Bed Making

[Max-Felix]

As others have said the issue is two things - not pulling the lever hard enough (lift the lever and slide your hand in more so not just your fingertips pulling) and sitting on the front of the seat - as you pull against the seat with your legs and grip the floor with your feet the tendency is to tip forward slightly and the seat does the same, if you do this the rear of the seat comes up slightly and drags on the ratchet. Sit down plumb so your weight is back as you pull forward.

Probably best not to lube anything, certainly not with a wet lube - it will just attract gunk and grot and potentially make things worse down the line.

 

[BeachyBird]

As others have said the issue is two things - not pulling the lever hard enough (lift the lever and slide your hand in more so not just your fingers pulling) and sitting on the front of the seat - as you pull against the seat with your legs and grip the floor with your feet the tendency is to tip forward slightly and the seat does the same, if you do this the rear of the seat comes up slightly and drags on the ratchet. Sit down plumb so your weight is back as you pull forward.

Probably best not to lube anything, certainly not with a wet lube - it will just attract gunk and grot and potentially make things worse down the line.

Thanks Max-Felix I think that has been my problem exactly so I will try all of these tips and hopefully a 3 1/2 yr issue will be solved.

 

[Eber123]

Good afternoon,

I thought that if I am sitting at the edge of the bench, the bench tilts a wee bit forward. Because of the tilting it won't slide properly, hence the nasty sound.
Sitting back keeps the bench straight and therefore it slides properly, silent and professional .

How people can be outside the van and slide the bench to the front is beyond me. But fair play for all who can (if you are one of them, I promise I will never get into an argument with you ).

Regards,
Eberhard

 

[DG1]

I agree it is the rocking action of the bed - if the bed is down at the front, the ratchet tends to catch slightly. If you are not sitting on the bed and pull up the lever, it tends to tip the bed down at the back enough for the ratchet not to catch, especially if you are also pushing the seat front. I do wonder if there can eventually be wear in the mechanism if the bed is moved with the ratcheting noise.

 

[westfalia]

Good afternoon,

I thought that if I am sitting at the edge of the bench, the bench tilts a wee bit forward. Because of the tilting it won't slide properly, hence the nasty sound.
Sitting back keeps the bench straight and therefore it slides properly, silent and professional .

How people can be outside the van and slide the bench to the front is beyond me. But fair play for all who can (if you are one of them, I promise I will never get into an argument with you ).

Regards,
Eberhard

Check this out Eber, i got mine working as easy as this
one in the vid.

 

[Eber123]

Check this out Eber, i got mine working as easy as this
one in the vid.

Good evening,

I will try it at the weekend. It looks so easy in the video.

I am getting old..

Eberhard

 

[BeachyBird]

Check this out Eber, i got mine working as easy as this
one in the vid.

No. The bed just runs on top of the tracks using wheels. The Rachet/Locking mechanism is below the tracks within the rails. When you pull the Lever upwards it pushes the locking tab Downwards. On the underside of the Rail, on which the bed wheels run, there are a series of teeth into which the locking tab engages. If the Lever is not raised sufficiently then the Locking Tab rubs along these teeth giving the noise.

I can also move the bed forwards and backwards whilst standing outside the vehicle and without the noise but normally I sit on the bench properly - not on the edge, pull the leaver and walk forward.

Ok ..... I have been out and tried all these great tips.
Sit middle of seat bum well back, lever up as far as it will go, feet on floor walk bench forward. It appears the right side by lever is running is running smooth and silent but the left is cluncking along the locking mechanism, I have tried wiggling it no change any ideas. Thanks

 

[Max-Felix]

IIRC the lever pulls on a very basic welded metal arrangement - it could be that something is not aligned right or has become malformed etc in the linkages and therefore the lever exerts more twist/lift on one side (the nearest) than the other. Not 100% but the way to check for sure is to maybe remove or lift the seat and look under - unless the drawer comes out and then you may be able to see...?

 

[Stow]

I can't move the seat forward when standing outside because the seat doesn't sit square on rails. The door end of the seat moves slightly ahead of the other rails and then locks up. Do I have excessive play?

 

[CaliAM]

It’s better to sit on the door side, lift the lever high then slide forward.....I always catch the bottom of the swivel front chair to ensure you get it far enough forward. No ratchet noise....so I think that happens if you’re pulling while sitting in the middle of the seat....the movement in the runners will be slightly offset

 

[Campervanner]

Can any one explain the correct way to slide the rear seat to make up the bed. I usually sit in middle of seat pull lever and drag using my feet. This does the job but makes like a ratchety sound, I’m sure I saw a VW video where they stood out side the sliding door lifted the lever and slid it forward easy peasy I can not get it to budge using this method.

Am I doing something wrong ??

There are two steps to the lever. Pull up once to disengage then pull hard again to next step. It slides freely after that, listen for the spring.

 

[BikerGran]

I struggle with pulling the seat forward, I know about pulling the lever right up, but there is no way I could do it from outside the van.