Front and Rear Speaker install

[LittleBeast]

I know there are other threads on here on this same topic, but I thought I would add some photos to help us more visual oriented people along if you are wondering what is behind all that plastic and have not pulled the VX open yet. I added 4 INFINITY Reference 6020cs 6�" Component to the front and rear stock locations, it sounds so so much better, those tweeters are amazing!

Front Tweeters installed, I had to cut some holes in the plastic, but I think it turned out great:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_005.jpg

Front woofers fit perfectly in the stock location no cutting needed:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_006.jpg

Tweeter pod hanging there, woofer installed:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_003.jpg

Back of tweeter install:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_004.jpg

Tweeter installed in the rear passenger side and woofer installed:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_037.jpg

Close up of woofers in rear:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_035.jpg

Tweeter in rear Drivers Side:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_019.jpg

Tweeter in rear Passenger Side:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_018.jpg

Woofer installed behind speaker panels, passenger side:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_023.jpg

Woofer installed behind speaker panels, Drivers side:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_022.jpg

New cutout for larger than stock speakers in rear:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_016.jpg

New Cut Our for larger than stock speakers in rear:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_015.jpg

Comparison of stock 4" woofer and 6 1/2" Infinity Component System:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_014.jpg

The only real necessary parts to remove in the rear to make things easier is the rear handle bars, hand holds. You slide the rubber covers off and there are 2 screws, then the panels covering the speakers just have a lot of pop tabs that pop out of place to release the panels that cover the rear speakers. Parts I remove:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_013.jpg

Behind Passenger side speaker panel, notice location of all the pop tabs:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_008.jpg

Behind Passenger side speaker panel, notice location of all the pop tabs:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_012.jpg

Behind Passenger side speaker panel towards the top, notice location of all the pop tabs and notice where the rear passenger handles were removed, this is the only real necessary thing to remove outside of all the pop tabs on the panel covering the speakers, and notice the tape looking thing on the body panel, this is the area I used to have room for the tweeter on the back side:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_010.jpg

Behind Drivers side speaker panel, notice location of all the pop tabs:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_009.jpg

Behind Passengers side speaker panel, notice location of all the pop tabs:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_011.jpg

This is the Fastener on the connection between the rear panels on the drivers side and the far rear panel that houses the factory jack. Notice if you wanted to remove the far rear panel you would have to remove this screw, but this screw does not need to be removed to replace the speakers as the panel that covers the speaker area simply pops in place in this area:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_034.jpg

[LittleBeast]

These are all shots of the optional far rear panels that house the factory jack and lug nut wrenches, etc. These panels do not need to be taken off to replace speakers in rear, but doing so does give you more room to work with. Unlike the panels that cover the speakers however there panels have a few fasteners that need to be removed before it pops out from the pop tabs. Here are the locations of the screws, etc.
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_025.jpghttp://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_026.jpghttp://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_027.jpghttp://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_028.jpghttp://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_029.jpghttp://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_030.jpg

This is the reason that these far rear panels feel like they are so firmly in place, each far rear panel has these two bolts holding them in, and these bolts are only accessible after you have popped most of the panels that cover the speakers out of place:
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/3257/9-22-08_032.jpg

[Mark B]

Great Pics. I still want to do my speakers when I have the time.
Thanks to all who have done the speaker replacement and posted pics. It will help me when I do mine.

[Joe Isuzu]

well done littlebeast, good pictures
to those who are preparing to tackle this, please go ahead and purchase a number of those christmas tree fasteners, you will undoubtedly break several of them putting the panels back into place

[tysamigo]

where do you get the "christmas tree fasteners"?

[Scott Harness]

Thanks Ryan! mine need to be done before any long road trip. very helpfull

[Toad80t]

Little Beast, where did you put the front crossovers? It looks like you still have the factory wireing installed up there.

[Ldub]

where do you get the "christmas tree fasteners"?

Bring an old one with you (for comparison) to NAPA, or any place that sells automotive paint/body supplies, they should have something that will work.

[LittleBeast]

Little Beast, where did you put the front crossovers? It looks like you still have the factory wireing installed up there.

I used a little of the factory wiring simply to go to the crossover from the headunit and then from the crossover to the tweeters on the fronts. The crossovers are basically below the woofers in the door and on the back of the mounting plates in the back.

[Toad80t]

I used a little of the factory wiring simply to go to the crossover from the headunit and then from the crossover to the tweeters on the fronts. The crossovers are basically below the woofers in the door and on the back of the mounting plates in the back.

Do you have any rattling? Or, did you secure them some way?

[LittleBeast]

Do you have any rattling? Or, did you secure them some way?

Secured with HD two sided tape on the fronts with no rattling at all, they actually fit pretty snug before the tape, and I used HD Zip ties in the back and cannot hear any rattling back their either.

[logman]

Awesome, I still need to do my tweeters! this will help a ton.

I have some images from when I did the rear speakers, they can be found at the below link

http://picasaweb.google.com/joel.theo/612InchSpeakerInstall#

[a745035]

LittleBeast, excellent job with the photos and cataloging of the process. Same to all others who've tackled this job and contributed. I'm going with Polk 2-ways (DB651)for the rear. I figure the sound stage is mostly up front anyway with my Polk Components (DB6501), and if I haul around little passengers, tweets won't be right in their ears.

I read most who do this job go with shallow-mount speakers. I'd really PREFER to go with the non-shallow Polk DB651 for better driver excursion due to the already-limited bass response in that "free-air" location. I know the magnet depth is exactly the same for both Polks 2-way models (slim vs. non-slim), but not sure if the tweeter height on the non-slims will make it under the stock panel grills.

Any insight into this, measurements for distance between the speaker mounting plates and the outermost convex curvature of the stock grill once installed... or general opinions about the sound of the Polk DB651 vs. DB651s? (I know this mod means 6.5's" would be mounted a bit higher than the stock grill's center.)

Excellent forum... & much grass.

[a745035]

So I finally did my rear speakers... went with the non-shallows hoping they'd fit. Same as the others, I had to trim away nearly all of the internal plastic grill material so the drivers wouldn't make contact with them, and I kept the black felt/fabric material which wouldn't stay in place until I lightly prayed the interior of the metal grills with black spray paint and stuck them back in place. I like the stealth look better, and they fit and sound really good. But as expected, the system still needs bottom-end fill so a powered bazooka's next on the modding agenda. After some research I'll probably go with either a 6.5" or 8". Recommendations are welcome. (BPA)

[dietz99vcross]

Be careful with placement of the crossovers in the doors. I just redid my speakers and the crossovers that where installed by Best Buy a while ago where sitting in the door behind the woofer as described above. Unfortunately there is a drain/weeping hole for any moisture to exit the door right in the same area so I have some corrosion on the connections of the crossover.

[VX4EJR]

I know this is a somewhat old thread but I have searched, found a few places where it was asked but did not find real complete answers. With that said...

Does anyone know what both the front and rear speaker bottom mount clearance (space between the bottom of the mounting surface to the nearest opposing obstruction) and top mount clearance (space between top of mounting surface to the VX OEM grills) are?
These measurements are good to know when researching new speakers, etc and what would fit aside from speaker diameter and cutout. ANY feedback would be great! Thanks!

[LittleBeast]

Mine were the maximum depth on front and back of rear speakers. Fronts had some wiggle room.

[VX4EJR]

Mine were the maximum depth on front and back of rear speakers. Fronts had some wiggle room.

sooo..in inches, what would that be? Should have clarified in my original post, was looking for (approx) measurements in inches :yesgray:

[LittleBeast]

I know I was thinking if wanted to you could research the Speakers specifications listed on any search or the Infinity website for the speakers I used. I don't think I have the box anymore.

[LittleBeast]

Top-Mount Depth 2.09"

And this is perfect for fronts but rears were very tight

[YellowVX]

Hello,

I need tweeters for my VX but the ones' you have in your pic's look nothing like mine. What did yours come off of? What kind of mods did you have to do to them to make them fit?

Thank You,

Jason

[LittleBeast]

The tweeters came with the Infinity component speakers. They came with a woofer, a tweeter, and a crossover. They are still working great!

[ipd]

Well I could make a new thread or add to this one. I'm adding my input here, since I used info in this thread for my work.

I replaced my left rear speaker today. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the right rear done. Notes:

-Stock clarion speakers were completely destroyed. The foam surround had disintegrated. The pressed cardboard that it was affixed to was broken/destroyed. The speaker WAS working...but clearly not very well. No stock speaker is going to take 20 years of use very well. The stock plug on the speakers does NOT have to be cut. It actually is just a plastic surround with clips holding standard-fit speaker plugs. I mangled the crud out of it until it relinquished the aforementioned metal speaker plugs, and discarded the useless plastic.

-I put in 6.75" Pioneers. Coax, not component. I would NOT recommend anything larger--unless you plan on getting super-creative with the stock mount bracket & mount height/depth issues). Even the 6.75" were...interesting. I used the same method, kept the stock/drilled hole in one corner, traced out/drilled the other 3. Be very careful not to cut into the curved metal edge as you're enlarging the hole--unless you want the mount bracket to be flimsier.

-My speakers had about .5" additional depth over the stock speakers (2.5" vs. 2" appx). That's a huge deal, and it meant that i would not be able to fit the mount bracket back onto the mount holes in the frame--unless i did some fancy bending of the bracket/etc. Instead, I opted for jury-rig method #2. My speakers came with trim rings (as most speakers do), and luckily I had not actually used the ones for the front 6.75". Here's where I got creative. I got some self-adhesive rubber friction pads (the kind you can put on furniture legs so they don't slide). These aren't very thick, but they also don't compress much. The ones I used were circular, about 1" diameter. Similar to this image:

http://himym.co/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/chair-feet-pads-rubber-furniture-pads-felt-chair-pads-furniture-feet-pads-get-quotations-a-cabinet-foot-sofa-legs-rubber-furniture-pads-chair-feet-pads-lowes.jpg

I placed the sticky side of these on the mount bracket close to (but not overtop of) the mount holes I'd drilled for the new speakers. This allowed me a "gap". Next I took one of the optional trim rings and placed 1 over each area where the screws would go, taking care to pre-drill a hole for the screw (not required, but does make it a bit more visible where I'm supposed to put the screws). Lastly, I took the second trim ring and put the speaker on top of it, aligned the 2nd trim ring with the 1st--and both with the mount bracket. Carefully I bolted it in, one at a time, working back and forth so it would be even and not overtorqued. If you're confused what a trim ring looks like here's a sample (these are not the kind that came with my pioneers).

https://images.crutchfieldonline.com/ImageHandler/trim/620/378/products/2002/120/x120823412-f.jpeg

The net effect was to raise the mount surface height and to reduce the mount surface depth. It worked. I took additional rubber pads & some self-adhesive weatherstripping and did the best I could to insulate/cushion the speaker magnet from the sheet-metal (I don't want buzzing/vibration). I'll have to go back tomorrow and wrap the entire jury-rig mount with electrical tape to make it look better and to (marginally) improve speaker operation. (I know, I know, no stock mount ever was ideally suited as a ported-speaker-enclosure).

-Mother of god this is a frustrating experience without taking out the seatbelts. I unbolted the rear's floor mount. But really the bracket rail for the front seatbelt is keeps the front panel attached on that end, and I REALLY didn't want to unbolt it. If you do unbolt that--however--this operation becomes very elementary because then you can remove the ENTIRE interior panel. Don't even THINK about trying to do this with the rear seats in place, even folded forward, imho.

-Needle-nose pliars seemed to do the trick when a christmas-tree-plug decided to stay in the frame rather than on the interior panel. Grip the plug on the end (where it would normally slide into the panel. Then apply outward pressure as you kind of pivot the pliars in a circular fashion (not rotating the pliars). Miraculously, I didn't break any of these plugs...though some are worse for wear, as expected. I would love to know if/where I can just buy a bag of 50 or so and never think about it again. I did manage to lose the forward-most plug (the one just above the front seatbelt). It went flying when i tried to pop off the plug cover.

--The grille on the panel has to be modified extensively. First, there's a surround that extends out from the grille (towards the speaker). I presume this is to "guide" the speaker sound through the grille--since the stock speakers are so tiny. However, this extends out quite a bit and would clearly interfere with raised-surface mount like I'm using. Fortunately, it is held in place by a single screw and some small push-on type fasteners (similar to the kind that hold on the plastic panel on USDM models where the backup camera is on JDM models). Second, there's webbing on the inside of the speaker grille. Unlike in some cars, this webbing appears to be part of the body panel. This makes it all the more frustrating for removing it. Now I cannot verify the necessity of cutting out this webbing (I removed mine). I'll try experimenting on the passenger side to see if it creates interference. Additionally, if you wish to remove the cloth on the inside of the speaker grille, you will most likely have to remove the webbing. Of course, you can try unbending the tabs on the metal mesh and remove it and pull the cloth out that way. (Again, I may try this on the passenger side). I'm leaning towards replacing the cloth on mine..since the speakers just look "off" and not centered on the grille. This should also cut down on ambient dust getting inside.

Murderously hot outside, and I'm dog tired. Apologies for the lack of pictures.

[Thelgord]

That’s really great info! Especially since I have already removed my rear seats and the rear seat belts will be coming out shortly. I figure while I have it all apart will be a good time to fix my blown speaker.

[ipd]

Ok passenger rear. Do NOT attempt this unless you plan to remove the rear panel entirely. I mean entirely. Possibly if you remove the mid panel entirely; but leaving both half-on/half-off is criminally difficult. The left rear has the jack, and a hole in the panel which makes access to what is behind it fairly benign by comparison. The right rear has no such access. The speaker mounts on both sides of the rear are held in place with 4 screws and 2 bolts. The screws (2x front, 2x rear) are into the wall/frame. The bolts connect the speaker mount to a metal panel affixed behind the rear panel. It is imperative to screw in the 2 aft screws before putting in the 2 fore screws or the bolts. On the right rear, because of the impossibly small hole through the panel itself--this is a monumental task. I've seen 300zx engine bays with more room. Hours of cursing, scrapes, scuffs, bloody knuckles/etc, I did it. Again, this project is MUCH easier if you just remove both panels on both sides.

As for the speaker grille, i did some sleuthing and it appears that the only interference is at the top. So what I did on the passenger rear (as opposed to the driver's rear where I clipped everything out), I only clipped the very top part of the webbing. I clipped it just below the part that juts outward leaving the bulk of the webbing in place. This eliminated the protrusion and also helps to keep the cloth in place with most of the webbing. The discarded piece was extremely easy to remove after all the attached webs had been clipped.

I wasn't able to fit the stock screw back into the 1 mount bolt that I'd kept on the speaker mount--so I ended up removing one of the pads in order to get it to fit. Seems to have worked fine. I wrapped the entire surface mount in electrical tape. There's padding attached to the underside of the front part of the speaker mount--presumably there to keep from fraying the wires that pass immediately below the mount--take care to keep it in place. Don't remember if I mentioned it, but I bought some weatherstripping for this project. I wrapped a half-moon around the magnet on my speakers in the area i expected it to contact the frame/wheel-well. I also put some of those pads on the back of the magnet in the same area. Last but not least, I guessimated where the contact point with the exterior wall would be, and attached some weatherstripping to the wall at this point. All in all, this should cushion my speaker and prevent any rattling.

Discovered an amp under the passenger seat, but I didn't look into it. I snapped the bolt-head off one of my rear seat bolts (backside) as I was putting them back--so that's gonna a future project to get the threaded part out.

I used a dremel wtih a metal blade on the mounts. Went through about 6 of them between both mounts. Use the paper that comes with your speakers. Cut it to the size indicated, then poke holes in the mount locations. If you keep a factory mount hole (like I did) screw that screw back in through the paper. Carefully drill out the other screw holes (you'll have to use sheet-metal screws which usually come with the speakers)--trying to keep the template straight and flat so the holes are in the correct locations. I think i did pilot holes with 1/16th bit and finished with 5/16th bit. After you have the holes drilled, use a small nail/screw/etc to hold the paper firmly in place, and then sharpie the circle cut-out onto the speaker mount. This is your guide for where to cut the sheet metal.

BTW:

http://www.vehicross.info/showthread.php/11684-Rear-Speakers

I will say that 6x9 might actually work in this location...but I cannot speak to it. And 6x9 would extend even further rearward, which would look even funkier if you have intend to go see-through on your speaker grilles.

I will say that having the rears online again is a noticeable difference. That said, fronts & rears combined simply cannot generate the bass that I'm accustomed to. I cannot recommend enough the subwoofer solution I have. For those who missed it:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f17/inperfectdarkness/P1010424_zpsbvjan3k2.jpg~original

Original ported 8" bass-tube (came with car when I bought it) on top of my 10" sealed downfiring sub.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f17/inperfectdarkness/P1010428_zps1upvlo3v.jpg~original

And without the old sub.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f17/inperfectdarkness/P1010430_zpskvyiau6n.jpg~original

I don't know specifically what amp is driving it...but I cannot express my happiness with this sub enough. I'll take a 10" sealed over an 8" ported any day. And if anyone wants to swing by my place to hear it, just come on by. I don't remember if this is the exact one I purchased, but it's very similar.

https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-TS-SWX2502-Shallow-Mount-Pre-Loaded-Enclosure/dp/B00JQTU3QC/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1530497073&sr=1-1&keywords=pioneer+preloaded

They do make a 12" as well...but I wasn't sure about fit (it actually may fit) and there's an endless debate on which is overall better for response 10 vs 12. There's a few VERY low tones that I know the 10" won't hit, but on the flip side, it can reverb faster to be ready for the next beat. Hope this helps!

[Gh0sT]

hi great thread
? tho how do you post pics to the thread visibly
thank you

[ipd]

Host them elsewhere and use IMG tags

[CowboyErik]

one of my rears has been burnt out a while, just clips all the time; from this writeup the rears are no stock 6x8's as I have thought for the last decade or do some VX's have difference rears?

[ipd]

Rears are 4", IIRC. All years. LMK if you need help with anything.