2010 4Runner headrests. Ahhhk!

[fltoyo]

2010 4Runner headrests....want to replace with non-forward tilt

I took my DVD headrests out and gave them to a friend with kids. Took my factory stock headrests which I had never used since I bought it used with the DVD setup.

Holy smokes the angled forward orientation does not work at any height for me I just drove 3 days with them my neck is dying. Any suggestions for a replacement set? I have never had such bad neck and headache pain from having my chin decked forward for the last 640 miles. Not a fan of this design.

Thanks

 

[Mass 4runner]

Picture? I have a 2010 and they aren't like this. They are however designed to do this in the event of a rear end collision in order to prevent whiplash, but this is not their standard orientation. Something isn't right.

 

[fltoyo]

Can't get to mine for the next 2 days I'm hunting, but here is what they look like exactly just pulled this off the googles.

 

[e60ral]

this may sound like a really dumb comment, but have you considered buying the same headrests you had before?

 

[CF_Machete]

try reclining your seat

 

[foeix]

I agree - uncomfortable

 

[fltoyo]

this may sound like a really dumb comment, but have you considered buying the same headrests you had before?

I got them bent! Watched a few videos on it this topic surprised me. Googling 'uncomfortable headrest solutions' pulled up hundreds of links to every make and model on the planet. Apparently there was a push to make all headrests this way sometime around 2008 or so? Leaning the seat back is not a solution that makes sense for me I don't want to sacrifice proper posture and alignment for a poor design of headrest.

I did consider going back to those old headrests, but once I rigged a cheater bar I was able to get the headrest so it's vertical and not doing one of these numbers: This kids commentary was hilarious I felt like him!

Honda's Incredibly Uncomfortable Seats

 

[Saker]

I got them bent!

Can you go into more detail as to just how you did this without compromising the structure of the headrest?

 

[fltoyo]

Well to clarify I cannot verify or judge for sure whether or not I damaged the 'structure'. Meaning I can't open up the headrest to see if I broke something. That said I don't see or feel anything that has changed from the surface. I bought a 3 foot section of 1/2" galvanized pipe as a cheater bar. I wedged the headrest in between the handrail and brick wall on a friends front porch stairs. That was the key you have to get a squishy headrest braced so it won't move where a cheater bar can apply it's magic. Carefully I put the pipe over the metal headrest and applied pressue. Baby steps. Kept running back to the 4R to check when I was at an angle I liked. Took 5 minutes?

So, to conclude this isn't for everyone. It's not scientific, but it's a non-starter for my neck using that forward position I sit fairly upright, not gangster lean looking out the back seat window. With the pictured headrest I was unable to push my thoracic spine into the seat with the headrest pushing my neck forward too much. Now I'm back in good alignment, shoulders relaxed and head/neck tension free. My cousin is an ortho surgeon he got me situated in the car properly about ten years ago I had been dealing with all kinds of back/neck issues since I drive so much for work so that's how I arrived at what works for my body.

 

[1engineer]

So far, since 2010, after hundreds of thousands of 4Runners have been purchased, you are pretty much the only one to complain. Many complain over the seats though.
Good luck.

 

[Saker]

[MENTION=90454]fltoyo[/MENTION],

Thanks for the explanation.

 

[fltoyo]

So far, since 2010, after hundreds of thousands of 4Runners have been purchased, you are pretty much the only one to complain. Many complain over the seats though.
Good luck.

Hmmm we must frequent a different internet. I'm not singling out Toyota here the web forums for all manufacturers have plenty of threads with people complaining. That or Forbes research team is full of malarkey. Maybe I'm the only 4runner owner who finds them uncomforable, but it's not a 4runner specific issues all headrests are made to the new standard.

Forbes Welcome

https://community.cartalk.com/t/aftermarket-headrests-for-toyota/38267

https://community.cartalk.com/t/sol...mfortable-head-restraints-on-toyota-rav/54502

Headrest uncomfortable? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

alternative headrest? - Toyota RAV4 Forums

Newer Car? Uncomfortable Headrest?

 

[fltoyo]

[MENTION=90454]fltoyo[/MENTION],

Thanks for the explanation.

Sure thing

 

[jtc44]

What's your height/build? Who's to say what's comfortable for you, but I wonder if you have a unique build. I doubt that, as you say, a "poor design" would keep the many vocal enthusiasts on this forum silent if it were an issue. I sit fairly upright and have never wanted anything more from my headrests even on longer, multi-day trips. I certainly wouldn't be modifying something that was designed to save my life and/or ability to walk after a rear end collision.

 

[fltoyo]

What's your height/build? Who's to say what's comfortable for you, but I wonder if you have a unique build. I doubt that, as you say, a "poor design" would keep the many vocal enthusiasts on this forum silent if it were an issue. I sit fairly upright and have never wanted anything more from my headrests even on longer, multi-day trips. I certainly wouldn't be modifying something that was designed to save my life and/or ability to walk after a rear end collision.

Yea trust me I was torn on modifying it. I'm 6'1" long and lanky. I don't like laying back and I consider my position normal if there is such a thing? more upright I will just say that. I didnt' do my passenger headrest so if I decide this is a bad move I can swap them or just buy a new one. I very well may have something wrong with me and it's a total me thing, but given that I really trust how I was set up by cousin he saved me from a lifetime of neck/back issues at the time I had no idea it was how I sat in the car. Doing ~ 40k a year in the car just isn't healthy in general though. I hate sitting!

It very well may be that I read an article one day that shows a drastic reduction in whiplash injuries from the one size fits all new headrest design and I go back. You bring up a salient point in your last sentence.

 

[Brandonium]

I suppose everyone is different. I'm a hair shy of 6' and I have not even noticed an issue.. about as comfy as I've been in a long time when riding in the 4R. There are other threads about seat discomfort too but I also find my seats comfortable.

 

[1engineer]

Hmmm we must frequent a different internet. I'm not singling out Toyota here the web forums for all manufacturers have plenty of threads with people complaining. That or Forbes research team is full of malarkey. Maybe I'm the only 4runner owner who finds them uncomforable, but it's not a 4runner specific issues all headrests are made to the new standard.

Forbes Welcome

https://community.cartalk.com/t/aftermarket-headrests-for-toyota/38267

https://community.cartalk.com/t/sol...mfortable-head-restraints-on-toyota-rav/54502

Headrest uncomfortable? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

alternative headrest? - Toyota RAV4 Forums

Newer Car? Uncomfortable Headrest?

4runner specific, you are the man. I even searched. Apparently you sit like no one else. I understand and for a minority things like seats, head rests and control placement are not going to fit everyone but ergonomic engineers design I things to fit the majority of the bell curve. Those on either end just have to find a best fit or modify. Like me finding a 50 long sport jacket in something besides plaid...

 

[TBBrewer]

Headrests

I'm 5'11", Betty is 5'6" or so, and we've had those forward leaning headrests in our suvs since 2008. I'm not 100% fond of them, but I can understand the reason for them. Still, I've never been rear ended in the 66 years since I started driving, way back in 1950. I don't know anyone who has been rear ended either, so it really seems like a solution looking for a problem. That said, we don't find them terribly uncomfortable, and we do make make many long trips every year. Seems to be a case of grin and bear it. - Ted

 

[bigbillyt]

My wife and I have a pretty strong dislike for the newer forward leaning style headrests as well. In fact they were so problematic in her 2010 Mustang we quit using it for any long road trips. Also, it was a part of our decision making when we purchased our latest vehicle. We ended up with the latest 2017 iteration of the Subaru Outback which had less objectionable headrests than most. Plus the Subaru met other, even more important criteria like seat height, comfortable entry and exit, decent MPG etc. In fact the seats in the Outback are some of the most comfortable car seats I have experienced. In our car shopping over the months I think the best headrests were actually in a Ford Edge or the Lincoln equivalent where the headrest adjusts forward and back on the vertical axis.

All that being said, I am six foot even and the 4Runner headrests don't bother me too much driving. However, if I am a passenger for more than about an hour I resort to rolled up towel or pillow behind my neck. Unfortunately, the seats themselves are more problematic in that my rear end falls into a hole that on a long drive becomes pretty uncomfortable. I am currently shopping for a pillow to help on long drives to see if that will help alleviate some of the discomfort.

 

[fltoyo]

It is interesting you noticed they are different from make and model. As we speak I'm sitting in my girlfriends X5 and the headrest is very comfortable. Come to think of it with all the other cars I ride in esspecially rental cars for work I have never noticed it. was just when I pulled these headrest out of the box that I noticed it. I think my neck is probably sensitive to where it's been for the last half million miles and having a push forward even a little bit was super uncomfortable.