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difficult to move bench seat forwards to make up bed

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caliblue

caliblue
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81
Vehicle
T6 Ocean 150
We have been cali owners since 2009 and have always found it quite easy to move the rear bench seat forwards to make up the bed. I sit in the middle of the seat and walk forwards but now it is almost impossible to do this. We have cleaned out the channels and lubricated the wheels at the back of the seat. The floor has always been covered with a mat and there was very little dust in the channels so I don't think that is the problem. Has anyone else had this problem and any suggestions?
 
Maybe time to replace the wheels? Maybe they are worn out with repeated used - especially if you use the lower bed more than the upper bed?

Don't know if the wheels have ball bearings or not (I think they do) and also not sure of they are sealed. If not sealed, then most probably the bearing have reached their end of useful life - solved by replacing the roller wheels.
 
Might be worth lifting the bench seat up to get a better view. A similar thing happened to us and I found a plastic bag had got trapped.
 
I recently found a pair of shorts under the drawer. My wife thought someone stole them in a campsite in the Picos mountains in 2016!

The other recent suggestion I read is to pull the lever a bit higher.
 
take the drawer out, 2 screws at the bottom of it and see if anything is fouling the rails. Otherwise I think you need to take the inside panels off when the drawer is taken out to get to the actual mechanism. I have written up how to do it, somewhere, if needed
 
Thanks for the suggestions. There's nothing stuck under the drawer and we think the problem is the handle not releasing the mechanism when we pull the handle up. You posters are a mine of information!
 
Thanks for the suggestions. There's nothing stuck under the drawer and we think the problem is the handle not releasing the mechanism when we pull the handle up. You posters are a mine of information!
@caliblue - if the handle does not release the mechanism, the bench will not move. In your case, it is releasing the mechanism, but there is something that is causing friction and hence making it difficult to move.

See this video to see the mechanism in action -

You mentioned earlier that you've oiled the wheels. Did you oil the wheels in the pic?

Another thing to look out for - the wheel does gather dust and grime and using something to get the sticky dust off the wheel will also help to make it move free.
 
I've found in nigh on all cases it's because the handle is not being pulled fully. For some I appreciate this can be tricky as it both needs a good yank, and has two positions, the first one being just bad design. The first position is the one you can get to easily when you pull the lever, and for most you would think when you reach the first "gate" that is it and try and move the beach. Nope. You then need to give it a further yank, about an inch or so, and up it comes, the bench now moving freely. A lot will stop at the first gate, thinking they are having to pull so hard it may snap the lever. Don't worry - your fingers will break before the lever does.
 
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or could be the bar that runs across under the drawer lip , as the handle on the right (as you sit facing forwards) has to release the mechanism on both sides.

To do this there is a long rod that runs across the top of the bench drawer - you may be able to feel it, but certainly if you remove the drawer (2 screws) you can lie on your back in there and see it.

I think I have seen before that a connection came loose at the handle end, so the bar was not rotating when the handle was pulled

-edit- you can't see the bar in the video above, it's out of eyeshot at the top left corner. The way that the mechanism works is that normally there are some (presumably toothed) clamps on the underside of the rails that are held by default clamped up to the underside of the rails. When you pull the handle the mechanism actually pushes down against the springs and the clamps come free from the track underneath (you can't see this bit - on the mechanism rods moving downwards). When they are free, the bench simply rolls on the wheels.

longer details here (but still doesn't show or cover the bar!):

 
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We have been cali owners since 2009 and have always found it quite easy to move the rear bench seat forwards to make up the bed. I sit in the middle of the seat and walk forwards but now it is almost impossible to do this. We have cleaned out the channels and lubricated the wheels at the back of the seat. The floor has always been covered with a mat and there was very little dust in the channels so I don't think that is the problem. Has anyone else had this problem and any suggestions?
Hi,
I had this problem from almost new, when on a small trip the drawer wouldn’t open, managed to lift the seat to access the food while we were away. On getting back I found the drawer or seat had gone a bit scew. With a few kicks from the back it sorted both problems, the drawer and seat both move easily.
Northwest gas lad
 
Update on where that bar is. This is a view from inside the drawer looking back out.

The bar feels like it is about 25mm in diameter and if you put your fingers in the drawer opening and curl them round under the trim at the top of the drawer you can poke your fingers in a gap and feel the bar. It should rotate when the handle is pulled and you can hear the mechanism moving on both sides of the bench. If it is not rotating and you can't hear the mechanism move then that feels like it could be the problem.
IMG_20221118_144752448.jpg
 
I've located the bar at the top of the drawer and it moves slightly when I pull the handle up so I think the bar is still attached. I've given the handle a really good pull as well.
We've noticed there is a clatter from behind the handle when on a bumpy road so perhaps there's something loose in the mechanism. We are booked in at the VW garage at the end of December so watch this space.
Thanks again for your input.
 
I think it should move more than slightly, it should rotate quite noticeably. Depending on how old the vehicle is and how comfortable you are with a screwdriver it's pretty easy to access the mechanism. Details in the thread linked above. But if you are still in warranty, don't do it
 
Van is 2018 and we have a 3year extended warranty so we'll leave it to the garage to sort. Thanks again. Will let you know when it's sorted.
 
The bed is now sorted after being seen at the garage. They have given the wheels a really good greasing and moved the bed back and forwards numerous times. We can now move it with one finger!
I'd oiled the wheels previously and it hadn't made any difference.
Must be really good grease!
 
It’s good to know it was down to pure mechanics in the end. There‘s a good general learning point there, about old lubricant. Lubricant that’s contaminated with particles is almost as bad as having no lubricant. Grease that’s able to pick up dust etc tends to clog up the moving part, stopping the sliding surfaces from doing their thing, and in time, it starts to act like a grinding paste, accelerating the wear. That’s why sealed-for-life bearings took off in a big way back in the day, avoiding the need for regular greasing to push out contamination. In items where the bearings are simplistic, like the bench wheels, there’s no real prospect of keeping contamination out, and so degreasing and cleaning before the reapplication of grease is a good idea.
 
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