Vehicle: Vauxhall Vivaro

“The instructions were very comprehensive, so I think even a novice could easily fit a full van kit in a couple of days.”

Meet Elliott Killingbeck from ‘Fit My Dash Cam’, a small mobile business based in Hampshire, who offer a wide range of camera options and security solutions. Elliotts work requires him to carry a lot of specialist equipment, and we loved seeing how our racking integrated with his business, and the customisations he made. If you’d like to learn more about Elliotts business and get a good look at his Vauxhall Vivaro racking system, head to Fit My Dash Cam , where you can see some great video footage shot by Victron Energy!

Read on to see detailed feedback from Elliott on our van shelving and accessories, and find out why he chose bott Smartvan to level-up the organisation in his Vauxhall Vivaro.

What is your van make/model and your profession? 

"It’s a Vauxhall Vivaro 2022 SWB. My profession would come under auto electrician specialising in conversion electrics and system integration for commercial use. "

What van racking (if any) did you have before ours, and why did you choose to upgrade?

"I had no racking before. On previous employed jobs I had used Sortimo, and thought it was okay. I wanted to fit out my van to make my daily life a bit easier and to better organise myself when the work comes in and its often very busy at a moments notice."

When considering new van racking, what made you choose bott Smartvan?

With plenty of different options in the market, we wanted to know what influenced Elliotts decision and made him decide metal van racking from bott Smartvan was the way forward.

"I chose bott Smartvan because they had a modular system, which means as my business changes, so can the vehicle. It’s made in the UK, which is a big thing for me, as I try to support UK business - but not at the cost of quality, luckily bott Smartvan fulfill both of those requirements."

How did you find the installation process of our self-fit kit? 

Opting for self-fit racking means you can make a large saving on install fees, and you get to choose the layout of the accessories yourself. Also, forget long wait times to get your kit installed – we can ship racking to your door within 15 working days, ready to be installed by you. We provide easy to follow assembly instructions with all products, but if you have any doubts during the install, we’re always on hand over the phone. 

“The installation process was pretty straightforward really, the brackets and parts go together well and the mains thing to watch out for it that you don’t tighten up everything straight away until it’s all fitted in. The instructions were very comprehensive, so I think even a novice could easily fit a full van kit in a couple of days."

How would you rate the value for money of our racking, and would you say you have noticed any money saving aspects of the racking?

Elliott understands that when considering costs, you have to look beyond the initial price tag; something that seems to be cheaper up-front can end up costing you more money in the long run. For instance as Elliott mentions below, the cost of your time that can be wasted if your van isn't kept organised, or the costs on fuel if you had a heavier ply racking system (head to our 'Metal racking vs Ply Racking' blog for a more detailed comparison!).

“Value for money isn’t just how much something costs, but how much it saves you too. For me, the Bott Smartvan racking has saved me plenty of time and effort this year so far. The cost wasn’t cheap, but the quality isn’t poor, although it’s certainly cheaper than some other products I had been quoted for."

How well has our racking integrated with your business, and is there any room for improvement?

We’ve found our self-fit modular systems prove to be a very popular choice of van racking for Electricians. As an Auto-Electrician, we were interested to hear what in particular worked well for Elliott.. our bottBoxes continue to be one of the favourite accessories!

“It has integrated well, I’ve used perfo panels to mount lots of equipment onto, used the bottBoxes to organise small parts and consumables, and I’ve been constantly adding bits and tweaking the overall setup to allow me to work better as and when I find room for optimisation."

Do you have any advice for other people considering bott Smartvan racking? And recommendations on useful accessories?

"If you’re looking at it, buy it. You’ll not be disappointed, and if you need to, you can start small and add as you go along. The lashing straps and the anchor points for them are immensely useful, get a few of those."

Finally, do you have any feedback for us on where our offering could be improved (e.g a product/accessory you wish we sold, or something in the design process that could be improved etc)?

"The only product I wish you’d make, is a small bin to mount on the slim edge of the frames on the perfo strips. I’ve got a little plastic one and used 3M Dual Lock (big plastic velcro) to attach it for now, but it’s not ideal. Aside from this, I could ask for more specialist things, but I’m sure Bott already do these things via the Ashby conversions centre."

If you've been inspired by Elliotts van racking configuration, and would like to see the options available for your own vehicle - this is easy to do! Simply head to our van racking configurator, where you can enter your vehicle details to start building a van storage system which will change the way you work forever. If you can’t find what you’re looking for on our website, get in touch with our expert team on 01288 355666 (option 2). We’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.

If you’d like to see another case-study by bott Smartvan, check out Glen Wakeling – Plumbing & Heating Engineer to see a video we shot when we installed Glens new racking in his Mercedes Sprinter.