Creaking noise from concertina blind frame

[armstrongpiper]

We have at last taken delivery of our new Auto-trail Tracker, and it is fabulous. Except that on the road there is a horrible creaking noise which I think is being generated by the frame of the concertina blind attached to the windscreen area. It reminds me of the creaks we used to get from early plastic car dashboards years ago. Has anyone had experience of these creaks, and have you any tips for eliminating them, please?

 

Neil B

[catinou]

We have the same problem except ours is more constant from the side blinds in the cab - hope somebody has the answer. :-S

[sandyatketton]

The creaks that we have experienced in our vehicle blinds have been caused by the fixing screws working slightly loose.

Easily rectified in our case and maybe a good place to start looking

Sandy

[Derek Uzzell]

The REMIS-made cab blinds in our Hobby can be similarly noisy, so I suspect this is a common problem.

 

First thing to do, I think, is to follow Sandy's suggestion and make sure all the frames' fixing screws are tight. If that doesn't work, then see if you can 'echo locate' where the creaking is coming from by listening carefully while the vehicle is being driven and/or by manipulating the blinds' frames. If you can roughly pin down the location of the noise, then check in that area how the frame is attached to the cab structure. If you can spot anything that looks like it might produce creaking (eg. an edge of the plastic frame in tight contact with the face of some plastic cab-trim), then try loosening off the fixing-screws in that area, put some insulation (eg. a bit of thin rubber of the inner-tube type) between the frame and trim and retighten the screws. Repeat this procedure until the noise stops or you run out of patience. Also make sure that, when the blinds are retracted for driving, they are firmly pulled back into their housings before (and after) their restraining clips are engaged.

 

My own experience is that, even if you can successfully silence these things initially, there's no guarantee that the noise won't recur in future.

[w1ntersun]

When the bind is open the wire that the blind runs on is free to float in the air. Check it has not been knocked and is rubbing on the side of the frame.

 

 

Richard

[armstrongpiper]

Thanks for your replies and tips. I think the problem is now cured using strips of old cycle inner tube wrapped around hard plastic edges where contact with other surfaces was noted, and between other suspicious flat joins. Hope travelling will now be m,ore relaxing! Thanks again.

 

Neil B

[Mel E]

Strategically placed pieces of foam also do the trick with most conversion rattles, such as oven doors, etc.

 

Mel E

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[Derek Uzzell]

I've found little self-adhesive black rubber disks handy for stopping rattles from cupboard doors and that's what I used in the frame-joints on my REMIS blinds. Mine came from Focus in bubble packs for about £1.50 (I think), but they are probably widely available.