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Rear Seat Headrest Mod

XRover

Charter Member
SM 2003
Full Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2002
Messages
1,610
Location
Los Angeles, California
I know that it has been a complaint regarding the rear seat Headrests getting in the way when folding down the rear seats to drop the Midgate. Unless you have extremely short legs, you have to move the front seats forward quite a bit in order to let the rear seats drop down and clear the head rests.

The factory configuration of the Headrests allows for up and down height adjustments with different clicking positions. The only way to remove the Headrests so that the front seats can have more leg room is to insert a small pin into the holes at the base of the Head Rests and release the lock.

I have performed an easy mod which will still allow all of the various click stop height adjustments but when you fully lift up the head Rest, it will slide out after the last position.

Step 1) insert a pin or small tool into holes at base of Head rest mounts. Push in pin and lift up Head Rest on that side. Repeat for other mount base and lift Head Rest all the way out.

step 2) Notice that the last cut out on the posts have a 90 degree ledge. All the other cut outs above these are at a 45 degree cut. The 45 degree cut allows the locking mechanism to slightly hold the Head Rest in that position until a little upward force is applied and the locking tab will just slide back. Obviously when the last cut out is reached, the lock slides in and get's hung up on the 90 degree ledge preventing it from going any further up.

Step 3 ) Place Head Rest posts in a secure vice and file down at an angle the two 90 degree ledges so that they look just like the others. (45 degrees). The key is to make sure that there is no more 90 degree ledge left to hang up the lock. When you have completed and tested one Head Rest, do the other.

I posted photos on my Photo Page of the 3 simple steps.
The whole thing took me less then 1 hour. The Head Rests store perfectly under the rear seats when folded down and now I can slide the front seats back a bit more.
 
YES, yet another easy-to-do mod for this weekend ;D ;D ;D

i love working on mods, large and small on my Av. :)
 
That is great, will make "changing for a buck" easier - another day shot and another trip to Sears - don't have a vice :cry:

Well I use to, but thats a different story ;D
 
Nice work X!!!!!

This is a godsend for me since at 6'8", my legs are anything but short! I'll be pulling and filing this weekend!! ;D ;D


RPH
 
great idea. i love when people solve problems that no one else can figure out. now i will have to contribute to the rest. any one have anything they can not figure out how to fix? ill try to help. Alex
 
;D Thank You! This has been bugging me and I meant to mess with those headreasts, but haven't yet. I'm going to do this project tomorrow! Obviously, GM figured the midgate "down" position for 5'8" drivers or something, because at 6', an average size I'd say, it's down right uncomfortable to drive with the seat up so far. Thanks again, and thanks to this great forum!
 
:cool: Just went out in the garage and removed the rear headrests and it occured to me that it looked fine without them. I was able to fold down the seat without moving my seat forward!! I don't often have rear-seat passengers, so I am leaving the head-rests out. Thanks again.
 
My kids aren't tall enough to need the head rests in the back. But I'm going to leave them in just as added protection against damage to the glass. Guess I'll have to work on the headrest mod this weekend! :cool:
 
I like the mod for the rear headrest, but the chick is awesome! ;) :eek:
 
Is there a way to remove the rear headrest on the AV. I'm rather tall and keep my seat all the way back. If I drop the midgate I have to pull the seat foward to get the gate down. It puts alot of pressure on the headrest if I attempt to move my front seat back again. My Tahoe's had tabs to remove the headrest in the rear on the 2 door model.
 
Yes there is. Do a search and you will find someone has made a mod to the headrest to come out when you put the midgate down. Some thing about grinding the last notch like the first two other notches so that the headrest will come out. This is on my to do list just have not gotten around to it yet.
 
this is one of the first mods I did, and I highly recommend it. It is easy to do, and it takes just a couple minutes.... the hardest part is getting the headrests out in the first place.
 
It is real easy - get an ice pick and look at the base of the head rest for a small hole.

Insert ice pick, push and pull up on head rest. Store
 
I did the rear headrest mod over the weekend. Took 15 minutes using a Dremel Tool and a grinder disk. Thanks for the help. :cool:

Royal1
 
I just took the headrests off and leave them in the house. The void that's left when the midgate is folded is awesome for keeping stuff from rolling around. I like to drive with both the gates down.

:B:

-=A.J.
 
In addition to my Avalanche I have an Excursion. The middle seats in the Excursion pull up and fold down just like the Avalanche rear seat except they have two green fittings with holes for storing the headrests when the seats are folded down. If you could source those parts from somewhere you'd have a perfect solution for storing the Avalanche headrests when the midgate is folded down.
 
Okay, I have had my Avalanche for 50 weeks, and just found this website a couple of days ago. If I didn't own the company I work for, I would have lost my job by now, because I haven't accomplished a thing since Monday when I first logged onto CAFCNA.

I have uncovered lots of valuable information and nifty mods that I might or might not follow up on, but this is without doubt something that EVERY AV owner needs to do...today.

Unless you and your normal passenger are under 5'6", this has to have annoyed you.

Thank you XRover. Yuda Man!

One comment that I would like to add. If you are scratching your head trying to find something small enough to fit in the hole and stiff enough to release the lock, try a pop rivet shaft. Worked for me.
 
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