Another LC Stereo Upgrade

[spdwaver]

i am loving all of your work... being a female not sure that i can handle all of this... but did install the system in my camry myself.. consisiting of a head unit.. subs and an amp... now i also own a 95 landcruiser and the stock system is not something i can live with... i am going to start with the speakers... so i am wondering if you can give me some pointers i have not been able to find out too much information online...
the front dash from what i gather can hold a 4" ... the front door speakers a 6.5".. and the rear door a 4"
and i am not sure about the 3rd row speakers yet but i am guessing a 4"
i have found some kenwoods that are a shallow mount... looks like i need a mount depth of 1 3/4 in.... does that sound about right? i am now going to look up the exile speakers you mentioned...
also is this speaker upgrade something i can do on my own or with a little help... or i am i getting in way over my head with pulling off door panels? i am pretty handy and know my way around a vehicle somewhat... so to say i am not the typical girl... but just may be trying to take on too much here...
thanks for any help you might be able to send my way

1. Get rid of the dash speakers altogether; this creates too many highs in my opinion. And their location, facing downward, is just not practical either.

2. The front door cutouts can handle either a 5.25" or a 6.5" speaker. 6.5" is the obvious winner here.

3. Try to get shallow mount speakers. Or, you could get 5.25" Infiniti Kappas, which I know do fit and create sufficient mid bass and adjustable highs (including a swivel tweeter).

4. The speaker upgrade can be done by yourself, just get yourself a plastic wedge to minimize your chances of busting the retaining clips or snaps on the door panels. Also, watch the upper corner where the outside mirror mounts; you can snap the plastic cover easily if you pull the fabric from under it with too much force.

Otherwise, it is really feasible and not too difficult to accomplish. Just make sure you UNPLUG THE FACTORY AMPLIFIERS (2). One is located under the passenger side of the dash, just behind the dash speaker. The other is located adjacent to the rear subwoofer.

I am not sure how the 1995 Land Cruisers are wired up, but if they were similar in design to the 1991/1992, beware of the aforementioned amplifiers.

 

[yoopercharged]

1 3/4" is about right on the depth in the front doors. The exiles 6.5s are just about perfect. I had those in initially and they fit under the stock grilles. I now have some higher end MB Quarts in front, but I needed to make 1" spacer rings for them. The tweeters are mounted in the A pillars. Works pretty well. If you do a good front stage and add a real sub, you should be happy. I personally am not into rear mids and highs. I've yet to go to a concert where the music came from behind me.

 

[betharuby]

thanks for all your help guys! i am feeling a little more confident on this mission now. and thanks for the extra speakers listed.. and the link... up until now i only located kenwoods.. and i would like something better than that. i did check out the exiles and am having trouble locating somewhere that sells them online..

spdwaver1... you say that it's important to unplug both amps.. i am thinking of just leaving the dash speakers as they are for now... and yes disconnecting the rear amp... and replacing with a real amp.. and hopefully as i have a friend who build boats and does fiberglass work.. i can have him recreate the above installation... is leaving the front speakers and amp as they are going to pose a problem?
obviously if the sound still sucks on them.. i will be replacing them.

 

[jmvar]

Just an update, I have a couple of these for sale over in the merchandise storefront section.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/merchandise-storefront/440839-80-series-subwoofer-enclosures.html

 

[supercarrera]

How do you like the PDX-5? I've been looking into getting one of those as well.

 

[jmvar]

How do you like the PDX-5? I've been looking into getting one of those as well.

Before the PDX 5 I had a set of Rockford amps you can see in the pics. After installing the PDX all my speakers really woke up. Sound was more detailed and accurate. I never drove the Exile sub with the rockford amps so I can't compare the sub channel between the two amps.

I can tell you that the exile sub and the PDX 5 amp together really sound great. Everyone that gets in my truck asks where the subs are. They are all surprised when I tell them it is only 1 12" sub hidden in the corner.

It is tiny, has 5 channels, is easy to set up, and runs way cooler than the rockfords I had before. Really the perfect amp to mount under the seat.

I can't really find a fault and I would buy it again without question. I have looked at other 5 channel amps and their sub channels are always 150-250 watts. I didn't find any that had a 300+ watt sub channel.

If there is one thing I could nitpick, it would be that you can't drive the sub channel at 2 ohms for more power. I feel like my exile sub can take more and would like to wire it in 2 ohm mode but the alpine drives the channel with the same watts no matter what resistance the speaker shows.

Hope that helps.

 

[Online Olympian]

I want to thank Brian and Morgan at exile audio for helping me through this install. I initially called Brian looking for a shallow mount 12" sub and he was able to find me an XT12. Then I had some issues with the XT12 I got but Morgan got me sorted out very quickly. The first sub I got had a misaligned cone/magnet and wouldn't play lower frequencies.

This is the mold I used to create the fiberglass shell behind the quarter panel. I filled the area with aluminum foil and then sprayed expanding foam to create the mold.

First couple layers of fiberglass.

Looks like I will get about .9ft^3....pretty close to what the XT12 needs.

Glued the glass tub to the MDF ring in the pic, then used duraglass to make sure it is sealed and strong, then more fiberglass.

Then it's time to screw and glue the front of the enclosure on there, 3/4" MDF. Used another 3/4" MDF ring to space the woofer away from the back of the enclosure a little and give me some room for sound dampening.

Fits like a glove

Time for the woofer and the panel cover.

The holes you see in the cover are from a small cuby hole I had to cut out and an ashtray. I had to make a cover for the panel to hide the holes so I got the resin and mat out again....time for more glass.

Glassed it, the strengthened with milkshake (duraglass and fiberglass resin mixed together), then smoothed it with body filler. I thought about wrapping it in vinyl but the cover was not smooth enough. The holes from the cuby hole and ashtray were showing through the glass. I was also afraid that on the first camping trip it would get cut or scratched from someone throwing something in the back of the truck. Had it carpeted at my local upholstery shop. Matches much better in person but it's not 100%.

Wish I could leave this beauty uncovered but that would be asking for trouble. I had to put a mesh grill on it, you can still see a subtle clue of the beauty that lies beneath if you look at the right angle....kind of like cameltoe.

Next project will probably be going fully active for the front stage with a new head unit that will give me full crossover control for each channel and time alignment. I will also need to build speaker pods in order to house a decent sized 6.5" woofer.

Are there any pics of this that are able to be shared/seen? I know Brian irl. Great guy.,

 

[panamacruiser]

unable to see a single pic

 

[lumbee1]

This thread is 9 1/2 years old.

 

[Online Olympian]

This thread is 9 1/2 years old.

Oh I know. But a guy can hope.