By far and away the biggest pain in the @#$ part of the entire process is custom-fitting a barrier. I can assure you that no "universal fit" barrier is going to fit your VX out of the box using only the materials provided. I purchased this barrier from PetSmart for two reasons: (a) it's relatively inexpensive, and (b) unlike tubular designs, the tighter wire design makes it extremely hard for the dog to get through (see Houdini comment above). I think part of it is psychological too, as this barrier more resembles the cage that mine is used to sleeping in when we go to work (implies that the barrier is impenetrable even if it isn't).
Back to the fitment... At the minimum you'll need a pair of bolt cutters and black zip ties to make this work, but a Dremel / drill and grinding bit are handy. The first issue is that even using the pieces provided, the barrier is just too wide to fit in the VX. So I used the bolt cutters to cut sections out of the middle of the barrier to make it more narrow, and then cut sections away from the corners to get a tight fit over the wheel wells:
Once you get the barrier cut and assembled using the provided brackets, you'll want to use the zip-ties to further tighten the sections or you will go ABSOLUTELY CRAZY from the rattling. With the barrier in my living room floor, I just kept shaking and adding zip-ties until there was no more vibration.
The Dremel comes in handy for smoothing the sharp steel edges that you created when you cut the edges with the bolt cutters (oh man do I wish I'd though of this up front). You can take other precautions like laying towels over the wheel wells, but I promise you that eventually one will slip down and you'll scratch the oh-so-soft plastic walls.
Once everything's finished, you just use the wing nuts to tighten the barrier against the ceiling. Believe it or not, I can actually grab the barrier and push/pull on it hard enough to make the whole vehicle move in park. It WILL leave an impression in your ceiling, but let's face it, anybody who's prick enough to notice and point it out isn't worth having as a friend anyway.
Reply With Quote