2021 Ford F-150 Gets New Class-Exclusive Max Recline Seats

The 2021 Ford F-150 will feature a brand new way for customers to rest while inside their trucks thanks to the class-exclusive Max Recline Seats.

This technology holds five patents and will be offered on King Ranch, Platinum and Limited F-150 trucks starting with the 2021 model year. The seats can fold flat to nearly 180 degrees and will even offer support for your lower back and neck.

“The all-new Max Recline Seats in F-150 were inspired by those adjustable beds you see on TV to help make our customers more comfortable while resting in the cab,” said Ben Kulhawik, seat design engineer. “Our F-150 customers are constantly on the road or at a jobsite and being able to nab a few minutes of rest really is a boon to daily productivity.”

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During development, Ford spent months studying how customers use the interiors of their trucks in order to rest.

“We know the folks who work on construction or mining sites use their truck cab for naps during downtime, and we learned everyday owners do, too,” said Ford truck product line exec, Jackie DiMarco. “When I would take my daughters to hockey tournaments, between games, one would be sleeping in the back seat while the other would be on the floor of my truck, and it reinforced the idea that, ‘We need to fix this!'”

Once they settled on a design, Ford put together a system whose goal is to offer a “comfortable nap”. The whole thing works via a mechanism that lifts the back half of the seat bottom 3.5 inches in order to make a flat surface, thus supporting the lower back. The upper seatback can also be moved forward for neck support.

“There are no additional motors in these seats – just a simple mechanism that relies on the customer moving the seatback using the power recline function,” added Kulhawik. “It’s simple, it’s effective, and we believe our customers will love how much more productive they can be just by getting a little more rest during downtime.”