My wife , who is short , just drove a new Focus . We both loved the car. She had issues with the extreme angle of the headrest. Because she is so short , her head was tilted far forward . It was very hard for her to drive and see the road . Anyone else had issues with the angle of the front headrests. Thanks.
Front seat headrest angle
rseibenick
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Do you have a Job 1 2012? If so, you may want to search salvage yards for a Job 2 2012 or later (after 04/12 build date). The adjustable head restraints that are in these are much less intrusive than the originals, IMO.
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I don't think the MkI & MkII Focus has the same frame spacing as the MkIII, so I don't believe it will work.
![Image](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XM9ZHx8bkRc/T6r5b9UJhRI/AAAAAAAAA4s/NCxD9EGq2rw/s800/2012-05-09%252017.43.17.jpg" height="800" width="600")
![Image](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nBqj4lHWK4Y/T9dWsgU1DvI/AAAAAAAAA7c/KgzRmhCknFQ/s800/2012-06-12%252009.45.52.jpg" height="600" width="800")
Maybe it's different in the TI, but mine ratchet into one of several "stops", similar to the backresk of an office chair. Pull the headrest forward and it clicks into the next position. Pull it all the way forward, release and it'll snap back into the rear most position.
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Yes, what you have are the adjustable ones that I pictured above. The early 2012 Focus did not have adjustable head restraints, and angle forward more than the adjustable ones do in the rearward-most position. All Focus' built after ~04/12 have the adjustable head restraints, regardless of trim level.
Thanks for the info. I checked with our local Ford company and they are $360 each!!! That's stupid money! Cannot seem to find online.
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Head rest tilt
On my 2012 Focus, all you have to do is push the headrest forward firmly and it releases to the more vertical position instead of tilted forward.
On my 2012 Focus, all you have to do is push the headrest forward firmly and it releases to the more vertical position instead of tilted forward.
Here's a great link explaining why the headrest position is all wrong and causing people to have back problems in lots of cars, including luxury cars!
www.allocca.com/papers/Headrest.pdf
A solution is to install a headrest DVD player such as this one from Walmart http://www.walmart.com/ip/Pyle-PL71PHB-7-Adjustable-Headrest-Monitors-with-IR-Transmitter-Black/12515954
Note that the seat insert poles are straight, just like they used to be so you can sit comfortable and properly in the seat. All well as keeping the people in the back seat entertained you increase the value of your car plus have a headrest which does not cause a headache and backache.
www.allocca.com/papers/Headrest.pdf
A solution is to install a headrest DVD player such as this one from Walmart http://www.walmart.com/ip/Pyle-PL71PHB-7-Adjustable-Headrest-Monitors-with-IR-Transmitter-Black/12515954
Note that the seat insert poles are straight, just like they used to be so you can sit comfortable and properly in the seat. All well as keeping the people in the back seat entertained you increase the value of your car plus have a headrest which does not cause a headache and backache.
Here's how I installed my DVD headrest.
I bought an Atrons 7" HD705 twin headrest kit.
![Image]()
http://xtrons.com/hd705-7-inch-in-car-headrest-dvd-players.html
The main reason I bought this model was that you could connect the cigarette lighter connector cable direct to the headrest under the hidden panel when you wanted to use it and remove it when you didn't instead of hard wiring it to the car's power and having to work out what power wires to connect to and dismantling the console etc to do it.
The other reason I bought it is that unlike many of the other headrests I could connect a wired headset to the player. It can like all the rest connect an IR headset, plus connect to the radio via FM.
Select your tool to feed the power/video cable down the back of the seat.
I used a plastic cable puller like the one below. (snake)
![Image]()
http://www.cablemagic.com.au/most-popular/yellow-tongue.html
I selected this over using something like a wire coat hanger as I didn't want it to puncture/rip the seat fabric as I was poking around guiding the cable.
The great thing about the HD705 head rest is that it has lots of plastic pole insert adaptors eg 14 and 16mm. Unfortunately the size you need is 15mm. So before I started I hand sanded the 16mm adaptor until it fit in the headrest hole. The positive side to this is that I could custom make the adaptor so it had a tight snug fit so the headrest did not move around and rattle. Nothing worse than a rattle right next to your head while you are driving. It did take me some time to sand. Once this was done the rest of the installation was pretty quick.
Steps
1) Tape string draw wire to the snake (cable puller) with electrical tape about 30cm/12 inches from the end you are going to insert in the seat.
2) Bend top of snake, about 15cm/6 inches from the end you are going to push into the seat.
3) Get in back seat and lower the seat towards you
4) Take out headrest
5) Push snake down seat hole which has the cable in the headrest
6) Poke around so the snake end goes between the seat gap and the rear seat fabric. It took me a few goes at trying the snake end at different angles. When you get it right you can see the snake end pushing on the fabric on the back of the seat near the top. When this happens reach up from under the fabric from the bottom of the seat.
7) Pull snake out the back seat. This will draw the string draw line through too.
8) When the end of the snake get near the end, ie about to exit the seat, slide the plastic adaptors over the headrest rods, tie the string to the end of the headrest cable to draw it through. Put some electrical tape to help too. Don't make it too big as it will get struck as you pull it through.
9) Pull the snake with the headrest cable into the seat and out the seat bottom. You make need some help to push the headrest inserts into the seat/push the headrest into place while you are pulling the cable through.
10) Disconnect the snake/string and electrical tape from the headrest cable
11) Put the end of the cable safely somewhere at the bottom of the seat in case you want to connect it to the cable adaptor which has the video in and out plus bar power cables
12) Plug your cigarette power cable to the headrest and to the power socket
13) Put in a DVD/SD card or USB with a Xvid movie (it was not clear like many of these type of players that the video format is Xvid.
14) Enjoy a movie.
15) Impress the other half on how comfortable the Focus seats are now and how good looking the new headrests are and not to mention the smile of the kids faces when they see what you have done.
16) Enjoy driving your Focus even more in comfort! No more back and neck ache!
I bought an Atrons 7" HD705 twin headrest kit.
http://xtrons.com/hd705-7-inch-in-car-headrest-dvd-players.html
The main reason I bought this model was that you could connect the cigarette lighter connector cable direct to the headrest under the hidden panel when you wanted to use it and remove it when you didn't instead of hard wiring it to the car's power and having to work out what power wires to connect to and dismantling the console etc to do it.
The other reason I bought it is that unlike many of the other headrests I could connect a wired headset to the player. It can like all the rest connect an IR headset, plus connect to the radio via FM.
Select your tool to feed the power/video cable down the back of the seat.
I used a plastic cable puller like the one below. (snake)
http://www.cablemagic.com.au/most-popular/yellow-tongue.html
I selected this over using something like a wire coat hanger as I didn't want it to puncture/rip the seat fabric as I was poking around guiding the cable.
The great thing about the HD705 head rest is that it has lots of plastic pole insert adaptors eg 14 and 16mm. Unfortunately the size you need is 15mm. So before I started I hand sanded the 16mm adaptor until it fit in the headrest hole. The positive side to this is that I could custom make the adaptor so it had a tight snug fit so the headrest did not move around and rattle. Nothing worse than a rattle right next to your head while you are driving. It did take me some time to sand. Once this was done the rest of the installation was pretty quick.
Steps
1) Tape string draw wire to the snake (cable puller) with electrical tape about 30cm/12 inches from the end you are going to insert in the seat.
2) Bend top of snake, about 15cm/6 inches from the end you are going to push into the seat.
3) Get in back seat and lower the seat towards you
4) Take out headrest
5) Push snake down seat hole which has the cable in the headrest
6) Poke around so the snake end goes between the seat gap and the rear seat fabric. It took me a few goes at trying the snake end at different angles. When you get it right you can see the snake end pushing on the fabric on the back of the seat near the top. When this happens reach up from under the fabric from the bottom of the seat.
7) Pull snake out the back seat. This will draw the string draw line through too.
8) When the end of the snake get near the end, ie about to exit the seat, slide the plastic adaptors over the headrest rods, tie the string to the end of the headrest cable to draw it through. Put some electrical tape to help too. Don't make it too big as it will get struck as you pull it through.
9) Pull the snake with the headrest cable into the seat and out the seat bottom. You make need some help to push the headrest inserts into the seat/push the headrest into place while you are pulling the cable through.
10) Disconnect the snake/string and electrical tape from the headrest cable
11) Put the end of the cable safely somewhere at the bottom of the seat in case you want to connect it to the cable adaptor which has the video in and out plus bar power cables
12) Plug your cigarette power cable to the headrest and to the power socket
13) Put in a DVD/SD card or USB with a Xvid movie (it was not clear like many of these type of players that the video format is Xvid.
14) Enjoy a movie.
15) Impress the other half on how comfortable the Focus seats are now and how good looking the new headrests are and not to mention the smile of the kids faces when they see what you have done.
16) Enjoy driving your Focus even more in comfort! No more back and neck ache!
I bought a 2015 car for over 2 weeks now. love the car, bu the headrest position gives me a soar neck. I ran into this website, and I'm tempting to do it!
http://www.usedcarsmells.com/how-to-change-car-headrest-angle/
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