California Rail Trim Loose

[DXX]

I have California seat rails in my converted van, recently the front end of the aluminium trim has lifted from the floor.
I have pushed it back into place temporarily but it soon springs out. It doesn't appear to be bent. I assumed that they would be secured by the grey plastic insert at the front of the rail but this isn’t the case.
Can anybody advise how they are secured to the rest of the rail?

 

[kiter]

As it happens my caravelle rails are sitting on the living room floor so here is a pic, hopefully you can see the metal clips that secure the top rails. Maybe one of these is slightly out of line.

 

[DXX]

Thanks but I can’t pick out any clip from the photo, can you add a pointer please.

 

[kiter]

If you look at the rail that's sitting on its side (bottom of the pic) the clip is highlighted with the light shining on it. There is a raised groove on the rail top cover that slots into this clip. I'm guessing your clip is possibly not as tight as it needs to be and therefore not gripping the top cover properly.

 

[DXX]

OK thanks, looks like a seat out job to remove the cover.

 

[Ads_Essex]

OK thanks, looks like a seat out job to remove the cover.

If the clip is bent, I’m afraid it might mean a rail out job to bash it back in to place.

One of mine is slightly loose - I caught one of the clips when I was lazily trying to trim some of the ply floor with the rail in situ, and bent it out by a few mm. It looks similar to yours, now.

 

[DXX]

If the clip is bent, I’m afraid it might mean a rail out job to bash it back in to place.

One of mine is slightly loose - I caught one of the clips when I was lazily trying to trim some of the ply floor with the rail in situ, and bent it out by a few mm. It looks similar to yours, now.

It’s not easy to see the detail of the clip from the photos.
Does the clip need to bend towards or away from the centreline of the rail?

 

[Ads_Essex]

They need to be bent towards the centre of the rail. They’re attached at the bottom and are almost S shaped.

I’ve found some old photos, may or may not help:


I’ve roughly outlined the shape of the clip:

 

[Eclipse Custom Vans]

Yep more than likely the clip is bent out. Or if aftermarket floor, the wood may be too close not allowing the clip to work mcorrectly. Worse still, I've see the clips cut off for ease of fitting.

All the best

 

[DXX]

Thanks all. If there’s a quick fix I’ll post it.
I’m hoping that I can adapt the forward grey plastic removable trim to do the job of securing the aluminium trip.

 

[DXX]

No way I’m removing the whole rail.
Took 5 min’s to remove the forward plastic trim and fit a small plastic wedge to hold the aluminum trim in position.