CK5
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Largest dash speaker in the 3.5" dash cutout?
- Thread starter Mav2u
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i'm just surprised that the dash didn't crumble when you were cutting. That was the biggest fear holding me back.
There's an aftermarket skin on this dash. The vinyl underneath was cracked, but the foam sort of intact. The factory dash is bad enough - trying to push high frequencies through small foam-lined holes can't work. Then the aftermarket overlay has even smaller holes and the pattern doesn't line up exactly with the factory ones. So you have to knock out a lot of the factory grid work. So with speakers under the dash, you have to have tweeters somewhere else.
You'll see what I'm doing with some modest Pioneer 5 1/4" coaxials (TS-G1345R), but the best way to do it would be with component speakers, each with their own grill. See, coaxial speakers suck because of the exposed pole piece that lets dirt and iron particles get stuck in the voice coil gap. They SHOULD mount the tweeter on a bridge across the top and use a real dust cap. In my revamp of the K5 system, I pulled out 2 bad speakers from voice coil contamination. So a big part of the challenge now (and delay) is to dust-proof the upward facing speakers while still having a presentable install.
You'll see what I'm doing with some modest Pioneer 5 1/4" coaxials (TS-G1345R), but the best way to do it would be with component speakers, each with their own grill. See, coaxial speakers suck because of the exposed pole piece that lets dirt and iron particles get stuck in the voice coil gap. They SHOULD mount the tweeter on a bridge across the top and use a real dust cap. In my revamp of the K5 system, I pulled out 2 bad speakers from voice coil contamination. So a big part of the challenge now (and delay) is to dust-proof the upward facing speakers while still having a presentable install.
Been putzing with it some more. Here's some screens I found laying around (in the doors of my parts Buick). To drop them into the speaker frame, I cut this groove.
So here is one siliconed to the coaxial speaker to block the dirt and various FOD.
The spacer plate below it is made from an old blown speaker. I bought these top-mount grills to help create more clearance between the magnet and the cluster, but it wasn't quite enough. This ~1/8" spacer does the trick.
Here's what I cut out on the drivers side. Passenger is similar.
I want the speakers to be removable with the dash in place, so I'm welding the mounting nuts to the dash steel.
So here is one siliconed to the coaxial speaker to block the dirt and various FOD.
The spacer plate below it is made from an old blown speaker. I bought these top-mount grills to help create more clearance between the magnet and the cluster, but it wasn't quite enough. This ~1/8" spacer does the trick.
Here's what I cut out on the drivers side. Passenger is similar.
I want the speakers to be removable with the dash in place, so I'm welding the mounting nuts to the dash steel.
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Keep it coming keep it coming!
Speakers are mounted via nuts welded to the underside of the dash. Mounting rings are siliconed to the top of the dash so everything stays put when the speakers are out. It's ready to test fit in the truck.
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How's the dash cover? I've got my dash out trying to salvage it, but not to confident.
I've had the dash cover for many years and it's been OK. There is a split in it now where the dash starts to rise up over the cluster, but it still looks better than cracked OEM. I don't know how long a new dash pad would last under the same conditions.
Here's the installed speakers.
The design fails to meet my criteria of removing speakers without removing the dash because you can't install the DS grill without pulling the dash pad forward an inch or so.
Here's the installed speakers.
The design fails to meet my criteria of removing speakers without removing the dash because you can't install the DS grill without pulling the dash pad forward an inch or so.
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Speakers turned out good.
I'm on the fence with he covers. About had myself talked into a coverlay, but I was off on what I thought he price was. I thought they were In the $150 range, but look to be $220 now.
I'm on the fence with he covers. About had myself talked into a coverlay, but I was off on what I thought he price was. I thought they were In the $150 range, but look to be $220 now.
Wait, I forgot to close an audio post with the obligatory "sounds great!".
This was actually a simplification project for me. Gone are the days of cranking tunes around town with the top off, subwoofer box taking up a lot of space and having a carputer instead of a head unit. The last couple of years, I wasted some time in camp messing with one of the 3 amps, remote wiring, etc. just so I could get some music. Now I'm more concerned with run-times off the marine battery and overall reliability. Plus, I'm ready to have an actual radio to hear the weather and have the whole thing just start itself whenever I turn the truck on. So I ripped out all of this stuff and powered my 4 main speakers straight from the head unit. This thing has a 13-band EQ and lots of subwoofer crossover options built-in, so I don't need a lot of the extra stuff installed. I moved down from 4 Jensen 6x9s in the back to a pair of nice 3-way Alpines I found in another car. Then the dash went from the crummy 4's to these 5.25s so the tunes can still be heard over the swampers with just the 22W RMS x4. There is still a 500W amp for the 12" low-profile Tang Band flat cones in the side panels, but I can switch that off to save power. Plus, now I can store gear under my seat.
This was actually a simplification project for me. Gone are the days of cranking tunes around town with the top off, subwoofer box taking up a lot of space and having a carputer instead of a head unit. The last couple of years, I wasted some time in camp messing with one of the 3 amps, remote wiring, etc. just so I could get some music. Now I'm more concerned with run-times off the marine battery and overall reliability. Plus, I'm ready to have an actual radio to hear the weather and have the whole thing just start itself whenever I turn the truck on. So I ripped out all of this stuff and powered my 4 main speakers straight from the head unit. This thing has a 13-band EQ and lots of subwoofer crossover options built-in, so I don't need a lot of the extra stuff installed. I moved down from 4 Jensen 6x9s in the back to a pair of nice 3-way Alpines I found in another car. Then the dash went from the crummy 4's to these 5.25s so the tunes can still be heard over the swampers with just the 22W RMS x4. There is still a 500W amp for the 12" low-profile Tang Band flat cones in the side panels, but I can switch that off to save power. Plus, now I can store gear under my seat.
