Hey all, longtime lurker, first time poster. I've had my FiST for about 6 weeks and love the car. Except the headrests, that is. Fortunately I found a solution that takes 5 minutes, cost me $120, and solves the problem. Some base-model 3rd-gen Focus (2012-up in US) seats have head restraints that ratchet forward for a fore/aft adjustment. Fortunately for us, the posts are 5 15/16" apart and 14mm diameter. They drop right in. There are other posts here about how to remove the head restraint, so I won't go into that.
I found a junk yard with a crashed 2012 Focus, and paid $120 for a pair of black 'leather' head rests. Honestly I probably overpaid a bit, as they aren't real leather. Oh well. They needed a good scrubbing, but that was no big deal.
I've driven with them in for a few days and my back/neck already feel much better. I can sit back and use the top of the seatback now (couldn't before), and I can adjust the seat back more upright as I prefer. The ones I got are black pleather with gray stitching that matches the seats perfectly. The only downside I see is the Focus headrests are slightly wider than the Recaro ones, so they won't adjust all the way down to the bottom position. Oh well, I'm *much* more comfortable with these, and I hope you will be too.
Driver side done, passenger side with the original Recaro head restraint:
Original Recaro head restraint, to show forward tilt:
Focus head restraint at full-forward adjustment (cloth headrest borrowed from a coworker):
Focus head restraint at full-rearward adjustment (cloth headrest borrowed from a coworker):
Focus head restraint, before cleaning:
...and after cleaning:
I found a junk yard with a crashed 2012 Focus, and paid $120 for a pair of black 'leather' head rests. Honestly I probably overpaid a bit, as they aren't real leather. Oh well. They needed a good scrubbing, but that was no big deal.
I've driven with them in for a few days and my back/neck already feel much better. I can sit back and use the top of the seatback now (couldn't before), and I can adjust the seat back more upright as I prefer. The ones I got are black pleather with gray stitching that matches the seats perfectly. The only downside I see is the Focus headrests are slightly wider than the Recaro ones, so they won't adjust all the way down to the bottom position. Oh well, I'm *much* more comfortable with these, and I hope you will be too.
Driver side done, passenger side with the original Recaro head restraint:
Original Recaro head restraint, to show forward tilt:
Focus head restraint at full-forward adjustment (cloth headrest borrowed from a coworker):
Focus head restraint at full-rearward adjustment (cloth headrest borrowed from a coworker):
Focus head restraint, before cleaning:
...and after cleaning:
