In anticipation of many long 4WD camping/fishing trips, I had to find a way to have my fishing rod at the ready, easy to reach, yet stored with stability for the bouncy 4WDing. So I utilised my power drill/screwdriver kit, industrial strength velco and glue, and a minor bit of engineering. I fitted my heavy strength freshwater / medium weight surf casting rod to the inside.
In order to make even the best velcro adhere to a factory Delica interior roof, you're not only going to need industrial strength velcro, but also some serious industrial strength glue, small brass 1/2" screws, a phillips head manual screw driver and a power drill/screw driver. You'll need your actual fishing rod with you in order to do this properly/accurately. Here you go; this is based on a 2 piece/9' long fishing rod:
1) For each adhesion point, cut a enough velcro (fussy/soft) to lay down perpendicular to the length of the van. (I recommend 3 velcro straps/adhesions for the thicker 1/2 of your fishing rod) as shown below)
2) Use your glue to glue it down to the factory roof with the softside up. Glue goes on the velcro adhesive side of course! Be careful to be sure to align it right before doing this!!!!
3) Let it dry for at least 5-10 minutes!
4) With your power drill/screw driver, drill a small screw on the end of glued on velcro on the INSIDE of the van (farther away from the window!)
5) For the other side matching of the velcro (depending on how wide your rod is at that point), cut at least 120% of the length of glued down part. Test the length first BEFORE cutting your velcro.
6) With your power screw drover, use your freshly cut stip and screw together the velcro at the end(s) where the window is closest.
7) If you have the same issue as me, you'll see the power drill has too much torque because the velcro together get all twisted up. So reverse the screw out a bit. Take a phillips head screw driver and slow manually tightening it up. Make it smooth and use your fingers to make sure its nicely done otherwise the velcro will never line and work well.
8) Remove the fishing rod, and note down where it was being held in place.
9) Use your power screw driver to drill another screw into ONLY the backing (the glued part) at the same spot from step 9. Do NOT screw both side of velcro together again!
10) When you're done one of them, it should have 3 screws on the velcro backing and look like this...
11) Repeat 2 more times and when cutting the velcro take into consideration the thickness of the fishing rod where your velcro will be.
12) Repeat steps 1-10 for the thinner end of your rod on the sliding door side of your van. Be careful of lengths of the velcro you cut as this piece of your fishing rod is usually far thinner hence less material will be needed. You should only need 2 strips for this piece.
Enjoy and good luck fishing! :)
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| This is not going anywhere! Even with rough 4WDing I am sorted here! |
1) For each adhesion point, cut a enough velcro (fussy/soft) to lay down perpendicular to the length of the van. (I recommend 3 velcro straps/adhesions for the thicker 1/2 of your fishing rod) as shown below)
2) Use your glue to glue it down to the factory roof with the softside up. Glue goes on the velcro adhesive side of course! Be careful to be sure to align it right before doing this!!!!
3) Let it dry for at least 5-10 minutes!
4) With your power drill/screw driver, drill a small screw on the end of glued on velcro on the INSIDE of the van (farther away from the window!)
5) For the other side matching of the velcro (depending on how wide your rod is at that point), cut at least 120% of the length of glued down part. Test the length first BEFORE cutting your velcro.
6) With your power screw drover, use your freshly cut stip and screw together the velcro at the end(s) where the window is closest.
7) If you have the same issue as me, you'll see the power drill has too much torque because the velcro together get all twisted up. So reverse the screw out a bit. Take a phillips head screw driver and slow manually tightening it up. Make it smooth and use your fingers to make sure its nicely done otherwise the velcro will never line and work well.
8) Remove the fishing rod, and note down where it was being held in place.
9) Use your power screw driver to drill another screw into ONLY the backing (the glued part) at the same spot from step 9. Do NOT screw both side of velcro together again!
10) When you're done one of them, it should have 3 screws on the velcro backing and look like this...
11) Repeat 2 more times and when cutting the velcro take into consideration the thickness of the fishing rod where your velcro will be.
12) Repeat steps 1-10 for the thinner end of your rod on the sliding door side of your van. Be careful of lengths of the velcro you cut as this piece of your fishing rod is usually far thinner hence less material will be needed. You should only need 2 strips for this piece.
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| The heavier base of my fishing rod on the NON-sliding door side of my van |
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| The second and thinner piece of my fishing rod with only 2 velcro points required... |
Enjoy and good luck fishing! :)
