Headrest adjustment

[DaveR]

There's been a bit of discussion in this thread about adjusting the headrests in stock seats for height to accommodate all non-midget () Supra drivers.

 

Feeling brave, I decided to give it a go. Once you can work out how the headrests actually come off, this really isn't a hard job at all and can be done in about 10 mins (per seat) with only a junior hacksaw and a flat-blade needle file.

 

To start with, some pics I robbed borrowed from Supra Forums on how to get the headrests off:

 

Step 1:

 

Step 2:

 

Yes, it IS really satisfying when you hear the clunk for the first time and the headrest comes away!

 

 

Now the adjustment, seeing as Mr. Toyota decided we didn't need it as standard...

 

This is what the stock "rails" look like:

 

First, put some masking tape on the rails and measure / mark the graduations you want to cut. I went for two more notches at 25mm intervals. The more accurate you make this, the more level your headrest will sit when it's re-installed. Measure twice, cut once an' all that...:

(NB: Feel free to use a different colour pen to mark the lines... )

 

Next, using a junior hacksaw with a DECENT metal blade (as in metal-cutting blade; all blades are made of metal...), cut the additional notches to the same proportions as the original. I found that two blades' width worked well. With the notches cut (again, take your time and be as accurate cutting along your lines as you can), remove the masking tape and file the 45-ish degree chamfer in the new notches towards the bottom of the rails. Once you've finished, it should look something like this:

 

Now repeat on the other rail and indeed on the other headrest, if you intend to do both.

 

 

As well as the stock flush-fit height, you now have options similar to these:

 

Middle notch:

 

Upper notch:

 

 

I agree, it does look faintly ridiculous (perhaps why Mr Toyota never gave us this as an option), but once you know how, they're easy enough to put back down for shows or whatever.

 

If I were to do it again, I think I would have gone for 20mm graduations between the notches rather than 25mm, only because there isn't a huge amount of rail in the seat when I'm using the highest setting and the headrest wobbles about a bit. To be honest, I'm not sure how much better this would be in a crash (not to tempt fate), but as my head (I'm 6' 5") wasn't supported at all before, it can't be any worse than it was.

 

So that's it. Really easy to do, if that's your bag. If you do this and then have a crash and get hurt, don't bother suing me, by the way - I haven't got enough money to make it worth your while anyway...

 

 

Oh yeah, one last thing is that I was going to get rid of the confusing little plastic tab thing on the side of the headrest that looks like it should be something to do with height adjustment but isn't. In the end, I decided against it for two reasons: 1) I don't intend to remove / adjust the passenger headrest, so removing the driver's one would look odd and 2) I didn't think the 12g of weight saved would really help me out. Seriously, it's 12g. Look:

Edited May 24, 2011 by DaveR (see edit history)

[scotty71]

quality job mate

[ripped_fear]

well done mate!

[peter richards]

nice job , height was never the issue for me but a tilt wouldnt go amiss, mk111 seat were far better

[DaveR]

nice job , height was never the issue for me but a tilt wouldnt go amiss, mk111 seat were far better

 

Yeah tilt would be nice. I'm sure that would be do-able if someone wanted it badly enough. I reckon it would involve a donor car of a different marque and a lot of chopping stuff up...

[Steve Metcalf]

Thanks for the pictures, it really helped. Such a weird design...Steve