Lube skid vans

Our NB-80 lube skid drops into a cargo van and turns it into a field lubrication unit. It is a self-contained all-aluminum system weighing around 1,000 pounds, carrying an 80-gallon used oil reservoir, a 55-gallon new oil reservoir, five skid-mounted reels and integrated DECKED drawer units, protected by U.S. Patent No. 11,598,231.

The reason to put it in a van rather than on a truck is economics and access. A field service truck averages around 6 mpg against roughly 16 for a van. A van needs no CDL, no DOT hour logging and no medical cards for the operator, which widens the pool of technicians who can run it. And it goes where a lube truck cannot — ski resorts, residential driveways, city streets, freeway shoulders — and can work at night in neighborhoods where a truck would not be welcome. The smaller LP-100 suits lighter maintenance routes.

Our Mobile Hose Vehicle builds put hose assembly and repair capability on the jobsite, so a failed hydraulic line is made up where the machine is standing instead of the machine waiting for a shop. For a dealer running service contracts, that is the difference between an afternoon and a week.

For trades we are a Ranger Design installer, working from their established packages and adapting them. Each package below is a starting point rather than a fixed menu — most customers add or swap components once they have walked through what the crew actually carries.

The most heavily equipped of the standard packages. Shelving at 60 and 96 inches wide with four trays each, a straight partition with a perforated window, two-drawer and three-drawer steel van cabinets, a wire reel holder, an aluminum shelving door, bins, dividers, a paper holder and hooks. The wire reel holder is the piece electricians notice — it is the difference between pulling wire and wrestling it.

Shelving at 60 and 96 inches, a straight perforated-window partition, a two-drawer steel cabinet, 14-inch bins and dividers, and hooks. A simpler build than the electrical package, with more open shelf space for awkward lengths of pipe and fittings.

The HVAC package adds the equipment the trade actually needs restrained: a refrigerant rack sized for three large tanks, and an aluminum bottle restraint for 8 by 24 inch cylinders. Loose cylinders in a moving van are the single worst habit in the trade, and the rack costs less than the first incident. Otherwise shelving at 60 and 96 inches, partition, two-drawer steel cabinet, shelving door, bins, dividers and hooks.

A lighter fit-out for general contracting: 60-inch shelving in three and four-tray configurations, a contoured partition with a perforated window, and hooks. Built for crews whose load changes between jobs and who need flexible space more than fixed storage.

A different problem entirely. The delivery package uses a steel walk-through partition so drivers can move between cab and cargo area, and a fold-away shelving system with 20 by 36 inch trays on 62.5-inch aluminum posts that collapses out of the way when the van is carrying bulk rather than parcels.

Ranger shelving comes in three series, and the choice is the same trade-off you face on a service body: weight against cost against durability.

• B-Series Steel. The entry-level option. Lowest cost, heaviest, perfectly adequate for a van that is not weight-constrained.
• N-Series Steel. Heavy-duty. For vans taking real abuse or carrying dense loads, where the shelving itself is a wear item.
• N-Series Aluminum. The premium option, and the one to choose when payload is tight. Every pound the shelving does not weigh is a pound of tools, parts or fluid you can carry.

All three cover both low and high roof vans. We will tell you which one your build actually needs rather than defaulting to the most expensive.

Beyond shelving, a complete van upfit usually includes a partition between cab and cargo area, flooring, and something on the roof.

• Straight with a perforated window, contoured to the vehicle, or a steel walk-through for delivery work where the driver moves between cab and cargo.
• Protects the van’s floor pan, keeps the load from sliding and makes the interior washable. Easier to fit before the shelving goes in than after.
• Ladder and roof racks. For crews carrying ladders, conduit, pipe or anything that will not go inside.
• Protective coatings. We also apply HI-LINER lining to van floors and cargo areas where the work is abrasive.

We have upfitted electric vans, though they are still a small share of the work. The thing worth knowing early is payload: battery weight eats into what the van can legally carry, so the margin you have for shelving, tools and stock is narrower than on the equivalent diesel. That makes the aluminum shelving decision more consequential rather than less. Bring us the specific vehicle and we will work the numbers before recommending a build.

The same arithmetic applies to vans as to trucks, and vans have less room for error. Gross vehicle weight rating, minus the van, minus the upfit, minus fuel, minus the crew, minus everything they carry. We work this out as part of specifying a build — it is how the shelving series gets chosen, and it is the reason we ask what is actually in the van rather than what is supposed to be.

Tell us the van, the trade or the service it performs, and what the crew carries. We will come back with a layout and a price.

Van Upfitting FAQ

Can you put a lube skid in a van?

Yes — it is one of the things we are best known for. The NB-80 is designed to run standalone or installed in a van, pickup or service vehicle, and running it in a van is what removes the CDL requirement for the operator.

Do I need a CDL to drive a lube skid van?

Not for the van itself, which is a large part of why fleets move to this configuration. Confirm against your own vehicle weights and your operation, but the point of the van is that it stays inside ordinary licensing.

Steel or aluminum shelving?

Steel if cost matters more than weight. Aluminum if payload is tight, which it usually is once you add tools, stock and a second crew member. We will calculate it rather than guess.

Can you upfit a van I already own?

Yes, and most of our van work is exactly that. We can also source a van as part of the build if you would rather buy everything in one place.

Will the upfit damage the van?

Installations are designed to work with the vehicle’s existing mounting points wherever possible. Tell us if the van is leased and we will specify accordingly.