turtle019
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When I got my 2024 Premium I found the 2-way (up/down) headrests to be somewhat uncomfortable and wanted to swap in the 4-way (up/down + tilt) from the earlier models. There's a lot of good information on this forum about that already but also a little bit of confusion. I'm sharing what I learned doing the replacement in the hope that it helps others.
The range the 4-way covers is quite broad from very far rearward of the 2-way to slightly forward. The 2-way is not the farthest forward position of the 4-way in neither placement nor angle. I used the passenger seat as a phone holder to keep my camera steady so I could take a set of pictures to overlay the 2-way with the maximum extents of the 4-way along with my preferred position somewhere in the middle. My driving position closely matches the angle of the 2-way but in a slightly more car rearward position.
There's more about the 4-way that affects overall comfort than just the position. I disassembled each of the headrests. The 2-way uses a single density of foam molded directly onto the support bar. The 4-way has a softer foam inset into the more dense foam. This cushion is then installed on top of the tilt mechanism. Overall this setup has much greater plushness.
The trim covers on 2021-2022 have perforations while 2023 does not. As far as I can tell they both use the same service part number. I bought mine used on eBay. The listing used LJ8Z-58611A08-AD as the part number. One of them came with a badly bent support rod, so I bought another from an earlier model with the perforated trim and swapped the covers.
The same headrest fits both driver and passenger side. Be sure to replace both sides as the stitching pattern is different between the 2-way and 4-way. While I was waiting for the 3rd headrest to arrive I drove around for a while with the 4-way on the driver side and 2-way on the passenger side, and it looked a little strange.
If you buy used, be sure to check the year of the donor vehicle and decide if you'd like it with or without perforations. I picked a 2023 model donor without perforations to match the rear seats.
This part number is available to order new from Ford as a service part. I'm not sure if that would come with or without perforations. Their listed vehicle fitment years do not align with what the cars came with from the factory. I'm not sure if this is an error or an endorsement of replacing them as an upgrade.
The range the 4-way covers is quite broad from very far rearward of the 2-way to slightly forward. The 2-way is not the farthest forward position of the 4-way in neither placement nor angle. I used the passenger seat as a phone holder to keep my camera steady so I could take a set of pictures to overlay the 2-way with the maximum extents of the 4-way along with my preferred position somewhere in the middle. My driving position closely matches the angle of the 2-way but in a slightly more car rearward position.
There's more about the 4-way that affects overall comfort than just the position. I disassembled each of the headrests. The 2-way uses a single density of foam molded directly onto the support bar. The 4-way has a softer foam inset into the more dense foam. This cushion is then installed on top of the tilt mechanism. Overall this setup has much greater plushness.
The trim covers on 2021-2022 have perforations while 2023 does not. As far as I can tell they both use the same service part number. I bought mine used on eBay. The listing used LJ8Z-58611A08-AD as the part number. One of them came with a badly bent support rod, so I bought another from an earlier model with the perforated trim and swapped the covers.
The same headrest fits both driver and passenger side. Be sure to replace both sides as the stitching pattern is different between the 2-way and 4-way. While I was waiting for the 3rd headrest to arrive I drove around for a while with the 4-way on the driver side and 2-way on the passenger side, and it looked a little strange.
If you buy used, be sure to check the year of the donor vehicle and decide if you'd like it with or without perforations. I picked a 2023 model donor without perforations to match the rear seats.
This part number is available to order new from Ford as a service part. I'm not sure if that would come with or without perforations. Their listed vehicle fitment years do not align with what the cars came with from the factory. I'm not sure if this is an error or an endorsement of replacing them as an upgrade.
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