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Remove headrests 2nd row

116K views 98 replies 59 participants last post by  snobrdrdan 
#1 ·
Well, I finally did it, I needed to get those **** headrests off of the second row seats and after a quick pry of the rear plastic panel, I just had to unsnap one connector and viola, no headrests in the way of my child seats. Much better fitment without the headrests in the way.
 

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#2 ·
Thanks for the info and the pics. So you removed the rear panel on the back of the 2nd row seats and unsnap the headrest connection and then remove. Sweet.

Can you take a pic of what it looks like with the headrests removed? Is it just 2 holes at the top of the seat?
 
#3 ·
I assume it's just as easy to reinstall them if needed? I'm thinking about state inspection time.
 
#4 ·
Reinstall is reverse, should be no issue unless you get a little over zealous and break one of the Christmas tree connectors (yellow tabs). Or if you snap the little casing that the release cable snaps into, but the plastic seems pretty flexible and as long as you're careful you should be okay. And the push retainers came out pretty easily as well, it helps to have the right release tool for that, but I did one seat with my bare hands and then once I saw what I was dealing with I went and grabbed my retaining pin removal tool for the other seat.
And as far as photos, I didn't grab any of the seat after, but yes you are left with the two holes from where the headrest goes into the seatback.
 
#7 ·
Excellent... now how about the third row? I rented a Pacifica today and it was interesting trying to get a FF car seat back there. I ended up reclining the seat, installing the car seat, and moving the seat back forward as far as it would go.
 
#8 ·
Interesting! I'm thinking of removing my 2nd row headrests in order to make it easier to "stow" the seats in the floor wells. As is now, even with the front row seats moved all the way forward, the headrests are in the way on both lowering and raising the seats if you try to do it with the OEM floor mats in place. Seems crazy to have to remove the floor mats every time you stow the seats when all you need is about 1" of extra clearance. I think the designers/engineers overlooked the additional clearance needed when you have the floor mats in place.
 
#17 ·
You do not have to remove the floor matts for stow n go. they remain in place. I rented one for 3 days and used the stow n go area for backpacks daily.
 
#9 ·
I followed your directions but our BRAND NEW pacifica limited has a metal ring stopper" preventing the head restraint rods from exciting the seat. I'm not a mechanic so pardon the lack of correct terms. The metal ring stopper in a different color mental. I tried to use pliers and a wrench. No dice.
 
#11 ·
yes a pic would be great. i just tested a pacifica today and put three recaro proride seats in the middle....was not easy, but clicked them all in.....the width of the seats on the pacifica are more narrow than the three recaros...right now we have a yukon denali and we fit three easy

brothers oddeysy fits three across easy as those seats slide side to side....

sto and go...well if seats are three across im never gonna use sto and go....so why am i so attracted to it..lol

still trying to decide what to do........i read on
 
#12 ·
I haven't used the sto and go yet, and don't plan to anytime soon, but we did use the storage time put our strollers when traveling. So the compartments are nice, but I'd rather have the slidable seats like the odyssey over the sto and go.
 
#15 ·
Photos of the tool and the headrest removed
I wonder if they added that ring to keep folks from pulling them out. My van is an early build, so that may have been a revision. Can you photo the ring?
I removed one of the 2nd row head rests last weekend, for the same child car seat reason the OP mentioned above. Thank you Tsuter!

My Pacifica build was Oct 2016 and the cable connection did NOT have the snap ring.
 
#19 ·
Mine had the metal retaining ring. The ring was designed to not be removable, but a little work with some needle nose vice grips and a screw driver I was able to snap the ring and pull it off. I still have the headrests in position, just pulled all the way up so they don't interfere with the car seats. Now if I need to move car seats and use the seat I can just push the headrest back down until it clicks.
 
#20 ·
I still have the headrests in position, just pulled all the way up so they don't interfere with the car seats. Now if I need to move car seats and use the seat I can just push the headrest back down until it clicks.
Just make sure they're secured well enough that they won't go flying if there's a collision.
 
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#23 ·
Use your own judgement I suppose, but in my opinion the plastic cable connector is not designed to hold the headrest in place under the forces that can be experienced during a collision - especially a major one. The headrest posts present a significant impaling threat if it becomes a projectile during a collision - Newton's second and third laws of physics being what they are and all...
 
#25 ·
I was able to get a Britax in a good position by reclining the seat a little bit. I didn't have to remove the headrest at all.
 
#26 ·
Ah. I should have tried that first but it didn't occur to me.

Ideally the seat would have headrest removed as I will eventually have all three fwd facing seats on second row but the passenger side ones need to tilt and now it doesn't.

I will check the tension but of the two cables that are visible, which one would you disconnect if you are looking at driver side second row seat?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#27 ·
Mine was the cable on the left side. If you start to lift out the headrest the attached cable is connected to the right side post and will pull taunt such that the headrest cannot be removed without opening the plastic coupling to separate the cable.
 
#29 ·
Ah, thanks. I undid both and think I need more tension in the right hand side now.

Doh!

Thanks

Yeah, there is only one cable to release to pull out the headrests. The other cable is probably the tilt release cable, that should fix your issue. And I second the total removal of the headrests, I wouldn't want them hanging on by the release cable, not a good idea. Mine are keeping the carpet floor mats company in my garage.
 
#30 ·
Just to be sure are the 2nd row headrests not even adjustable??
I tried moving them and they barely move up and down maybe one click or so. Is that how it is supposed to be??
 
#33 ·
I wish they were. Even just an inch. Just enough to make that Tether strap fit between the seat and the bottom. One would think with Stow and Go they would figure a way to drop in automatically when you go to stow it. None of my T&C's with stow and go had and adjustable headrest in the 2nd row either. But it was easier for me to tuck that strap between them to reach that rear anchor than it is on this Pacifica. Glad I don't take the seat out very often.
 
#32 ·
Last thought here... after reading the CarSeatLady website, she made an excellent observation: Some car seats may REQUIRE the headrest to be in place to help the upper half of the car seat from flexing. I have a metal frame in my current car seats, but the Safety1st car seat before that was all plastic and did have some degree of flexing. Also best to read the car seat manual before removing the headrests.
 
#38 ·
It was really easy to remove these, took 5 min. Stored them in the well for the 2nd row seats. Just remember when moving the seat forward it dips into the well, could slightly crush something if you put too much into the wells and use this feature to access the third row. Thanks for the all the posts, made it super easy.
 

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#39 ·
worked for me: thank for the info
1st removed the back cover
2nd: removed the cable from the mechanism
3rd: used a hammer and a screwdriver to remove the metallic ring
4th: pull out the whole thing.
5th brittax seat now fits perfectly

will replace the headrest back in a few years lol
 

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#57 ·
worked for me: thank for the info
1st removed the back cover
2nd: removed the cable from the mechanism
3rd: used a hammer and a screwdriver to remove the metallic ring
4th: pull out the whole thing.
5th brittax seat now fits perfectly

will replace the headrest back in a few years lol
It looks like they have further modified the "lock ring". Mine is thicker than the ones shown above. I have tried to remove it, but am worried about it breaking and this is a lease.
 
#56 ·
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