Penthouse Spring Noise When Driving

barrel47 · 08-23-2021, 11:40 AM

I have a two-year old Sprinter SMB built in Fresno. Been mostly happy with the van, with some build quality issues.

One thing that is driving me crazy though, is a constant spring noise from the penthouse top behind the front passenger seat.

Has anyone else experienced this and can recommend a solution?

Sounds like the spring is loose and simply moves around a lot with bumps and swaying.

Thanks

REF · 08-23-2021, 02:08 PM

Not sure of the specifics on the top on the Sprinter body, but I would assume it’s very similar to what they were doing on the E series.
Usually there was some fabric and foam placed in between the spring and the channels to help with any spring slap. There was also a process of tightening the spring tension on the manual lift tops, but not sure that is applicable to the electric lift mechanisms.
I would suggest you open things up by unscrewing and peeling the fabric back to expose the spring to see what’s going on, you might find there’s some spray adhesive also keeping things in place, get yourself a can of adhesive if needed when buttoning things back up. Place some thin foam and fabric in the channel under the spring, see if there’s a way to adjust the tension if needed.

barrel47 · 08-23-2021, 02:26 PM

Good advice. I looked closer this morning and the noisy spring has a lot more play than on the other side. So, there is definitely a tension issue.

boywonder · 08-23-2021, 02:31 PM

As REF mentioned above, there should be fabric/foam glued to the channel where the spring rides, to give it a nice cushy bed that's very quiet.

Sometimes when the roof is lifted and the spring retracts, it catches on the edge of this fabric and pulls it back into a bunch...leaving the spring to then bounce against steel.

Remove a couple upholstery screws and take a look....if this is the issue you can lift the spring up a little and get the fabric laid back down......and ideally glue it back down with contact cement.....pretty easy fix.

Pull back the upholstery on both sides and compare, if it's a fabric issue it will be obvious, since the noise is only coming from one side.

boywonder · 08-23-2021, 02:33 PM

barrel47.....I'm in Coto De Caza and can adjust your springs if you'd like....at this point I've done spring adjustments on about 15+ penthouses. send me a PM if you are interested.