance from the right door frame but also gives a little more room along the driver side wall to store personal stuff.

Moot · Oct 7, 2009

The floor mat in my van came with shredded fabric insulation. I used an old fillet knife to remove the fabric stuff from the mat. I insulated both bulkheads with it. Save the mat for when you sell the van. It will hide the holes in the floor.

Before you put any plywood down, decide on E-Track location. I prefer 2 strips recessed in the floor. Others mount it on boards running along the wheel wells.

LDB · Oct 7, 2009

What about taking up the rubber mat and leaving the padding below the plywood? That theoretically would keep things a little quieter and insulate a little bit.

Dakota · Oct 7, 2009

Here's an idea albeit more expensive. Goto any auto sound store and buy a product like Dynamat(that's just one brand name). It is very thin but deadens the sound. Not sure about insulation value. But most stereo installers use it to keep the vehicle from sounding like a tin can. I have used it in the past in my Volkwagens to quiet down the interior, works great and has an adhesive backing.

Moot · Oct 7, 2009

The insulation on the mat must be at least ½" thick which would require placing the plywood floor on top of ½" wood strips to create a cavity for the insulation. I think you would be losing valuable overhead clearance going this route.

One option would be to use sill plate insulation. This is a thin polyethylene foam that comes in rolls 6 to 10 inches wide. It is used in newer construction to insulate between the sill plate and the top course of block. You could lay your plywood floor directly on top of this stuff. I'm not sure if it can be found in Texas, but where I live it is SOP and can be had at any lumberyard or home improvement store.

LDB · Oct 7, 2009

What about going to a carpet store and getting a piece of carpet padding about 60x130 and laying on the floor then laying the plywood directly onto it? The sides could be snipped as needed to allow it to lay flat over wheelwells and around filler pipe etc..

Turtle · Oct 7, 2009

Obviously, having at least 48" clearance at the top is paramount, nothing else matters. My first van the plywood went down on bare floor and it was fine. If you want to put something down there, make it really thin, like Dynamat. Refelctix could also be used. Plywood is already not a bad insulator, actually, and anything you put under it, other than perhaps foam, will only have a minimal impact. So whatever you put under there, if anything, I'd want to keep it cheap, quick and easy to put down, because the benefit you get from it will be minimal. Like Moot said, sill plate insulation would be good, but for that matter, so would those foam rolls of kitchen cabinet shelf liner.

As for screws or bolts, some use bolts, most use screws. With screws, you drill a pilot hole and drill in self-tapping screws and you're done. I also used a blade bit to drill a little down in order to counter sink the screw heads so they were just below the surface of the deck. If a screw gets stripped or something, you can always replace it with a nut and bolt.

I have a screw in each corner of the plywood, and then three others even spread out along the length. So, 5 screws along each long edge, about 2 inches in from the edge. On the read edge of the plywood by the read doors, I have 6 (including the ones in each corner) screws about an inch to an inch-and-a-half from the edge. And I've got that one-foot piece of plywood at the front of the deck to make the deck 9 feet, and screws are in there about every foot, as well.

E-Track has a pair of screws every foot.

chefdennis · Oct 7, 2009

the rubber mat and pad came out and are in the shed. I wouldn't glue the wood down, i just changed the floor and e track around for the 3rd time and i think i finally have it how i want it.

1 piece of e-track down the middle the length of the floor to the rear door latches*. 3/4" X 9 " running the length of the cargo area mounted on edge against the wheelwells and secure at 4 points with 3/4" supports screwed to the sidewall supports. I then used 15/32" good one one side plywood cut to fit against the 3/4" side boards and against the facing edge and over the top of the screw edge of the e-track. I then mounted e-track on the side boards running the length of the cargo floor.

*the floor e-track and floor wood extends onto the back black plastic "still" plate at the rear door opening.

all wood and e-track is screwed down using "self drilling" screws.

LDB · Oct 7, 2009

I'm going to take out the rubber mat and backing as a unit and put it in storage until the van goes to a new home. I went to Lowe's and got a roll of the 4' Reflectix. I'll trim it so it fits just inside the screw line of the plywood sheet. It is thin enough I believe it can lay beneath the plywood and not make it too thick. I'm going to get a pair of 2' etrack sections and put between the plywood and the doors. The plywood will end at the 8'6" required length and the area ahead of the plywood will be mine. I'll probably change my mind a few times too but that seems as good a starting point as any.

Turtle · Oct 7, 2009

You're starting from the right end.

Once you get the cargo area all set up, like you said, what's left over is all yours. You should decide soon if you will be installing side walls along the length of the cargo area. 12" high walls from just inside the read doors to the front edge of the deck on the diver's side, and to just behind the side door on the other side. I recommend it, or something like it, since it will provide a "skid guide" for the forklift operator, will keep the wheel wells from getting beaten to death, and gives you some valuable storage space.

guido4475 · Oct 9, 2009

I have th 3/4 think plywood on the floor, with 2 rows of e-track 24" apart from each other. So far, it works perfect.The door opening height, latch included, is only 47" and sometimes prevents me from getting a load.I guess I'll have to take the latch off for unloading, if needed.

LDB · Oct 9, 2009

I found the sill plate insulation at the Lowe's. I didn't get any because they had two widths and I wasn't sure which might be best. I'm thinking about putting a strip of that down each channel and then putting a layer of Reflectix over it and then the plywood. That would mean only the thickness of the Reflectix between the plywood and metal floor.

Jack_Berry · Oct 10, 2009

double reflectix under the 3/8 plywood

leo instead of placing the sheet lthwise mesure it width wise and cut to fit side to side. gonna neea a couple sheets to do this but then you are good driver wall to door sill or passenger wall.

FIS53 · Oct 11, 2009

I used full sheet of 1/2" plywood gos and a second sheet cut into pieces to fit around the wheel wells and along the side door and the end behind the seats. Underneath I used a decent underpad (for carpet in commercial places) which actually took weather well, insulated a but as well as helped with sound. I laid the pad so it went up the sides several inches so I could connect it to the side insulation (styro sheeting and reflex metal bubble) so I had a complete insulation connection all around. I used thinner wood pieces for protection of the wheel wells as I figured this would be damaged quite often and need replacing more than the floor boards would. Upper walls covered with corplast due to flexibility, ease of use, light weight and easy to clean.
Rob

tr · Mar 29, 2010

guido4475 said:
I have th 3/4 think plywood on the floor, with 2 rows of e-track 24" apart from each other. So far, it works perfect.The door opening height, latch included, is only 47" and sometimes prevents me from getting a load.I guess I'll have to take the latch off for unloading, if needed.

On my Chevy ext Van, I carried a ratchet, socket and 2 inch extension in a bag just inside the door for a fast removal and reinstall of the latch. 1997,my first expedite load was a hazmat, going to Canada and the load would not clear because of the latch. Has been there ever since and probably used three or four times since.