Ford F-150 How to Release the Rear Seat Backrest Latch (2015+)

[@FordChick73]

Thank you!!! I need to put a seat cover on and I think figuring out this seat had officially taken me longer than actually putting the cover on. Love your video, very nicely explained!

[@nrakma]

Combined with Ford Quality control and a fine design by Ford Engineers makes accessing behind the seat very easy, said no one.

[@GenXmadMike67]

The video might be four years old, but it sure solved my problem with my new (used 2018) Ford F150 STX Supercab! That little pull tab was in fact off and laying exactly where you said it would be. The spanner use was perfect and worked like a charm! Thank you for this!

[@kennethvanhook1758]

You are a lifesaver! I finally got the seat to fold down by using a wrench to move the mechanism. I was stumped until I saw th wrench trick. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

[@edwards52111]

Thank you! I’m putting seat covers on and have been arguing with this seat for 30 min. Watched your video got my wrench and had the dam thing down in 2 minutes.

[@joshpayne5261]

Excellent. Ford mechanic here. Works awesome. Thanks.

[@troypriest4014]

Thank you! Back window got broken from my lawnmower, and I wanted to clean the glass from behind the seat. Thanks again and God Bless!!!!

[@joshbarringer9549]

I will buy you a beer for show me how to get the driver side back seat down. Thank you so much my guy

[@manasseh7487]

Don't have time to review comments for repetitive helps but, if you lift the seat up, it gives clearance to look behind and find the lever to lift it. Mine is different than yours so it was confusing. I thank you for your help because it did give me an idea of what to look for. Now I know how to.

[@Crusty_Otter]

Between your video and the comments I was FINALLY able to get behind the seat. I tried several times to pull that tie down strap, just like everyone else. I've got a 2017 XLT SuperCrew FX4 so lifting the seat bottom did the trick. Once I had enough room to see the latch, I just reached down and pulled the pin by hand. I ordered a RedRock Rear Seat Release Kit from American Trucks yesterday afternoon, for $18 and a few minutes work I'll have a bolt on part with a long enough pull strap to make getting back there a lot easier. Ford really should've come up with a better system to access that space. I've got my socket set and a step stool stowed back there now. Edit: I put the release kit on a few days ago, works like a charm. I added a red/reflective paracord loop to the pull strap, it gives a little more length since the strap didn't clear the seat back by much. It also makes it easier to tell the seat release from the child seat anchor straps (in case aomeone other than me needs to get back there). Now I've got my socket set, step stool, jumper cables and a 25 foot, ⅜" rope stashed back there.

[@GS-xw7zk]

Im having trouble getting the lower seat cushion to lock in place. Got the upper latched fine. Any ideas group?

[@chlk120]

OMG the wrench trick and a flashlight took 10 seconds to release- TY!

[@iowaunemployment]

Wow, great video. I have been fighting with mine for an hour. Wish I had seen this first.

[@chrisyoung7724]

Thank you for posting this information. I don't think I would have been able to remove the rear seats without it. 2021 f150 super crew powerboost

[@socal33]

The tab fell off and I would have never figured it out without your video. Thank you. Another reason I'm trading it in tomorrow for a Ram 😂

[@djclover1447]

Thanks. This really helped. I just got a 2020 XL F-150 SuperCab and needed access so this was very informative. It’s too bad Ford made this so difficult.

[@roberthope1264]

Meanwhile 20,000 Ford truck owners trying to get the back rest to lay flat are pulling on the black loop directly behind the seat by the back window. As he said that does nothing. Thanks Ford for making it so easy to access that latch on the side of a road at night with a flat tire, makes so much sense to have black pull loops that do nothing. SMH 🤦‍♂️

[@sdrawkcab_ssa]

They are for securing a car seat.

[@danieloneil7115]

Dude. Thank you!! The wrench trick was perfect. I was going nuts on something so simple.

[@jimkubik9635]

Great video after about 3 hours foun the video and was about done, wonder why ford would design something like that.

[@xgetsome]

facts

[@nomad9229]

I will add that I’ve had to do this twice now. The first time was a pain at first, but I managed. The second time was because I shattered my rear window being an idiot, and let me tell you, it’s a lot easier accessing those levers standing in the bed 😂.

[@avman2cl]

Cool, I was trying to get the latch to release today and the pull tab fell right off the first time I put my hand down there. Thanks for the video!

[@fillintheblankstare]

Same, what a horrible design

[@mikeallensonntag]

Thanks man you saved me from getting mad at pulling this stupid tab that I thought was the release lol.

[@whiplash9823]

First, nice video! Thank you for posting. Second, thank you for adding the year of your truck, many don't. My truck (2012 Crew) seems to sit right in-between older and newer models when it comes to the rear seat attachment. It has a latching system, but no straps are affixed. The peg placement is the same, but it is a much smaller peg to unlatch. I used a large flat head screw driver to come in from the side and pry it up to unlatch. I could not get a closed head wrench on it as some have suggested. You need to have the bottom seat up to give you some rooms at the top. I would have been hunting forever for the mechanism but for your video!

[@xgetsome]

thank you for this video just getting that seat up was a job in itself

[@johnw.9506]

Thanks for this! I was starting a cussing storm trying to install rear seat covers on my 2018 supercrew cab, until I found your video 😄👍

[@moganmark]

To make this a lot easier pull the bottom seat release and as the bottom moves up so does the top giving you enough room to easily use your hand

[@EnthusiastsGarage]

Only on supercrews

[@johnnycake6479]

Boom! Great information, the tab fell down behind the cover and the wrench was able to release it!

[@scweeeker1]

Good info and now i know what i am searching for since i cant see anything

[@NavionGuy]

As silly as it’s seems this saved me days of pulling this damn tabs!!!!!

[@olliefoxx7165]

Thanks for posting this video. Been trying to figure out how to fold my buddy's back driver's seat down. Appreciate the help!

[@stargazingscotty9240]

Thank You 💕 so much! Very Helpful!!! You explained Everything Perfectly!!! I now know how to access this for putting up car seat covers.

[@mal15102]

Great video. I'm going to drill a small hole in what seems to be a shield over the mechanism and attach a wire through that hole to the same hole the top of the spring rests in. I'll then pretty it up with a strap or something to pull to release. Or a fishing line and a snap swivel until i can pretty it up? Incidentally my truck has no flange on the release like some I've seen.

[@James-vh7bx]

Straight to the point !! Hell yeah thanks bro!

[@lisac7235]

Great video, thx. Those ‘useless’ tabs up top are only useless if you don’t have children. Those top tabs are for installing forward facing child restraints. They are the top tether loops where a child restraint top tether goes. 😉

[@justdestinee]

that’s why i’m here lol

[@NeuronTheory]

Thanks, my guy. You are the hero we needed.

[@EnthusiastsGarage]

👍🏻

[@darklight4815]

Excellent video bro....I pulled those tabs for 15 minutes for no reason because now I see they aren't even attached to the seats...I think they might be for securing a baby car seat...thanks!

[@roberthope1264]

Right because Ford wanted to laugh at every owner fighting with those straps at night on the side of a road with a flat tire and apparently.

[@TexasFire_Cross]

0:42 Are those the child restraint anchor system loops? If so… their only purpose is to route a child seat anchor strap from an outer seat to a middle (shared) anchor location that is behind the center head rest.

[@broncoazvideo]

Very helpful video for installing my Builtright seat release.

[@kacekace3676]

I figured this out.. these are well built I will say. I got so pissed I was willing to break the seat.. I pulled on it so hard.. it didn't break.. once I calmed down I figured it out

[@jacobmoreno6339]

Thanks man. Good vid

[@toluene21]

What the hell are the pull-tabs there for? I was pulling on-'em

[@Crusty_Otter]

Me too! I was just flipping through an "American Trucks" catalog that came today and came across a RedRock rear seat release kit for $17.99. I ordered one a few hours ago, hopefully it'll make that space accessible. Ford mounted a release on the passenger side so why in the Hell didn't they put one on the driver's side?

[@williadawilliams]

great informative video my friend. I wish others would make more like this that are truly helpful.

[@EnthusiastsGarage]

👍🏻

[@AmusingMichele]

I’ve been trying to get the seat down for about the last six months since I got this truck and I don’t think it’s possible with the 2020 year

[@StraightPineAcres]

Ive been trying for 3 frickin days to get this frickin thing open.. lol

[@ernestlaferte3629]

Great explanation!! Thanks for your help

[@budsodastories]

Thanks man I forgot how to lol liked it so I can always reference

[@Cutty77]

Thanks for the Supercab tip.

[@Aplepolisher]

Thank you ! great video !

[@bullitproofarmadillo]

Thanks. I always forget how to do this and have to watch a video.

[@jdwht2455]

Just a note to this - you cannot get your hand behind the seat on a Super Cab to pull that tab if they are reasonably large. I have the scars to show. Mine was attached and would not come loose to use the box end wrench method. Instead, I made up a tool using an approximate 12" length of 1/8" rod I had. I bent one end 90* about an inch long and the other also but about 2" long for a handle of sorts. You will also need to put a slight curve in it. Took about a minute of fishing to loop that tab, give it a yank . An 8 buck mod from ebay has fixed things so I can use the currently wasted space as this truck doesn't have a "premium" sound system

[@duccimann9089]

Thanks for the wrench trick!!

[@211moose]

This is amazing lol great video!!

[@squelchers]

2020 F150 bottom seat up position take off head rest look at latch behind seat bring up small lever on left side bring down bottom seat now bring down back to put back up line up the plastic coated slider just above notch or just below the half way point and close

[@plugger4945]

I was able to get the seatback to come down, once , a while back. I just pushed it back up when I wanted it back to normal. Now I can’t even get ANYTHING down between the seat and the window, to release the latch . When I had pushed it back up, I never aligned the little bar in the latch, so I’m thinking I’ve jammed it. No idea how I’m going to get the latch to function and release. Hoping I can hear from someone with advice. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks for your time.

[@rnkustomz]

I’m having a hell of a time trying to re latch this back seat, any tips?

[@EnthusiastsGarage]

try moving the little bar that the latch grabs, some times it falls down a little to far.

[@scottcampbell2156]

Is there any other way? I can’t get a wrench on it. And I felt back there and mine does not stick out that far?

[@rickmaker6968]

how do you drop the left side seat

[@lindsayherndon8255]

Thank you. Appreciate it!

[@alvinalexander5448]

Like many others thank you. My tab had fallen off.

[@The-Broke-Bandit]

This helps!! 🤟🏾 thanks

[@fenixfire077]

What about the passenger side rear seat? I can’t get mine to lower it looks like a different hardware

[@EnthusiastsGarage]

Passenger side has a pull tab built into the lower pad as the jack is behind it.

[@jimmcalinn2017]

Thanks

[@lucasgraffiti]

Awesome video man, btw what seat covers are these?

[@EnthusiastsGarage]

Factory recaros

[@tikochavsd]

Second seat how folde. ???

[@brycebaker6105]

Where did you get the box for your sub

[@EnthusiastsGarage]

Stock

[@urygomez4463]

Thanks for sharing

[@davidreed327]

Thanks. Too bad ford didn't have anything regarding that seat in the manual. The salesman probably didn't have a clue either. Why wouldn't they have had a proper pull on that assembly.?

[@EnthusiastsGarage]

Probably because it saves a few cents on each vehicle.

[@AllanMain1776]

My truck is a '24 Superduty, and this is a good representation of what I have on the driver side, but on the passenger side, it's very different, and I'm struggling to find a way to get it undone. At least I'm not pulling on those worthless straps anymore

[@wenlin6936]

How about the other side? That lock is different

[@Crusty_Otter]

My 2017 has a strap that's connected to the latch for accessing the jack and tire tools.

[@wanderingcalamity360]

Thanks a bunch for this. I was sure there was some way to get those down but I couldn't figure it out. Those pull tabs in the back are like red herrings. Given the issue with the latch tab falling off (and the whole thing not being very accessible anyway), I was thinking that looping some paracord around the latch and tying it off to the red herring straps or somewhere similarly accessible so it would be easier to pull without having to work so hard to get back there.

[@johnflanagan6416]

Dude I need to know the info on that behind seat sub you got looks clean I need it!

[@flatnastyproductions5810]

Thats factory. My lariat has the same setup

[@LaughingBearGames]

I can’t get mine to relatch again once I took it down.

[@EnthusiastsGarage]

you have to manually lower and line up the bar it grabs and you have to slam it back hard to get it to grab

[@garyrodgers2790]

When you pull the seat back away from the wall, both the seat bottom and seat back pivot down. When you want to relatch, you need to pivot BOTH seats upward together (not just the seat back) so it aligns in the same place it came off. The hinge slider on the back wall needs to slide up to the top (or almost).

[@kevinb6102]

@@EnthusiastsGarage did you figure it out? I can’t

[@classified70]

While I love my 2019 F150, I must say that being my first domestic brand vehicle I can honestly say that compared to some of the asian brands, Ford does not compare in terms of engineering and making things easy to work on. Things like this video display what I believe to be not the greatest designs.

[@jesusm9385]

Thanks 🙏👍

[@bobhammaker3808]

Thank you

[@pinkmoontribe]

So mine won’t latch back

[@EnthusiastsGarage]

You have to line up the bar and slam it back hard.

[@pinkmoontribe]

Enthusiasts Garage thank you. My hubby managed to get it to lock back. I’ll never open it again unless we need the Jack that’s behind the seat lol

[@slowfool]

Nice video

[@johnfsmart]

That was a pain in the ***. And my little tab was attached!!!!

[@bustopninja4520]

Good to know...thanks!

[@paulgrace1757]

Very helpful!! Thanks.

[@justinl2458]

Wrench. Genius.

[@joemccarthywascorrect6240]

Thank you!

[@mason3307]

Thank you! Like a dumb shit I was pulling that upper tab and thinking, wtf?! (First ford- first truck)

[@roberthope1264]

Ford clearly had retards behind those pull tabs idea. Like the folks needing access to the tire bar etc.. are probably already stressed on the side of the road at night, and then that crappy idea from Ford kicks in.

[@davidramos8739]

Tanks!

[@MrGaborseres]

Cool 😎 👌 👍

[@Matthew-tv8fn]

Geeettt to the point Jesus

[@reallrosemae]

This is all wrong. Took me two second to open it. All you have to do is fold back the seat first and the latch at the back would clearly visible and plenty of room to pull that metal lock.

[@EnthusiastsGarage]

That only works on the supercrews not the supercabs

[@TommieB1]

You did not show where the latch is

[@mcocozza1]

Great video. What a terrible design by Ford, though.

[@nate.leal.]

Merely slamming it shut is not gonna cause the latch to magically line itself up.

[@unifiedyouth2938]

By far the worst design in history.....just put a latch like the passenger side

[@Crusty_Otter]

Amen

[@pdrphil8159]

Great ! But it took way to long just to tell us how to release it..

[@---tx9xx]

Sounds like Gordon Ryan

[@TexasHarleyBoy65]

I'm having trouble getting the release TO RELEASE! I'm pretty sure I had an open end wrench on it, but no dice. Why do automotive engineers design crap like this???

[@VicMKV]

The fact that I got to look up a video for this shit is super annoying.

[@jamesborella4115]

It's too bad that you don't actually show the seat up and then put it down the video is supposed to be show me how to put the seat down but you start off with the seat already down

[@lingerlonger]

Thanks. Very poor design on the part of Ford. They obviously don't want owners to use that space.

[@fro9442]

Way to take almost 4 minutes to show what could be shown in 20 seconds 🤣. Thank you though the info helped… eventually 🤣🤣

[@77Avadon77]

Just show me the goddamn latch

[@Guap303]

I have the piece of shit extended cab with the dumb shit half backdoors cant get these shit seats down to save my life

[@nolanb7150]

Piss poor design by Ford. My tab was off, even with the wrench I couldn't get it to work. Have an annoying rattle back there.

[@darthtater6543]

Built Ford tuff huh… Cheap AF