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Need Speaker Solutions.........

badmix

badmix

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Ok, here's the story......

I removed the dash speakers to make room for the ill-fitting LMC dash. I had aftermarket speakers with adaptors, anyone that has done this, knows it kinda raises the speakers up a good bit, so the dash would not fit at all and there is no room to recess the speakers and didnt have time to buy OEM ones that may or may not fit with this dash.

So. Right now ive got some small box speakers beside the roll bar beside the rear seats. So, I have some sound, but would like to get some sound up front.

I have no carpet , interior LIne X'd and I dont have the rear side panels, took em off to Line X and like the looks and extra space without them.

Not looking for concert hall quality but want to do something. Ive thought about some surface mount tweeters that I can bolt anywhere to the lower dash metal, so I have some option. But want to see what others might think, can think outside the box if need be. I know my options are limited though. lol

I do have a roll bar, so that might be something to look into, mounting something there.
 
I have 5.25"s in the doors and 6x9s in the rear side panels (by passengers knees if they were sitting in the back). Had to cut some sheet metal behind the speaker on the door for the magnet,but it has served me well for years. Might not work with manual window crank though. Not sure. Here's a pic of speaker and hole behind it. Just happened to take them recently during teardown for paint.

2013-12-10 17.43.01.jpg

2013-12-11 14.10.09.jpg
 
Don't know if you saw the ones I just put on my rig. They were $60 off amazon
Wakeboard speakers. They have resonable bass and sound , enough that I can hear my tunes at 65 with no top or doors and 40s and a 4bangar with a flowmaster buzzing at 3500rpms

Hell for $60 its worth it just for the enclosures and throw some quality 6.5 speakers in amd have some good sound
 
If you look on DIY4x.com for his aluminum dash, a couple of the additional pictures is mine. It has a box I whipped up for some 5.25" speakers. Works ok, but I'll be making a new one for 6.5" speakers.
 
Going back to a factory style setup, when I replaced the factory dash speakers with some good quality ones in the same size, with a small amount of amplified power, it was a HUGE difference in the sound that came from them. Much better sound quality as well as volume. The sound bounces off the windshield, that along with the 6x9's in the sides where the original 4x10 were, it was a completely different system.

Not sure about that LMC dash, but you'd think they would make it to be able to accept a factory sized speaker.
 
I managed to put some 4" speakers under the factory dash. It's a very tight fit on the driver's side. You would be cutting the cluster away to go any bigger. You won't get any bass from the dash since the speakers are so small and the front/rear of the speaker aren't really separated well. So that will have to come from the back. You can delete spacers underneath the dash speakers, as long as you can sort of seal the speaker to the underside of the dash. That's what gives them some level of volume/separation. The stock speakers had a foam ring around the top to do this.

For highs, I mounted some small tweeters on the A-pillar trim. Wires hide easily behind this trim. A coax speaker is taller, and the foam dash eats some highs, so using tweeters under the dash isn't as good.
 
Blue85 said:
I managed to put some 4" speakers under the factory dash. It's a very tight fit on the driver's side. You would be cutting the cluster away to go any bigger. You won't get any bass from the dash since the speakers are so small and the front/rear of the speaker aren't really separated well. So that will have to come from the back. You can delete spacers underneath the dash speakers, as long as you can sort of seal the speaker to the underside of the dash. That's what gives them some level of volume/separation. The stock speakers had a foam ring around the top to do this.

For highs, I mounted some small tweeters on the A-pillar trim. Wires hide easily behind this trim. A coax speaker is taller, and the foam dash eats some highs, so using tweeters under the dash isn't as good.
Click to expand...

Yea, I have NO trim inside my truck. I seen where drivers side is the issue, its hard to get speaker below the metal dash. Ill figure something out.
 
I've been collecting pics of speaker installs for quite some time. I'll be removing the door map pockets and centering some 5.25 speakers. Everything I've read and seen tells me medium sized 5.25 with fit there without cutting the underlying metal.
Here's a polk 6.5 in a door in the location I'm referring to................
u30it.jpg


Not mine, but it is a good example of what I'm referring to.

ETA: on a side note, I'll be using a 4x10 to two 3.5 speakers adaptor for the center of the dash for ham radio speakers.
 
That's how mine are in my doors. No metal cutting needed. About 2" higher though.
 
I may go the door route, Ive heard of people getting bad vibration and odd noises from door mounts, that is why ive avoided it. the plastic door panels hold them well?
 
where mine are located, there are no rattles. I like them there because I can keep the pockets, and it's up near the top of the door where the sound is more directed toward me (truck is way loud in a non-stereo way). The drawbacks are you have to trim some sheet metal which was no big deal to me and has never affected the door structure, and 5.25 is pretty much the limit there.

Vibration will be a function of mounting, but mounting should be a function of how big/powerful the sound is going to be. My 5.25"s are juiced at 50W peak and are small so a vibrations are easy to work out.

However the 6x9s in the back and the 1000W 15" in the rear are a different story:D.
 
My plan was to make a plate, mount it to the door metal bridging the low area. Then use mdf rings to space the speaker out flush with the door panel plastic. Then use a slightly larger speaker grill to mount on the door panel to cover it. Kind of like how the speakers are on a 2002ish chevy Silverado. I'm just gong to make sure the plate is clear of any bolts I'll need to do work in the future.
 
Kinda like this..................

q1nq.jpg


Then add speaker rings/spacers to bring it flush with the door panel. I'd start with a blank plate, install it. Cut a 4 inch hole close to center (or where ever you think is best) in the area. Mark the plate. Then measure the depth to get spacer depth. Pull the door panel and install spacers and cut panel for speaker depth. Reinstall everything and get final opening for speaker, make/install a speaker grill.
 
badmix said:
I may go the door route, Ive heard of people getting bad vibration and odd noises from door mounts, that is why ive avoided it. the plastic door panels hold them well?
Click to expand...

The plastic supports them fine. No worries there. My only deal is I keep my left foot pulled back sometimes and my knee blocks the sound. No weird noises or anything though.
 
cyclic said:
My plan was to make a plate, mount it to the door metal bridging the low area. Then use mdf rings to space the speaker out flush with the door panel plastic. Then use a slightly larger speaker grill to mount on the door panel to cover it. Kind of like how the speakers are on a 2002ish chevy Silverado. I'm just gong to make sure the plate is clear of any bolts I'll need to do work in the future.
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with that, but it's a lot of work just to mount it to the sheet metal. Since you want to mount the grill to the door panel anyway, why not just mount the whole speaker to the door panel and try it out first (same footprint as grill alone). I think you'll be happy with it. These doors are smaller and more structurally stout than newer vehicles with flimsy sheet metal. I had fewer vibes in my 88 than I did in my 2011 duramax. I had to add sound deadening/proofing to all the doors in the D-max just to compensate for a more powerful head unit and upgraded speakers. Not even an amp.
 
I've done car and home stereo for more than 20 years, I tend to OCD/over do installs. I like the ability to seal the rear of the speaker making the mid bass cleaner and more precise. I do agree that the door panel mounting would work for most people, most would never know the difference. I'm just gonna go that extra step for my install, it won't be just a flat plate, I'll be bending the edges down to meet the under metal and sealing it up with dynamat. It's on my list of stuff to do, down way below rock sliders, 2004 Silverado seats, rear bumper build, grill guard build, ect. It will get done for me, just not too soon.
 
I have 6x9s mounted in the doors down in the carpet area of the door trim, as far forward as you can so the seats don't muffle the sound.......and I highly recommend dynamat inside the doors, makes a huge different:waytogo:
 
Yea I cant use the center speaker area either. LoL..Ive got a gauge pod on the dash and use those holes for the wires and the gauge pod mount.



*looks better in person, plus the dash is black now.
 
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