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Seat head rests;...It wont go down?

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M

Midget78

Jedi Trainee
Offline
Hey gang. I noticed yesterday the passenger head rest sitting up as the previous owner must had it adjusted up for someone. I wanted to push it back down so its down against the top of the seat like on the drivers side but could not get this thing to go down for anything. I could move it up but not down. Its up about an inch and half from the top of the seat. Is there a trick to this?
 
I'm trying to remember what the guts look like...to pull out Nigel's headrests, I had to take the seatback cover loose and turn it inside out to get at the stalk! As I remember it, the stalk on the headrest slides inside a 'spine' running down the middle of the back. It's the same oval profile, just slightly larger. There's a stainless spring catch inside the headrest stalk. When the headrest is pulled up all the way, it will pop thru into a hole in the spine, preventing you from pulling the headrest out. There <span style="font-style: italic">is </span>a trick to it. The orientation of the spring pushes against the inside of the spine in the 'down' direction, so it'll slide up easy enough, but very hard going down. There may be rust and crud in the spine, too, making the spring grab or the stalk stick. (I beat on mine with a rubber mallet; it didn't budge more than a centimeter in 5 minutes.) Since my goal was getting the headrest <span style="font-style: italic">out</span>, not <span style="font-style: italic">down</span>, I pulled it up all the way, used a screwdriver to push the spring back into the hole, and out it came. (The spring is VERY strong.) I would imagine that a slimjim-type tool pushed between the stalk and the spine would release the spring enough to beat the headrest down. Maybe someone else has figured exactly <span style="font-style: italic">what </span>magic is required, but (if I can find my headrest) I can take a pic up the inside of the stalk to show you what's there.
 
Pics a-plenty!
head1.jpg

There's the length of the stalk. The spring tab is on the lower left hand side.
head2.jpg

A close up of that lil' tab. It's not much, but it's a bugger.
head3.jpg

Up inside the stalk. As you can see, the 'spring' is just a flat plate with a slot in it. Way tight, and nearly impossible to extract.
head4.jpg

Let's see, what else...oh, yeah; it's <span style="font-style: italic">razor sharp</span>! Ow.
 
Nah, top works fine with 'em. The only reason I took out Nigel's, is I think the seats look better without 'em.
 
Is it just me, or did the title remind anyone else of the disclaimer on the Viagra/Cialis commercials?

<span style="font-style: italic">"If you experience a seat head rest that won't go down for more than 3 hours, call your mechanic..."</span> :blush:

I wonder if they make a pill for seat head rests that won't stay up?? :devilgrin:

-Bear- :cheers:
 
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