Ghetto Headrest and Dead Pedal Improvement

[nikwax]

It is possible that bending the posts would fatigue the metal. I dunno. As I'm not strong enough to bend the posts, it's academic. I may look at Ebay for a set of VW headrests.

 

[NORTON]

>It is possible that bending the posts would fatigue the metal....
>>As I'm not strong enough to bend the posts, ....

>Are you saying adding a 2-3° angle to these posts now weakens them and they will fail during a 'rear-ender'? They are incredibly strong.

>> Me neither. That's where the dead blow hammer comes in. And the mandrel dealio makes it a smooth bend.
Even if you had a 3 lb. dead blow you still have to take out your aggressions to move this material just a little bit.
The finished bends do not leave any marks at all on the posts from the procedure.
I don't believe moving the upper surface of the headrest aft 1" - 2" is a safety concern. It definitely lessens the annoyance factor. And keeping the stock headrests lessens the 'ghetto' factor.
But what do I know? ymmv....

 

[nikwax]

>It is possible that bending the posts would fatigue the metal....
>>As I'm not strong enough to bend the posts, ....

>Are you saying adding a 2-3° angle to these posts now weakens them and they will fail during a 'rear-ender'? They are incredibly strong.

>> Me neither. That's where the dead blow hammer comes in. And the mandrel dealio makes it a smooth bend.
Even if you had a 3 lb. dead blow you still have to take out your aggressions to move this material just a little bit.
The finished bends do not leave any marks at all on the posts from the procedure.
I don't believe moving the upper surface of the headrest aft 1" - 2" is a safety concern. It definitely lessens the annoyance factor. And keeping the stock headrests lessens the 'ghetto' factor.
But what do I know? ymmv....

I'm not saying it would, I'm saying it could. I suppose it's about acceptable risk. I'm willing to reverse the head rests now, but I may decide later that is too much risk and I'll do something else, such as replacing the headrests, bending the posts, or having them resculpted.


As I say, I've had a whiplash, it is not a pleasant experience and not easy to recover from. I also have a friend who is in a wheelchair because her head restraint failed in a crash and her neck was broken. So head restraints are a complex topic for me.


I'll add that I ride a motorcycle with an open face helmet. On one hand, it's not as safe in a crash as a full face. On the other hand, I can see much better and hopefully avoid accidents that much better. Calculated risk.