Reimo Variotech 3000 bed rattling

[drinfinity]

Pretty much any van bed seems to be better with a topper. Ours is from Ikea. We keep it in the roof, but I’ve got a slightly higher poptop than most with 90mm space. On a camping trip though we usually end up rolling it up with the bedding for an instant transform to bed in an evening.

 

[Niro]

Reimo Variotech 3000 Rattles
I have the above system in the van and have read the various messages and advice so decided to see what I could do to improve things. Some of the items mentioned are covered elsewhere and thank you to those folks who posted the advice as I found it useful. It will no doubt seem like I am stating the obvious in some instances.

The items I looked at are as follows;-

Position of the seat
The rails have round and oval holes in them (Pic 2) and you must make sure the drop down pegs operated by the bar (as opposed to the individual brake knobs) drop down into the round holes. You can test this by trying to move the base back and forth, if there is only a millimetre or so movement then it’s ok. Anything nearer 10mm and you’re probably in one of the oval holes and the seat will move, especially after a bit of driving and when the seat brakes have eased a little.

I also found that when the sliding seat was set at a distance away from the front seats, similar to that of a car, then the noise was much less. (Pic 1)

Removing the base seat section.
No, this didn’t make any difference but removing it when you want to work on the seat frame etc. is very easy to do. Move the base seat as though you were about to flip it over, the pivot point is then exposed. This is a simple spring-loaded pivot that can be pushed in which then releases the seat base. (Pic 3)

Runner guides
I don’t think these have been mentioned before. They are at the rear of the frame, a “T” shape, and sit in the tracks and appear to have bolts either side of them. They are loose in their mounting, probably deliberately, but rattle like mad. (Pic 4 )

I found this out some time ago and cut up an old margarine tub to make some thin shims. If you get the size right these slip in but the runner guide still has some movement. Note - I left a tab sticking out so that I could remove them to replace etc. I have had these in for a few months so know they work but replaced them so I could put a few pictures with this posting.

The shim needs to go on the sides as well as the top, but due to the bolts, the side flaps will not go in further that the first bolt so trim your sides flaps accordingly. (Pics 5, 6, 7)

Grommets
I know this has been covered before, the grommets on my seat had pushed out of position and one was damaged. I think this is caused by pushing the brake lever with too much downward force as opposed to inward force to operate the brake.

I also found the grommets weren’t a good fit so bought new. You can fit these by removing the brake lever from the brake cam arm that is a bolt with nylon shims.

When I reassemble the brake arm, with the new grommets in place, I added a little lithium grease to the arm. (Pics 8,9,10)

Adjusting the brake
Covered by others, hence I now know how to do this. Release the lock bolt and with an Alum key alter the height of the brake shoe slightly to get a tighter fit. It is no surprise that there will wear and need tweaking now and then. (Pic 11)

I’ve added a couple of pictures to show you the bits that you don’t normally see as they are in the track. Pics (12,13)

Seat Belt Restraints

Something I forgot to add was that I also placed some foam around the seat belt fixings to the frame as they are free to move and mean metal rattling against metal. I cut a small square of foam, put a hole in the centre to go around the bolt and then a cut to allow installation. Depending on your set up. I would always recommend avoiding letting the straps nah below the seat as they are free to rattle, bash against other items etc. Pictures added

View attachment 316302

View attachment 316303

View attachment 316304

View attachment 316305

View attachment 316306

View attachment 316307

View attachment 316308

View attachment 316309

View attachment 316310

View attachment 316311

View attachment 316312

View attachment 316313

View attachment 316314

 

[MyNameIsMatt]

Reimo Variotech 3000 Rattles
I have the above system in the van and have read the various messages and advice so decided to see what I could do to improve things. Some of the items mentioned are covered elsewhere and thank you to those folks who posted the advice as I found it useful. It will no doubt seem like I am stating the obvious in some instances.

The items I looked at are as follows;-

Position of the seat
The rails have round and oval holes in them (Pic 2) and you must make sure the drop down pegs operated by the bar (as opposed to the individual brake knobs) drop down into the round holes. You can test this by trying to move the base back and forth, if there is only a millimetre or so movement then it’s ok. Anything nearer 10mm and you’re probably in one of the oval holes and the seat will move, especially after a bit of driving and when the seat brakes have eased a little.

I also found that when the sliding seat was set at a distance away from the front seats, similar to that of a car, then the noise was much less. (Pic 1)

Removing the base seat section.
No, this didn’t make any difference but removing it when you want to work on the seat frame etc. is very easy to do. Move the base seat as though you were about to flip it over, the pivot point is then exposed. This is a simple spring-loaded pivot that can be pushed in which then releases the seat base. (Pic 3)

Runner guides
I don’t think these have been mentioned before. They are at the rear of the frame, a “T” shape, and sit in the tracks and appear to have bolts either side of them. They are loose in their mounting, probably deliberately, but rattle like mad. (Pic 4 )

I found this out some time ago and cut up an old margarine tub to make some thin shims. If you get the size right these slip in but the runner guide still has some movement. Note - I left a tab sticking out so that I could remove them to replace etc. I have had these in for a few months so know they work but replaced them so I could put a few pictures with this posting.

The shim needs to go on the sides as well as the top, but due to the bolts, the side flaps will not go in further that the first bolt so trim your sides flaps accordingly. (Pics 5, 6, 7)

Grommets
I know this has been covered before, the grommets on my seat had pushed out of position and one was damaged. I think this is caused by pushing the brake lever with too much downward force as opposed to inward force to operate the brake.

I also found the grommets weren’t a good fit so bought new. You can fit these by removing the brake lever from the brake cam arm that is a bolt with nylon shims.

When I reassemble the brake arm, with the new grommets in place, I added a little lithium grease to the arm. (Pics 8,9,10)

Adjusting the brake
Covered by others, hence I now know how to do this. Release the lock bolt and with an Alum key alter the height of the brake shoe slightly to get a tighter fit. It is no surprise that there will wear and need tweaking now and then. (Pic 11)

I’ve added a couple of pictures to show you the bits that you don’t normally see as they are in the track. Pics (12,13)

View attachment 316302

View attachment 316303

View attachment 316304

View attachment 316305

View attachment 316306

View attachment 316307

View attachment 316308

View attachment 316309

View attachment 316310

View attachment 316311

View attachment 316312

View attachment 316313

View attachment 316314

Thanks @Niro for this excellent post which gave me the confidence to tackle my rattling Reimo! After lifting my seat out of the rails, and sliding blocks of wood underneath to allow me to inspect the various parts, I found that the retaining disc of the brake that sits inside the rail had come off completely.

This disc is screwed into the underside of the clamping mechanism and is designed to pinch the seat to the upper inside of the rail. No disc = no clamping = lots of rattling!

The disc on the other side of the seat was also very loose and would most likely have come of in time also. I would never have known that the disc had come off as it was being shunted back and forth within the rail as the seat is moved back and forth.

I've attached a couple of extra photos to help others:

The first picture shows the silver disc in place beneath the brake mechanism - this is pulled upwards when the brake lever at the front of the seat is pushed inwards.



The second photo shows the bottom of the brake mechanism without any disc (how I found it when lifting the seat out of the rails).


The final pircture shows a wider shot of the underside of the seat with the silver disc missing, just for completeness.