This article includes a 2:48 video walkthrough.
Quick answer
You'll need the Allen wrench, the nut driver, and a butter knife. Pry the cuff off at the two grooves underneath, remove the nut, and push the bolt out with the Allen tool. The upper back then comes off. To reinstall, reverse the steps. If the upper back won't slide back on, the bushing inside has probably shifted. Squeeze it back to center and it will go together.
Step by step
Remove the cuff. Find the two small grooves under the cuff. Slide a butter knife into each and pry lightly until the cuff pops off, then lift it up and off.
Remove the nut and bolt. Use the nut driver to take off the nut, then use the Allen tool to push the bolt out. Don't try to use your fingers; it's too tight.
Lift the upper back off.
Reinstall in reverse. Slide the upper back on, push the bolt through, and tighten the nut. For the cuff, pull the upper back rearward, slide the cuff's tongue into its slot, and snap both sides.
Won't go back together? There's a sleeve (bushing) inside the joint that can shift during shipping. If it's off-center, the upper back will hit instead of sliding in. Squeeze the bushing back so it's centered left to right, then reinstall.
Also called: upper back cushion, upper backrest, replacing the upper back, upper back won't attach, cuff removal.
Video transcript
Hi, guys. Today I'm going to teach you how to take your upper back off, and there are a few tips and tricks for how to do it. But first, you're going to need your tools: your Allen wrench, the nut driver, and a magic tool that I know all of you have in your house. It's called the butter knife. The reason for the butter knife is it's got a nice round tip. It's not very sharp, and we're going to use it to pry this cuff off.
Come on down and around here. I want you to look underneath the back right up here. You can see there's a little groove there and a little groove there. The butter knife goes right in there. You see that? Look how easy that was. I put it in this groove right there, and all I do is lightly pry. Real light. It's not hard. Over here, give it a little push, and it pops right off. Piece of cake. And then you just lift your cuff up and off.
That's how easy it is to take off. To put it on, because we do have people ask how it goes on, just do it in reverse. I always pull this back. It's just easier. I slide the top in. This little tongue right here goes into here. I slide it in, I snap one, I snap the other. And it comes off just as fast with my butter knife.
Now it's time to take the back off. Now we need these other two tools. These are the ones that you used to put the back on. I get my Allen tool in here and take the nut off. I'm just going to let it fall to the floor. Now keep this in your hand, because this is really handy. Don't use your finger in here. It's too tight to get that out. Use this. I just put it on the Allen tool, and I push that bolt right out. Piece of cake, and this comes off.
Now, while I have this in my hand, I want to show you something, because you might be reinstalling it or having a problem installing it. Look in here. There's a little sleeve in there, and sometimes in shipping, that slides over like that. See how it moved? It's a bushing, and it holds this whole part to this part. And when it slides out, this will not go in. It hits. I can slide it in and get it close, but even if it's off by a little bit, it'll still hit. And man, this can be frustrating: "My back won't go together." Simple fix. Just squeeze it, make sure it's centered left to right, and then your upper back will go back together the same way you took it off. That's how you take off and put back on your upper back.