We have made many changes here at Van Guard over the past few years, from a complete redesign of our van roof bars and van roof racks upgrading them to an aerodynamic and lightweight design and even our building got a face-lift. When these images are placed side by side you can really see how far we have come.

Van Guard’s original roof bars were manufactured from a stainless-steel box section, much like the newer bars it allowed for additional materials and ladders to be transported on the van’s roof. The design change in 2013 accompanied a name change and Van Guard’s roof bars officially become known as the ULTI Bars. The main difference is the bars themselves; they have been upgraded to a lightweight, aluminium bar with an aerodynamic shape to the front to allow for minimum drag to the van. Along with this change the new bars also have a larger a weight restriction of 80kg per bar.

Two years after Van Guard updated their van roof bars, it was time for the van roof rack to get an overall. In 2015 the ‘Maxrack’ as it was then known became the ULTI Rack. The Maxrack was made up from a combination of lightweight aluminium bars and a stainless-steel frame, allowing tradespeople to have the added benefit of supporting side rails and a full-length rear roller. Now the ‘bread and butter’ of the van roof rack hasn’t changed, but it did have a complete design change which saw a change to the materials it was made from. Out went the stainless-steel and in came a full aluminium van roof rack. The cross bars were again designed with an aerodynamic design which reduces wind noise and drag to the van.

Following on from the redesign of the van roof rack, two years later Van Guard set out to revamp their internal van racking. Originally made from galvanised steel, the units came with pre-defined shelves and storage options. This product has had one of the biggest upgrades of the past few years. The original design was almost scrapped, and Van Guard started again, introducing an aluminium, versatile van racking. Not only did the van racking get an overall, but it also was accompanied with universal accessories!

Our old pipe carriers are a far cry from the pipe carrier’s we have available today. Although they both are made from aluminium, the shape has completely changed to a rectangle design. Along with the shape change the end caps are now produced with an integrated lock allowing any materials that are carried to be locked away more securely. The new pipe carriers are now supplied with an optional PVC liner which is designed to protect copper piping and conduit from reacting with the aluminium of the pipe.

Over the years many things have changed here at Van Guard. We have developed existing products and created new ones. But the fundamentals have stayed very much the same, we are passionate about delivering excellent van accessories for an excellent price!