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Tilting Headrests On An 03 (PICS)

teksavy

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Hi:

I've had my truck for about a week and although I love it, I really dislike GM's cost cutting efforts on the headrests on the 03 AV. GM saved a few pennies by ditching the articulating (tilting) headrests on the 03 model AVs. Check it out:

StupidHeadrest.jpg


Whats the big deal? Well if you are a big driver like me (6'3"), your seat is typically tilted back more than smaller drivers and your head is further away from the headrest. As a result, not only do you have an out-of-place-looking headrest (jacked up sticking at an odd angle), but you have a safety issue as well.

An articulating headrest allows you to tilt the headrest forward to bring the headrest closer to taller people's head. This is very important for whiplash protection during a rear-end collision. And, as a bonus, in my opinion, looks better as well.

So, what to do? How about retrofitting 2002 headsets to an 03? I thought it would be easy. I talked to DeLillo Chevy and they said the 02 headrests are only $50. Great, its worth it to me. But he said, didn't include the trim (leather or fabric). Hmm. Well let me see if I could use my old vinyl on the new headrests.

So I took my headrest apart:

StupidHeadrestRemove.jpg


and a (articulating) headrest from my dads 2001 Sierra:

Art2001Headrest.jpg


Well as you can see, there is nothing similar about them. From what I can tell, I cannot simply move the fabric over from my 03 headrest to the 01 headrest from my dads Sierra.

Even the colors are different although the are the same interior color (Dark Charcoal). Check it out:

HeadrestsComparo.jpg


So, some questions for the group:

1)Does someone have (take) pictures of an 02 headrest from an AV? Preferrably Dark Charcoal interior. I want to see if it is the same shape as the 03, or it its like the 01 Sierra. (This is important to see if I can use the fabric on my 03 AV on the 02 AV headrest.

2)Does anybody have any info about this swap?

Thanks!

-Ed






 
Ed,
I had posted these pics (wrong color though) a couple of months ago in the following Q&A section thread: Headrest issues in the 03 Avalanche

WTA_Headrest.jpg


I believe you are correct that a "skin" swap probably would not work very well ?:6:
Member cadboy1 did the swap for less than $300 for the complete assemblies ?(y) .

Good Luck!
 
Thanks WesTxAvy!

I wondered how I missed that thread.

I need to find out if the charcoal interior is the same color on the 02s and the 03s.

Can anybody confirm this?

Thanks,

Ed
 
teksavy said:
\Even the colors are different although the are the same interior color (Dark Charcoal). Check it out:

HeadrestsComparo.jpg
The Av one is on the left, right? While there is great variation in judging color on different computer screens, especially with pictures taken under different light, the one on the left looks a lot like the one out of my 02. I can't take a picture of it, 'cause it's at the shop, but as I said, I dunno if a picture would do much good if you couldn't see them side by side.

BUT, with that said, the one on the left is clearly the same shape as the one(s) on my 02, so you may still get lucky with a easy part swap. $300? I dunno. What the parts cost on these rigs, it wouldn't surprise me, but hopefully there are fewer parts to worry about. Or find someone online who never worries about the adjustment and wants to trade (doubt it!).

Good luck to ya Ed!

Brendan
 
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