Stowage box sliding cover lubricant?

[TimL]

Is there a standard way & recommended lubricant to make the sliding covers for the stowage between the front and rear seats slide a bit smoother? The covers in my car a bit sticky and don't slide with great ease.

 

[captruff]

There are some dry graphite lubricating products in aerosol spray cans with a straw.

Jeff

 

[TimL]

There are some dry graphite lubricating products in aerosol spray cans with a straw.

Jeff

Great, thanks Jeff

 

[sheward]

+1 to what Jeff mentioned. You may want to disassemble them also as it is fairly easy and allows cleaning of the tracks and slide which can be sticky from years of dirt and grunge.

Drew

 

[r44raven]

What about that that all-singing, all-dancing, wonderdrug - Gleitpaste?

If it's good enough to keep in your bedside cabinet - then it must be good for your sliding central console!

 

[gerryvz]

Gleitpaste is too "wet" for an application like this. As @captruff says, a dry graphite lubricant or a silicone lubricant from a spray can, judiciously applied, would be best. Also a wet grease has the danger of getting on hands, clothes, upholstery and anything in said compartment, which could result in staining.

 

[liviu165]

You guys may laugh, but I vaguely remember a similar case many years ago and the best "lubricant" was solid soap or wax, I just can't remember very well which one it was, I was a kid at that time. It was what tailors used in older days in Europe to make their marks when they were making a custom suit on somebody. I must have been 5-6 years old, and it was a credenza with rolling slats that were not moving easy. That solved the problem.

 

[gerryvz]

I actually recently used an old candle to "lubricate" the edges of a drawer in the table in our front hall, to ease the drawer going in and out a bit. It works pretty decently. However, for this application of the roll-top box, I'd go with graphite or a silicone lube I think.

 

[nocfn]

When I had to re-glue my wood slats to the slider tape in the C126 when I first got the car back in 2010, I did sparingly use a syringe of gleitpaste on the curved surface of the track channel. I have not had any issues with mess and the box slides very easily. I would do it differently today. YMMV

Also, if one is separating the box to glue down the slats, keep in mind the wood may swell or contract over time due to humidity. Might not be a bad idea to lightly sand .001 mm of the under surface just on the contact edge of the wood slat that fit in the channel. Rub a candle on the surface you sanded to get it waxy in the exposed grain and the vertical edge. That should be a one and done.