How to use massage seats on Ford F-150

Anyone who sits in the car a lot knows it all too well: back pain. In order to counteract this and to make long journeys as comfortable as possible, more and more manufacturers are offering seats with a massage function.

Massage seats on Ford F-150 14th generation 2021+

Ford F-150 offers massage seats as a standard feature on Platinum and Limited trims and as an optional feature on King Ranch. Ford officially calls them “bucket seats with Active Motion®”.


You can operate massage seat by pushing the buttons on the side of the seat base.

Massage seat control buttons and functions on Ford F-150
  • The top button selects the previous massage pattern or lumbar area.
  • The bottom button selects the next massage pattern or lumbar area.
  • The button towards the front increases the massage or lumber intensity.
  • The button towards the back decreases the massage or lumbar intensity.
  • The button in the middle selects the massage or lumbar mode.

You can also control the massage function via SYNC 4 infotainment system. Go to Settings and then Seats to adjust massage settings on F-150.

Seat Controls under Settings > Seats

To view and select massage modes, touch Massage button.

Massage modes

You can choose between five massages modes: Lower Rolling, Upper Rolling, Circular Cushion, Full Recovery and Relax Recovery. You can also choose between three intensity levels: Low, Medium and High.

F-150 Massage Seat Limitations

The engine must be running or the vehicle must be in accessory mode to activate the seats.

The passenger side massage is available if the occupant meets the seat sensor weight requirements.


Allow a few seconds for any selection to activate. Selecting a different adjustment cancels the current one in progress. When the seat backrest and cushion are both active, the massage alternates between zones.

Do massage seats really relax you?

The car is now much more than just a means of transport: we make phone calls while driving, work on important files in the back or turn up the heating at home using digital voice assistants when we are out and about. The car has become an office and a living room on wheels, and we spend more and more time in the vehicles, not least because of the steadily growing traffic jams.

No wonder that the manufacturers are increasingly upgrading their cars to wellness oases. While seat heating used to be the greatest thing, the steering wheel and armrests are now also heated. If desired, the seats can be ventilated, the cup holder heated or cooled, and scented air flows out of the air conditioning system. And: Many models now also have massage seats. While the relaxing seats were initially reserved for the upper class, they are now even available in small cars.

The relaxation technique is almost the same everywhere: As a rule, individual air cushions in the backrest and seat are inflated and then the air is released again in order to exert pressure on the back or thighs at specific points. Depending on how complex the system is, different massage patterns can be implemented: from a wave movement over the entire seat to restriction to individual areas. Mercedes even combines the massage function with seat heating, individual areas are heated separately, which is called a “hot stone massage”.

Of course, the car seats cannot achieve the healing effect of a classic massage, and real tension or back pain cannot be kneaded away by them. However, good systems ensure a certain degree of relaxation while driving. On the other hand, especially in cheaper cars, the massage function often doesn’t feel much or it feels like being kicked from the back seat.

In addition to the actual massage, some manufacturers also offer another form of “sitting movement”. The terms like “active seat” usually mean a technology that inclines the seat a little at regular intervals and thus ensures that the driver does not remain in the same position for hours. This is primarily intended to prevent back problems, but also to be beneficial for concentration. BMW introduced this function at the end of the 1990s, at that time with two hydraulic chambers under the seat, which were alternately filled with a water-glysantin mixture and then emptied again. Jaguar Land Rover is now adopting the “active seat” concept, and wants to bring a seat to the market in which the left or right side of the seat surface is alternately lifted by small electric motors.

Author: Nabeel K
Email: nabeel@wheelsjoint.com



Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments