There are a couple of these out there, but the pictures aren't that clear. I scoured the internet trying to find this because I bought seat covers and wanted to put them on right...

I found my seats to be very tight and all this talk of screwdrivers hitting clips wasnt working out (at first). So after getting pissed off for about half an hour, I started taking off the seat base bolts and was going to take out the entire seat. Well you cant get to the bolts in the back so if you were planning on doing that then I just saved you some time and frustration.

Take a breaker bar (or any other long bar you can get some leverage and not get your seats all dirty) and stick in in between the top and bottom seat where the child safety restraints are.



Here is a clear view of what the clip looks like:



You will need to push the clip the opposite way that I have it bent here. I just bent it that way so you could see the separation for clarity.


Now I just used the breaker bar with a little bit of jiggling and the seat popped out. Maybe I was lucky that the clip didnt break, but I was working blind and didnt really know what I was looking for. After I got the first one I popped the next one off. There are only 2 of these clips, one on the far right and one on the far left. In the middle, there are these:



Just something for that bar to sit in, not an actual clip.

This is the corresponding section on the back/bottom of the seat:


This is the corresponding section for seat, for the outside "clips"


Now there are 3 more "slide clips" that are on the upper backside of the seat. You more than likely popped these off when you popped the seat off of the bottom bar.



Here is the back of the cab of the truck that the "slide clips" slide into. These pretty much just keep the top of the seat from coming forward.


Here is the back seat folded down. I never messed with the seatbelt until I had the seat off because I just had to take off the bottom anchor to put the belt on the outside of my seat covers...

 

I just reached around the bottom of the seat by hand and move the clip manually. Once you know where they are it gets alot easier to do by hand.

 

Thanks for this. I tried with my hand and my hands must be too fat! I gave up trying after an hour.

 

Just comfirmed this works on my 2011 Scab....good to know they didnt change it for this year.

 

about to go try this on my 2012. I hope it's the same

 

ok I kinda think i'm doing this correct... do i need to hold the clip while using the bar.?

 

Nice! It can be a PITA to get the clips with your hands so I'll try this next time.

 

got this to work. it's really tuff. I found this pic to help...

 

Just to verify, this is exactly the same on my 2013 XLT SuperCab (NOT SUPERCREW). One thing that confused me a bit at first was the fact there are two round tubes you can feel in there. One is attached to the truck and contains the child seat anchors and the clip in question here. The other is the frame of the seat back. You have to get above the frame tubing. That means getting in the correct horizontal position and significantly pushing up against the resistance of the foam. It's best to use a large, long philips screwdriver and feel around for the hole the in the bracket between the two gussets welded to the frame tubing. That'll ensure you're in the center of the retainer clip when you push to release it. The pictorial photo by BondSTX is the most useful. It is not necessary to remove the shoulder seat belt retainer for the center passenger. The seat frame is formed to go around it and the foam and fabric will compress enough to clear it.

So, yes, this is the same on a 2013 XLT SuperCab.

 

It's been the same since 2004 on scabs and the 04-08 screws were like this too.

Do yourself a favor and while you have the seat out cut off the clips so next time the seat comes out a lot easier. Just cut off the piece he has his finger on.

 

If you cut off the clips, what will keep the seat back securely in place over time and bumps?

 

The three upsidedown J hooks across the top is more than enough to hold it in place.

 

I registered just now so I can share my own experience. First of all, thank you all for the great photos and descriptions. Admittedly, I was going about it too quickly at first, without fulling reading all of the important details. Once I knew the hole I was aiming for, it was rather easy...sort of. First tip is to move the screwdriver around a bit, once you think you're in the hole, because you'll clearly feel that the screwdriver is confined by the hole, if you're in the right spot. That was important for me, because I kept having trouble releasing the clip, so I would assume I had to move the screwdriver somewhere else....wrong!! What finally worked for me was to put downward pressure on the seat back while applying pressure to the screwdriver. That was/is counterintuitive, but that little bit of downward pressure allowed the clip to finally pop loose. Since I was trying to push the clip in while pulling up on the seat at first, I was making it more difficult for the clip to release. Once I did that, the other side was a snap. Lastly, I had trouble getting the clips to reengage, since my seat covers added extra bulk on the bottom, so I had to make sure the seat cover was pulled forward out of the way for the two clips, but also the two spots where the seat back bar rests on a brace. The extra fabric fought me for a while, until I realized what was causing the issue.

For those of you installing seat covers, I hope this helps you out. Thanks again to everybody posting all of this, since I wouldn't have stood a chance working off the seat cover installation instructions alone!

 

Thanks for this post. Stick around and join in some of the other discussion.