XLT22
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The seats in 21 and newer F-150s suck. XL, STX, XLT, and Lariat all suck. KR and Platinum are better but not great. The most common complaint is the center of the seat is too soft and bolsters too hard giving the feeling of sitting on a bucket. I added foam under the seat of my 22 and it helped a bit but was never great. Funny enough Ford just announced a contract extension for their seat supplier.
For my new 2025 I went a different direction. The F-250 has the same type of seat as the F-150 since 2023. The part number for the F-250 driver seat foam is PC3Z-15632A23-A. This foam is both denser and firmer and around 1/2" larger in every direction including thickness. It reminds me of the foam that was in the seat of my 2018. For whatever reason the seat foam used in the F-150 since 2021 is full of porosity and other cavities and just doesn't seem like a high quality piece. The seat in my 6-month old truck had a huge void in the foam as shown below. The process to swap it out is as follows.
If you have a power seat, unbolt it first but DO NOT unplug it. Disconnect the battery before unplugging the seat. Get it out of the truck and pull the side over off. There's one screw up front and one in the rear. Disconnect the plug for the adjustment buttons and set it aside.
Unbolt this metal bracket with two screws. Getting it out of the way gives you more room.
Pull on the clips holding the cushion and upholstery to the frame. They kind of roll off. Work your way around and get the ones at the rear of the seat undone as well.
Pull the cushion up and out of the seat frame. If you have a heated seat you'll need to disconnect the plug for that. You can carefully peel off your heating element and transfer it to the new foam.
Roll the upholstery off the foam. Part is held in by velcro and part by the plastic rods clipped into the foam. It's self-explanatory to get them out, just use a screwdriver or pick to pop them out. Note the voids already visible.
Get the upholstery off and you can look to see how bad the F-150 foam is. This truck is only 6 months old and has never had anything spilled. That weird area is porosity and voids. Those areas are all over the foam but this is the worst part. I've seen a few others over the last few years and they all had areas like this.
F-150 foam on the left, F-250 foam on the right.
Same again. The original F-150 foam on the left sure doesn't look like something that should go into a $50K or more vehicle.
F-250 foam is 1 1/4' thick in the center to the rib.
F-150 foam is around 3/4" to the same place. Again more voids in the foam.
I was using two layers of foam previously. When I put the new cushion in I only re-used the blue layer. Up to you if you want to do this, it just adds a bit of plushness. When replacing the upholstery, lay it on the foam inside out. Start in the center and clip it in going outwards. Get the velcro in place and roll the fabric over the edges. Reinstall as you took apart.
Finished product. Ignore the scratches, the power seat in my STX came from a junkyard. This is a MUCH more comfortable end product.
For my new 2025 I went a different direction. The F-250 has the same type of seat as the F-150 since 2023. The part number for the F-250 driver seat foam is PC3Z-15632A23-A. This foam is both denser and firmer and around 1/2" larger in every direction including thickness. It reminds me of the foam that was in the seat of my 2018. For whatever reason the seat foam used in the F-150 since 2021 is full of porosity and other cavities and just doesn't seem like a high quality piece. The seat in my 6-month old truck had a huge void in the foam as shown below. The process to swap it out is as follows.
If you have a power seat, unbolt it first but DO NOT unplug it. Disconnect the battery before unplugging the seat. Get it out of the truck and pull the side over off. There's one screw up front and one in the rear. Disconnect the plug for the adjustment buttons and set it aside.
Unbolt this metal bracket with two screws. Getting it out of the way gives you more room.
Pull on the clips holding the cushion and upholstery to the frame. They kind of roll off. Work your way around and get the ones at the rear of the seat undone as well.
Pull the cushion up and out of the seat frame. If you have a heated seat you'll need to disconnect the plug for that. You can carefully peel off your heating element and transfer it to the new foam.
Roll the upholstery off the foam. Part is held in by velcro and part by the plastic rods clipped into the foam. It's self-explanatory to get them out, just use a screwdriver or pick to pop them out. Note the voids already visible.
Get the upholstery off and you can look to see how bad the F-150 foam is. This truck is only 6 months old and has never had anything spilled. That weird area is porosity and voids. Those areas are all over the foam but this is the worst part. I've seen a few others over the last few years and they all had areas like this.
F-150 foam on the left, F-250 foam on the right.
Same again. The original F-150 foam on the left sure doesn't look like something that should go into a $50K or more vehicle.
F-250 foam is 1 1/4' thick in the center to the rib.
F-150 foam is around 3/4" to the same place. Again more voids in the foam.
I was using two layers of foam previously. When I put the new cushion in I only re-used the blue layer. Up to you if you want to do this, it just adds a bit of plushness. When replacing the upholstery, lay it on the foam inside out. Start in the center and clip it in going outwards. Get the velcro in place and roll the fabric over the edges. Reinstall as you took apart.
Finished product. Ignore the scratches, the power seat in my STX came from a junkyard. This is a MUCH more comfortable end product.
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