Annoying headrest angle

I guess this is a thing these days - somewhere along the line whatever agency that hands out safety ratings noticed lots of neck injuries and determined that because so many Americans drive with their seats reclined way, way back, the head restraints weren't doing their job, so they require them to be angled more forward to support the head/neck in an accident. Unfortunately this sucks for the rest of us who prefer a more upright driving position because now the headrest pushes your head forward if your seat isn't reclined way back like a sports car.

My 5th gen 4Runner was fine, but this new Tundra is killing me. A 5-hr drive the other day and my neck was screwed for 2 days afterwards. Reclining the seat until my neck is in a good position is terrible - there's no back support, and then visibility sucks too.

Anybody got a solution? Aftermarket headrests don't appear to be a thing (probably because they aren't crash tested). Reclining my seat far enough doesn't result in what I consider to be a proper driving position. Flipping the headrest around doesn't result in the right position. I'm getting close to just putting the headrest in the bench vise and trying to carefully bend the bars a little bit.

Any other solutions?

 

I thought this was just a problem for me and my wife cause we're short, lol. It's unfortunate it bothers you, but I feel better now Not gonna lie, we made a valiant effort at figuring out how to adjust them, when I first purchased the truck. We both were like, surely this isn't the only position. It's bad enough everyone looks down messing with their phones while driving, now the seat forces the position.

 

Obviously I don't know about the Tundra but on my Ram the headrest was the same , I found out that if you tilt the headrest all the way forward and let it go it would spring back to a normal position . Never know it might work .

 

i think the reason headrests are leaned forward is to catch your head sooner and lessen the impact of hitting the headrest at a higher velocity than if it was sitting upright. i know some higher end model cars the headrest actually absorb impact and retract backwards to lessen the sudden stop when it reaches it end travel limit.

i know i sit upright and by design my head sits a decent gap ahead of the head rest on my 14 4runner.

 

I know SAAB used to have a system where pressure in the seat back around your shoulders (like when rear-ended) would physically push the headrest FORWARD to protect against whiplash.

Kinda of surprised most vehicles don't have a similar system these days.

 

I've taken the headrest off and rotated it 180*. Much more comfortable now. Between that and adding the drivers side grab bar I've definitely affected my safety rating. *edit* woops sorry just noticed I'm in the gen3 forum. I've done this in my 2.5.... not sure if it's the same for y'all in your new trucks!

 

Second this one. I have a 2.5 gen but also didn't like the forward angle. I rotated it 180 degrees and added some washers to get the height right.

 

My wife has the same issue. Would have been nice if they were adjustable angles.

 

I've had this problem in the last 4 vehicles I've had, Honda Fit & Accord, Subaru Forester, Tundra.
I prefer an upright seating position fairly straight from lower back to top of head which is not compatible with the modern headrest requirements. My solution was to take the head rest out slap it in my cheapo 20T press and bend it until it's comfortable. In rental cars I either turn it 180 or just toss it on the floor in the backseat.

 

Not my picture but it's essentially the same method I used.


There is also the vise and pipe method. Hold it in a vase, and use a longer piece of 1/2 or 3/4 pipe to bend it.

 

Take it off, turn it around, reinsert it. This solution has been in use by cowboys & farmers since trucks moved away from bench seats.

If you ever wear your hat in a truck, you'll know.

 

I thought that I read that with the 2nd Gens, the rear seat headrests will fit in the front seat and the angle isn't a radical. Give that a try. I haven't tried this as I have a standard cab and haven't found anyone to donate a rear seat headrest for me to try myself.

 

My 6'3", 16-yo son noted that he can wear his baseball cap and be comfortable in the rear seat, "but I couldn't wear a top hat back here." So if that's what you're planning, there's a data point

 

I can't remember where I read the article but the story I related was an actual thing - headrests being angled further forward are a deliberate response to increased neck injuries due to people driving in extremely reclined positions and the "normal" headrest not working correctly to prevent injury. It started somewhere around 2012, IIRC. European cars don't have this issue.

 

OMG you just saved my neck. It works perfectly. I had tried flipping the front one around but the shape and angle was all wrong but just swapping the rear to the front is ideal.

Thanks!