Overbed locker repair

Larkrise

Larkrise

VIP Member
Messages
396
Location
Whaplode Drove
Vehicle
T5 SE 180
  • We foolishly overloaded the locker with books and as a result the hinge pin sheared off on one side. The van centre quoted £150 to repair but when it came to do the job realised the the whole kitchen had to be removed to access the hinge so the cost escalated to about £750. So we declined the work to allow thinking time, but actually it is a very useful space so can't really think of any alternatives. Anyone else had a similar issue?
 
I don't had this happend as i tend to keep heavy things in the lower part of the verhicle.
In this case : books in the bottom of the large wardrobe next to the fridge.
Rear upper storage (the one you mention) holds towels....
Look for spare parts at demolition sites and DIY.
 
I dont have an SE so I dont know the part, could you get a spring loaded pin to fit in there?
 
hotel california said:
I don't had this happend as i tend to keep heavy things in the lower part of the verhicle.
In this case : books in the bottom of the large wardrobe next to the fridge.
Rear upper storage (the one you mention) holds towels....
Look for spare parts at demolition sites and DIY.
Click to expand...

Well, we certainly won't be overloading the locker in the future! The part itself is not the expensive part of the repair, it is removing the kitchen unit which is 5 hours + £90/hr plus vat.
 
Larkrise said:
  • We foolishly overloaded the locker with books and as a result the hinge pin sheared off on one side. The van centre quoted £150 to repair but when it came to do the job realised the the whole kitchen had to be removed to access the hinge so the cost escalated to about £750. So we declined the work to allow thinking time, but actually it is a very useful space so can't really think of any alternatives. Anyone else had a similar issue?
Click to expand...
I took my locker out when the screws came loose on one hinge. Can't see why you need to take the kitchen out. If you need to replace the hinge the worst thing is removing the speaker housing which is held with double sided tape and getting it back in position. There are screws below the rear shaped upper mattress plus some to remove from inside the rear wardrobe cupboard, not sure how many now.
 
Les said:
I took my locker out when the screws came loose on one hinge. Can't see why you need to take the kitchen out. If you need to replace the hinge the worst thing is removing the speaker housing which is held with double sided tape and getting it back in position. There are screws below the rear shaped upper mattress plus some to remove from inside the rear wardrobe cupboard, not sure how many now.
Click to expand...

Ah, that is a really helpful response, thank you. I wonder why the van centre think that you need to remove the kitchen to get access...
 
Larkrise said:
Brilliant, thanks. Looks a little scary, but there's a definite incentive to have a go.
Click to expand...
Its not hard to remove, take the wardrobe screws out first then the 4 in the rear roof bed and have someone below to support it. Which hinge has broken?
 
Larkrise said:
The hinge that is broken is on the wardrobe side.
Click to expand...
To remove the hinge from the shelf I think one of the screws is under the speaker cover that's why had to remove the speaker cover. Put some loctite on the screws when replacing as it was the screws that attached the hinge to shelf that came loose on mine.
 
The Dealership must be " Numpties ". In the factory, so I gather, the Kitchen/Wardrobe Unit is fitted first and THEN the Overhead Locker. You CANNOT remove the Kitchen Unit/Wardrobe without disconnecting and removing the Locker.
I don't think they wanted to do the work in the first place.
 
Another example of great Cali afters sales service. Apart from the cost proposed, you'd have to factor in the damage done to the van by having them remove / refit the kitchen.

I think it's worthwhile in these situations to give the designers of the Cali a little credit, and think "they can't have been daft enough to do that would they".

It also shows the value of the forum! That saving has paid for a few year's vip membership.
 
Agree with @2into1 , i sometimes think everyone should be kind enough to become VIP on the site...you get your membership 10x back .
 
Yes, the forum has great value in cases like this...the accumulated wisdom, and willingness to share it is quite awesome. Our local van centre try quite hard and have two technicians who are 'Cali qualified', but nothing beats experience and there is just not the throughput of work to give it to them. In my particular case they have never removed the locker before otherwise they would have known about the order of dismantling. Anyway, I'll go back to them tomorrow armed with a lot more information.
 
I completely removed my overhead drawer last weekend to see if I could improve opening/closing action (a bit too much resistance - some is meant to be there to counteract the weight of contents). Whole job took less than 1 hour with the help of my 11 year-old son - he was up in the roof to undo the 4 hinge nuts (nylocs) under the rearmost mattress piece that support the drawer from above; I'd already removed the two short bolts from the kitchen-side (one in each in the top of the forward and aft cupboards); hardest job was removing the speaker covers in order to disconnect the speaker leads.

The excessive resistance issue was cured instantly by flattening the captive nut plates that hold the drawer sides to the sliding hinge mechanisms - if the short bolts are overtightened, these plates can deform, bend/dish and rub on the hinge sides.

When reinstalling, you have to be very careful not to over-tighten the nylocs in the roof as the corresponding threaded rod (not really a bolt) in the hinge plates is just cast in place - if you over-tighten I can imagine that you can very easily pull these 'bolts' out completely (equivalent to overloading the drawer). I don't know if this is a deliberate design feature (to prevent overloading?) or just bad design. I would suggest that to fix your problem and actually make the drawer capable of supporting greater weight, you can very simply replace the threaded rod (that has 'sheared') with a simple and more substantial, suitably-sized, standard bolt.

Sorry I didn't take any pictures as I did this work that would have made this description infinitely more understandable.
 
Spartan said:
I completely removed my overhead drawer last weekend to see if I could improve opening/closing action (a bit too much resistance - some is meant to be there to counteract the weight of contents). Whole job took less than 1 hour with the help of my 11 year-old son - he was up in the roof to undo the 4 hinge nuts (nylocs) under the rearmost mattress piece that support the drawer from above; I'd already removed the two short bolts from the kitchen-side (one in each in the top of the forward and aft cupboards); hardest job was removing the speaker covers in order to disconnect the speaker leads.

The excessive resistance issue was cured instantly by flattening the captive nut plates that hold the drawer sides to the sliding hinge mechanisms - if the short bolts are overtightened, these plates can deform, bend/dish and rub on the hinge sides.

When reinstalling, you have to be very careful not to over-tighten the nylocs in the roof as the corresponding threaded rod (not really a bolt) in the hinge plates is just cast in place - if you over-tighten I can imagine that you can very easily pull these 'bolts' out completely (equivalent to overloading the drawer). I don't know if this is a deliberate design feature (to prevent overloading?) or just bad design. I would suggest that to fix your problem and actually make the drawer capable of supporting greater weight, you can very simply replace the threaded rod (that has 'sheared') with a simple and more substantial, suitably-sized, standard bolt.

Sorry I didn't take any pictures as I did this work that would have made this description infinitely more understandable.
Click to expand...

Brilliant response, thank you. It is not actually one of the overhead bolts that has sheared but the one that goes through the gear wheel that runs on the hinge (apologies for my wooly description, I lack the technical vocab!). I am hopeful that this is included in the 'repair set roof box' on the diagram provided by Les.
 
Spartan said:
I completely removed my overhead drawer last weekend to see if I could improve opening/closing action (a bit too much resistance - some is meant to be there to counteract the weight of contents). Whole job took less than 1 hour with the help of my 11 year-old son - he was up in the roof to undo the 4 hinge nuts (nylocs) under the rearmost mattress piece that support the drawer from above; I'd already removed the two short bolts from the kitchen-side (one in each in the top of the forward and aft cupboards); hardest job was removing the speaker covers in order to disconnect the speaker leads.

The excessive resistance issue was cured instantly by flattening the captive nut plates that hold the drawer sides to the sliding hinge mechanisms - if the short bolts are overtightened, these plates can deform, bend/dish and rub on the hinge sides.

When reinstalling, you have to be very careful not to over-tighten the nylocs in the roof as the corresponding threaded rod (not really a bolt) in the hinge plates is just cast in place - if you over-tighten I can imagine that you can very easily pull these 'bolts' out completely (equivalent to overloading the drawer). I don't know if this is a deliberate design feature (to prevent overloading?) or just bad design. I would suggest that to fix your problem and actually make the drawer capable of supporting greater weight, you can very simply replace the threaded rod (that has 'sheared') with a simple and more substantial, suitably-sized, standard bolt.

Sorry I didn't take any pictures as I did this work that would have made this description infinitely more understandable.
Click to expand...
Great, mine is so tight to pull down I've slightly dislodged the righthand pin on the opening catch grrrr!
I'll be following your instructions over the weekend.
Thanks for posting.
 
Spartan said:
I completely removed my overhead drawer last weekend to see if I could improve opening/closing action (a bit too much resistance - some is meant to be there to counteract the weight of contents). Whole job took less than 1 hour with the help of my 11 year-old son - he was up in the roof to undo the 4 hinge nuts (nylocs) under the rearmost mattress piece that support the drawer from above; I'd already removed the two short bolts from the kitchen-side (one in each in the top of the forward and aft cupboards); hardest job was removing the speaker covers in order to disconnect the speaker leads.

The excessive resistance issue was cured instantly by flattening the captive nut plates that hold the drawer sides to the sliding hinge mechanisms - if the short bolts are overtightened, these plates can deform, bend/dish and rub on the hinge sides.

When reinstalling, you have to be very careful not to over-tighten the nylocs in the roof as the corresponding threaded rod (not really a bolt) in the hinge plates is just cast in place - if you over-tighten I can imagine that you can very easily pull these 'bolts' out completely (equivalent to overloading the drawer). I don't know if this is a deliberate design feature (to prevent overloading?) or just bad design. I would suggest that to fix your problem and actually make the drawer capable of supporting greater weight, you can very simply replace the threaded rod (that has 'sheared') with a simple and more substantial, suitably-sized, standard bolt.

Sorry I didn't take any pictures as I did this work that would have made this description infinitely more understandable.
Click to expand...

Hi Spartan
Your description above is very useful, can you give me a bit more detail on opening up the speaker enclosure... you mention it was the hardest thing to do, no screws in sight...
Thanks
 
antonio buffa said:
Hi Spartan
Your description above is very useful, can you give me a bit more detail on opening up the speaker enclosure... you mention it was the hardest thing to do, no screws in sight...
Thanks
Click to expand...
They are stuck on, you might have to warm them up
a bit and try with a flat blade.
Thats the covers on the inside, i take it.
 
westfalia said:
They are stuck on, you might have to warm them up
a bit and try with a flat blade.
Thats the covers on the inside, i take it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, yes that is the ones on the inside to get to the speaker’s connectors
 
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