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The headrests

32K views 74 replies 40 participants last post by  Scougar 
#1 ·
First, I removed the rear headrests for improved visibility and backseat fold-down.

Now I hate the front ones.

With the six-way adjust and leather these are the most comfortable car seats I've ever had BUT the head rest tilts way forward, making it impossible for me to rest my shoulders on the top of the seat. I feel hunched over and my neck hurts after a long drive.

I even tried taking out the front headrests and turning them around backwards. It's possible. But then they lean way too far backward.

Seriously wondering about maybe taking them to a shop where the support posts could be straightened somehow.

Anybody else having this problem??


Aside from that (and the DCT which my dealer won't do the TBS on), my [ffrocks]
 
#2 ·
I agree the seats are great, and the headrests suck totally.

The steel tubes the headrests are on are very hard, and may be very difficult to bend. (I tried and failed)

With heat, and a BIG vise, they might be persuaded to bend enough to not be a pain in the neck.

I may go out and buy a huge vice just to try it....
 
#3 · (Edited)
I used to hear this same type complaint about the 05+ Mustangs when I was working in the service department. To clear things up......it it not a headrest. It is a head restraint (as in safety equipment). To change/modify one would be like changing around a seatbelt as far as liability issues go. I knew a few stang owners who would pop them out and turn them around, but they look like sh%* that way and aren't going to do thier job in a collision. If you look at how far your head/neck could travel in a rearend collision, you would want it as close as possible. I would say just leave it and maybe tilt your seat back a tiny bit more.
 
#8 ·
I TOTALLY agree. I spent 20 years in the product liability defense field, with clients like Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda etc. It is MUCH better to keep ones head attached firmly to the neck after a collision through the use of a properly designed and adjusted head restraint devices than the alternative.[nono]
 
#4 ·
I agree, Bleed, about the safety function of those things. I guess I'm spoiled: I just traded-in a 2002 WRX which had head restraints that did not keep me from reaching the seatback with my shoulders. Sorry but the Focus' restraint just sticks out too far forward for comfort, and genuinely makes me feel like it's messing up my posture. The cynic in me wants to call that ironic, but in all seriousness I don't think it's necessary to sacrifice a chronic safety issue in order to provide mitigation for an acute safety issue. My Subie's restraint was innocent of the former, and though I never wrecked it, presumably adequate in the latter instance.

By the way I've tried a zillion combinations of seat back angle and seat angle -- no dice. The head restraint moves with the seat back.

Driving this car is like trying to sleep on your back with too many pillows under your head.
 
#6 ·
I just took my rears out and for giggles measured and you are correct they won't fit.

You must be tall, I am 5'10 and don't have the issue you are talking about. I am assuming that you have adjusted the height of the headrests as well.
 
#7 ·
I'm 6'1" and have found that the head restraint is actually slightly less uncomfortable when it's in the fully-down position for me. I think that if I could theoretically push it down even further it would be okay. Of course the support bars' outward bends won't allow that even with modification.
 
#9 ·
I rarely carry passengers in the back seat, other than grandkids in boosters or child seats, but I do carry a lot of cargo so the seats go down. Of course one has to remove the rear seat restraints to properly flip and fold the rear seats to make the cargo area. What sort of clever storage for the critters have you come up with? Or are you simply chucking them in a box and putting that onto a shelf?[?]
 
#12 ·
I keep 'em in the garage. No backseat passengers ... and the rearward visibility with those in place was terrible. Much better now.

Reading the posts here about the forward angle design makes me think about substituting other restraints ... someone mentioned Lexus ... I'd want to be careful to find something that looks like it belongs (same or very similar black leather - ideally with the same contrasting stitching?). But if I had to choose between comfort and aesthetics, screw it - I'll put whatever in there.

And yes, I recognize that this could cause problems in the event of a whiplash injury UNLESS I were able to remain conscious enough to swap out the restraints for the OEM ones before the medics arrived ... in that case I'd have to keep them handy, like, under the seats or something.
 
#10 ·
The headrests are angled like that to meet federal safety regs for whiplash prevention. It will be pretty much the same for any car made this year- it sucks, but until they figure out something better we're stuck with them. Be advised that any modifications to position will probably preclude you from making any insurance claims for neck injuries in an accident, potentially a very costly decision.
 
#11 ·
I hate new cars for this, stupid useless headrests that jam your head forward. They only put it in as the insurance companies demanded they regulate them so less whiplash cases come in, just to save them money. These are less offensive then the F150 and mustang, I just want to rip them out and explode them.

I am going to get a set from a Lexus seat, setup the posts to the right width and put them on, soft and comfy for long trips, I don't need regulators telling me how it could save them money by my body being uncomfortable in the car. pics to come!
 
#41 ·
Head restraints on my 2003 Cobra are PERFECT!!! they are adjustable up and down, plus they tilt forward and back. Ford should put these in ALL their cars - assuming, of course, that they are still "legal" (which they probably are not!!!!!). Our government, in its never-ending march to ensure our safety from all perils large and small, real and imagined, never ceases to amaze.
 
#13 ·
And yes said:
All should be aware that it is not only a whiplash injury you should be concerned about in a collision. The result could be a cervical spine fracture as high as C2 and paraplegia. I've investigated a number of such results, largely with front seat passengers in cars without/with removed head restraints. The seat-back becomes a fulcrum when the neck is snapped back and the head whips rearward if the delta v is from that direction (as in a spin-out to fixed object - bridge abutment crash). They are really quite useful in a crash and I doubt you could fish them out from under the seat and mount them as you're spinning out of control down the Interstate. [thumb]
 
#14 ·
Last week the lightbulb finally went on over my head - I think instead of modding the head restraint I just need to install a spacer of some kind between my back and the seat... thereby moving the vertical plane of my back forward enough that I can rest my shoulders on the upper seat back and not have my head forced forwards at all times.

So I'm now shopping for one of those wooden beaded taxicab seat things. I'm sure it'll do wonders for my leather upholstery...

[why oh why must our cars hurt us in the name of making us safer?]
 
#15 ·
So I took my headrest and put it in the vice, with a few pieces of wood to hold it. Those damn posts are monster strong, but I did manage to change the angle by a few degrees, even those few degrees make a huge difference in the comfort. Apparently the F150's and earlier stupid headrest models bend a lot more easily, I'll get this damn thing back to a proper position soon enough, but even now way way way better.
 
#17 ·
I was watching the recent season of the Amazing Race. They had all the teams driving 2012 focus's, after hours of driving around, consistantly one team had no headrest on the drivers seat, while everyone else did, I wonder why...."Wheres this damn challenge location in Belgium! I hate this headrest!! *throws out window into Belgian street* " :D
 
#20 ·
How on Earth are your heads even *touching* the headrests? I'm 6'3", so my head definitely goes up to the top of the headrest (not in an uncomfortable way...but if I lean back my head rests comfortably on the rest), but my head also never *touches* the headrest. If you're sitting in such a way that the headrest is actually making you feel like you're slumped forward, the seatback is too far forward to be safe.

Move the seat, itself, a bit more forward and then move the seat back to a more heavy angle (toward the back of the car). It'll be a more comfortable way of sitting and you'll no longer have a problem with your head being pushed forward by the rest.

Truthfully, if you're sitting in such a way that it's a problem...it's because of the way you're sitting. Also, the rearward visibility should not be a problem with the rear headsets in place...they barely protrude into the line of sight to the rear window.
 
#64 ·
Move the seat, itself, a bit more forward and then move the seat back to a more heavy angle (toward the back of the car). It'll be a more comfortable way of sitting and you'll no longer have a problem with your head being pushed forward by the rest.

Truthfully, if you're sitting in such a way that it's a problem...it's because of the way you're sitting. Also, the rearward visibility should not be a problem with the rear headsets in place...they barely protrude into the line of sight to the rear window.
For some people sitting with the seat back angled backwards, as you are suggesting, causes back pain. I need to have the seat back pretty straight up and down like a straight back chair. Back pain sould not be a requirement for driving a car. I'm glad the seats work for you but you're not everybody.
 
#25 ·
Last year I rented the 2012 Focus twice as I would like to buy one. I love everything about the car, except...the headrests, which are the reason I'm not buying a Focus this year.

I am 5'9" and got a neck ache within 10 minutes of getting in, no matter how I adjust the seat. My husband drove it (he's 6'1") and it was bad for him too. I sat in it and had him video me while I imitated the reflex action after an accident, and it was not good how as my head hit the rest, and my back hit the seat, my neck flexed at a horrible angle. Creamsicle is right, it's like sleeping with a pile of pillows under just your head. Ouch!

I think if it were a safety issue, every car would have this design and your neck would be cradled, for lack of a better word. You don't see high-end cars with this design. I think it's a design flaw and would love to hear from someone who knows why Ford switched to this rest/restraint in SOME cars and not others.
 
#27 ·
I am 5'9" and got a neck ache within 10 minutes of getting in, no matter how I adjust the seat. My husband drove it (he's 6'1") and it was bad for him too. .
I am 5'10 and haven't had any issues with neck aches or any other issues related to them. I would bet you need some refinement in how they are adjusted or how the seat is adjusted to fix your neck ache.
I sat in it and had him video me while I imitated the reflex action after an accident, and it was not good how as my head hit the rest, and my back hit the seat, my neck flexed at a horrible angle. Creamsicle is right, it's like sleeping with a pile of pillows under just your head. Ouch! .
not a good test to base an opinion on at all. you are sitting still and trying to imagine how your head would hit in a collision. believe me you whole body reacts quite differently when you are in a collision at speed than what you could do sitting still and trying to emulate your reactions in an accident.
I think if it were a safety issue, every car would have this design and your neck would be cradled, for lack of a better word. You don't see high-end cars with this design. I think it's a design flaw and would love to hear from someone who knows why Ford switched to this rest/restraint in SOME cars and not others.
don't think it is a design "flaw". and while I don't know this I am betting the difference is in the size of the vehicle and what gets crushed/thrown around in an accident that dictates the style of head restraint used.
 
#35 ·
"Headrest delete mod." [giddy] Now I'm just waiting for someone to list that in their signature.

In all seriousness though, has anyone tried fitting the rear center headrest into the other headrests? I might be interested in buying a couple more rear center headrests to use to give myself better visibility without losing that safety feature.
 
#29 ·
Love the headrests - easily the most comfortable seats I've ever sat in. It's actually kinda scary because I can see myself falling asleep at the wheel if im not vigilant.
 
#33 ·
Yeah, like someone said above, if you're going to make all these mods to the head restraints, I certainly hope you don't get into an accident. If you do, I think whiplash is going to be the least of your worried!

These are absolutely the most comfortable seats that I have had in a car. Ever. The most comfortable part? The head restraints! I love them! I am 5' 9" and the way I have them adjusted they are at the exact perfect height and angle. Heck, I too could see myself easily falling asleep in this seat it is so comfy! I don't have that problem when I'm driving because, well, I'm driving so I am occupied and there is no danger of me falling asleep, but still. These are some seriously comfy seats!
 
#34 ·
I agree, the seats are super comfy and the head rest doesn't bother me at all (I'm 6'2"). I actually like it closer to my head because I put my head back without distorting my view of the mirrors, etc.

And yes, do not get into an accident, you're going to be in rough shape. You mind find yourself a recipient of the Darwin Award.
 
#37 ·
The thought of driving around w/o head restraints ranks right up there with the morons you see in the frt pass seat with thier feet up on the dash. If they survive the impact, it'd be loads of fun having the airbag slam your knees well past your ears. Yikes.......
 
#38 ·
If you have your seat adjusted to where your head is ACTUALLY resting on the head restraint, you are doing it wrong.

The new Focus has the best seats in this class of vehicle. I'm wondering if they'll fit in my car so I can grab a pair to replace my front seats! Any of you whiners want to trade????
 
#39 ·
Ouch, Bleed Blue! I've always thought about just what would happen in general in an accident when I see people sitting like that. Having an airbag crammed up your a$$ never even occurred to me!

And you are correct, whoever said it. You get so much as a little touch of whiplash, whether the accident was your fault or not, you get no settlement. No head restraints = no claim for personal injury because of your own stupidity!
 
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