09+ rear headrest removal

When I was looking for info on removing my rear headrests to get my windows tinted i was left feeling it could have been a little more complete. So I took some pictures to help people out in the future. But you should read this thread first.
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=264071


In this picture you see the plastic piece that sits below the head rest is removed. This part pops right off with very little force and no fear of breaking it.



Here you can see circled in red the green clips he speaks of and where they snap in. He says to get a screw driver behind them and pry out. I did the first one this way, and realized you could just pull on the panel. The area you dont want to pull on which he refers to as the "cloth covered plastic" piece is pointed to with the orange arrow, listen to him dont pull on it use the plastic around the piece and everything will pop out.




Another shot of the clips he speaks of.



Heres a shot of the bolts he speaks of removing, this should give you an idea of what your trying to reach if you dont want to pull the whole panel down.



Now if you want to completely remove the panel there are two plastic plates that go right here on the drivers side where the red arrow points. You can remove them from behind by pushing on them.



You'd also have to remove the drivers side rear seat bottom. The bolts are under the carpet but easy to get too.



What it looked like when it was done.
Now when you pull the panel off at first most of the clips will stay in the sheet metal and not in the panel. I used a pair of needle nose pliers and a flat head screw driver to remove them. Get behind the clip, in between it and the sheet metal and the clip and pry out with the screw driver and then grab it with the needle nose and pull. They suck but they'll come out, i didn't break any. Slide them back into the slots on the panel and then pop it back into place. I'm not responsible for you lacking any kind of mechanical ability, finesse or just being like a bull in a china shop while trying to remove delicate pieces of plastic. Hope this helps if these have been bothing you or you need to remove the rear panel.

 

Hey, thanks for the write-up. I'll be doing this tomorrow.

 

J hate that stupid console in the middle!

 

sweet, with the car seat in the back, the top of the seat hits the head rest, if i remove it i could gain probably around 2 inches of clearance, i will be doing this as soon as i get a chance

 

i did this a few months ago along with taking out the pointless center console, very glad i did it.

 

i have that nasty looking sub right there in between the seats. But i am definitely taking those head rests out.

 

It's such a shame that Toyota made the changes they did. I understand that they needed to meet certain head restraint specifications, but the back seat of the 09+ access cabs are nowhere near practical.

I loved the rear seats on my 2006. Never had them out unless I had a passenger that needed them. I loved the flat rear deck. Great place for anything, especially a dog.

With a Tacoma redesign not too many model years away, I'd be shocked if Toyota addressed the functionality of the AC rear seats before then.

... what a shame.

 

Tagged, for future reference.

 

Just Completed this mod. Very easy. i did break on of the clips though, i think they were smashed in badly on assembly...

Rep for you for great writeup!

 

I removed my rear seats, console, seat belts, and the headrests. If you get creative you can remove the headrests without removing the trim panel- you can pry it forward enough to get wrench access. Some might find it easier to just remove the panel but I had no troubles cheating.

 

Did this easy mod this afternoon. Back looks SOOOO much cleaner. Once you get the first blue tab out, the rest come out with some force. A lot easier if you have a second set of hands.

 

I looked the first day (last week) to see if the headrests would slip out.

This was a great find .... about 1/2 hour .... nice clean look.

To ensure that I knew where the clips were from the finished side I placed painter's tape on the opposite side of clips in order to know where to push.

 

Thanks for sharing this. I deleted my rear headrests in my Access Cab today and like it so much better. This definitely helped me know what to look out for and it went fairly smooth.

Very Good Post.

 

I need to add something to this.
When you pull to remove the rear panel, the top tabs definitely come out with the panel.
All the rest were stuck in the metal framing.
I broke half of them lightly pulling on the panel to remove it. Other posts have indicated that this process is easy and you won't break many. The upside is that even partially broken, by design they will still work to hold the panel onto the panels so not all is lost.

When people deconstruct the access cab, I would take the opportunity to wire in a subwoofer if you ever plan on it. Very easy job with the rear panel off.
My 2 cents...

 

^^This.

 

Thanks for taking the time to document this. I did my 2011 a minute ago.
I just pulled it down far enough to get to the bolts and kept a eye out to not
drop my socket.
Mike

PS I will not let people sit back there.

 

you will find things to put in there, a .45 fits perfect in there for example.

 

Did this mod yesterday. It was easy and went very well. Since I never have a rear passenger other than my Labrador, I pulled the seats out too.

Thanks for the info. This thread made it quite easy and smooth!!

Harley

 

I know it's an onld one; but, Great Instruction, Thanks!

 

Just wanted to say thanks. Got the seat bottoms out rather easily, and had to come inside and look for a way to get the headrests off. Was hoping to not have to rip that whole panel off but now I see it's a must. Thanks for posting.