So most of you know what I do for work, those of you who don't I'll quickly explain.
I'm an insurance fraud investigator. Basically I spend my day in the back of a mini van, behind curtains, with a video camera.
So generally I sit in a low lawn chair with a tripod like so.
There are a few things that annoy me about this setup that I thought I would take care of today.
First issue is the floor is all uneven. Makes it difficult to get a good spot in the chair and setup the tripod.
Second issue is if the subject I'm watching moves around my vehicle from the one window I'm looking out of to other windows I have to completely move my chair and tripod/monopod into position and try to not miss anything all while trying not to rock the van around, because my 240 pounds can sure move a van no problem.
Third issue is I also have some things I keep around in back with me. If I have to jump up front to follow the subject driving away the stuff just slides around in back. I don't really need my laptop flying around with my container of piss.
So my first thought was to put in some type of swivel chair mounted in the middle. Then I can just turn from window to window and it would be so much easier. First thought that came to mind was a fishing chair from a boat. So a quick Amazon search and I found a chair, swivel, and post.
Well after looking at the inside of my van for a whole 2 seconds I realized I'm not mounting that post to my floor for many reasons. So I decided to make some type of wood mount. A quick run to the Home Depot and I left with a 4'x8' sheet of plywood and two 8' 2"x4"s. Well that sheet of plywood slid in the back of the creep van like it belonged there for good. So when I got home I just trimmed a few inches off of it and left it in the back. Then used one of the 2"x4" to level it up even. That alone solved most of my issues. Now I have a good smooth flat surface I can easily move around on and my tripod/monopod will easily stay level as well. Also the wood was perfect width wise for the rear, but towards the sliding rear doors it left a gap in both sides... Perfect to store stuff so it doesn't slide around while I'm driving.
So now all that is left is to mount my new swivel and post seat. Well the post was just too tall at 11". My head would hit the ceiling, so I figured I'd just make a wood mount out of the 2"x4". While looking around the garage for something for a buddy I ran into my old lighting setup for my salt water tank. This gave me an idea.... The lighting was on a track system so I could just slide it out of the way to work on the tank easily. It was made out of very heavy duty aluminum extrusion from a company my uncle used to own. So I pulled it apart and brought the pieces to the creep van.
So did some measuring and grabbed the seat swivel to mount to the rollers. Slid them on the rails and all seemed like it should work.
I put some 2"x4" under the rails for a little height and mounted everything with screws so I can remove it if needed easily. Then mounted the chair to the swivel and this is how it all turned out.
And curtains down, everyday mode
Next I'll probably carpet it all. I would like to redo the curtains a little. Also I wish I could do more of a divider between the front seats and the rear. The curtain I have works wells but looks shady as fuck lol. If it was an actual divider people might just think I have tools or something back there.
Oh and freecandy.jpeg
I'm an insurance fraud investigator. Basically I spend my day in the back of a mini van, behind curtains, with a video camera.
So generally I sit in a low lawn chair with a tripod like so.
There are a few things that annoy me about this setup that I thought I would take care of today.
First issue is the floor is all uneven. Makes it difficult to get a good spot in the chair and setup the tripod.
Second issue is if the subject I'm watching moves around my vehicle from the one window I'm looking out of to other windows I have to completely move my chair and tripod/monopod into position and try to not miss anything all while trying not to rock the van around, because my 240 pounds can sure move a van no problem.
Third issue is I also have some things I keep around in back with me. If I have to jump up front to follow the subject driving away the stuff just slides around in back. I don't really need my laptop flying around with my container of piss.
So my first thought was to put in some type of swivel chair mounted in the middle. Then I can just turn from window to window and it would be so much easier. First thought that came to mind was a fishing chair from a boat. So a quick Amazon search and I found a chair, swivel, and post.
Well after looking at the inside of my van for a whole 2 seconds I realized I'm not mounting that post to my floor for many reasons. So I decided to make some type of wood mount. A quick run to the Home Depot and I left with a 4'x8' sheet of plywood and two 8' 2"x4"s. Well that sheet of plywood slid in the back of the creep van like it belonged there for good. So when I got home I just trimmed a few inches off of it and left it in the back. Then used one of the 2"x4" to level it up even. That alone solved most of my issues. Now I have a good smooth flat surface I can easily move around on and my tripod/monopod will easily stay level as well. Also the wood was perfect width wise for the rear, but towards the sliding rear doors it left a gap in both sides... Perfect to store stuff so it doesn't slide around while I'm driving.
So now all that is left is to mount my new swivel and post seat. Well the post was just too tall at 11". My head would hit the ceiling, so I figured I'd just make a wood mount out of the 2"x4". While looking around the garage for something for a buddy I ran into my old lighting setup for my salt water tank. This gave me an idea.... The lighting was on a track system so I could just slide it out of the way to work on the tank easily. It was made out of very heavy duty aluminum extrusion from a company my uncle used to own. So I pulled it apart and brought the pieces to the creep van.
So did some measuring and grabbed the seat swivel to mount to the rollers. Slid them on the rails and all seemed like it should work.
I put some 2"x4" under the rails for a little height and mounted everything with screws so I can remove it if needed easily. Then mounted the chair to the swivel and this is how it all turned out.
And curtains down, everyday mode
Next I'll probably carpet it all. I would like to redo the curtains a little. Also I wish I could do more of a divider between the front seats and the rear. The curtain I have works wells but looks shady as fuck lol. If it was an actual divider people might just think I have tools or something back there.
Oh and freecandy.jpeg
. Be a hero, go find all the Q&A's.
