Hello All,
As promised here is the DIY'er's guide to replacing your front door speakers featuring Exile Car Audio's XP65COMP Component speakers. This is a step by step guide for you to replace or upgrade your factory front door speakers. I used my 1997 Lexus LX450 for this guide so the photo's may vary depending on the year of your 80 Series rig. I'm not familiar with the early to mid 90's rig, but I assume they are all the same on the interior panel.
I chose the Exile XP65COMP speakers because of the 1.85" mounting depth of the 6.5" driver and the overall sound quality these speakers are capable of producing under factory power or externally amplified power.
On a scale of 1 to 10 I would consider the difficulty of this job in the 5 to 6 range depending on your mechanical and electrical capability's. The thing to remember is be patient, take your time and dont rush and your results should be the same. Everything I used to complete this install is avalaible in a replacement package, if your interested in the speakers and pricing PM me for more details.
Ready?......Here We go....
Ok, here is my factory door panel with my factory speakers in the door. Your door panel may vary depending on the year of your rig....
REMOVING THE DOOR PANEL
STEP 1 - Push up on your factory arm rest cover, there are a few clips that hold it in place.
STEP 2 - From the front side of your window switch panel lift up, there is a clip that will release. Once the clip releases slide the panel forward to free it from the door panel
STEP 3 - Remove the phillips head screw under the arm rest handle.
NEXT - Remove the phillips head screws under the arm rest and the door handle cup. Gently remove the door handle cup....it makes removing the door panel much easier....Now unplug the power window switches, there is a release on the plug in.
With a flathead screw driver go to the lower right corner of the door panel insert the flat head between the panel and the door metal and gently pry the panel away from the door.
Once the door panel starts to be released you can gently pull the rest of it by hand. Once all the panel pops are released, gently lift up on the door panel and remove the door panel from the truck, make sure you unplug your door lamp harness.
Feast your eye's on your totally butt naked door for a minitue and then remove the factory speaker, make sure you unplug the speaker from the factory harness.
Take a miniute to compare your factory speaker with the Exile 6.5" driver. Your factory speaker is a 5.25" that is about 1/8th inch shallower than the Exile Driver.
NEXT - I HIGHLY reccomend wiring up the passive crossover on the bench before putting it into your door. I personally cover my crossovers with the plastic bag provided in the box, in case of MUD, Water, etc.....MAKE SURE YOU MARK YOUR WIRES!!!.....ie: input from truck, output to woofer, and output to tweeter......This will save a BUNCH of headaches.
I placed my crossover near the bottom of the door, and to prevent rattleing or jarring it around I zip tied it to the factory wire loom in the bottom of my door. Once you have the crossover in there and in place run the wires up to thier locations...ie: woofer to the factory speaker hole and tweeter where ever you want to mount it....
HOLD UP!!!!!
Now, as I said in the photo.....we originally tried to cut a spacer out of peg board....this DID NOT WORK....It spaced the speaker out too far and the door panel would not corrctly fit.....
I took 8 - 1" self tapping screws and screwed the Exile 6.5" driver down evenly. The basket of the driver will rest on the window track but clears without any problems. The Exile driver should have about 1/8" gap all the way around it, between the plastic of the speaker and the metal of the door. Toyota for some reason counter sunk the metal for the factory speaker to sit closer to the window track....dont know why?.....It doesnt matter.....The Exile Speaker still sounds great with that minor gap. Whatever you do DO NOT over tighten the self tappers. Tighten them up firm enough to hold the speaker in place, it is a VERY light speaker. If you over tighten them you'll be pushing on the window track and slowing your window down....you'll have to disassemble and loosen them up and the reassemble....I know I overtightend them before...
OK....
For the sake of the forum and the DIY'er I flush mounted my tweeters.....This is a MUCH MUCH easier option than mounting it in another location (I had them in the factory location originally). I used a 1 3/4" hole saw to cut the hole for the tweeter. The whole was just big enough to get the tweeter to pressure mount as there is no room behind the door panel for the flush mount bracket. Even under serious rock climbing condition I gurantee if this step is done correctly the tweeter will never come out.
When your ready to use the hole saw....Remember to cut from the inner panel to the outer panel....Take your time and be patient. If you cut from the outer panel (where the leather is) you will most likely rip all the leather or cloth off your door panel....trust me....go from the inside of the panel out, and for god sakes....take your time....lol
After your tweeter hole is cut and the tweeter is in the door panel start to re assemble....make sure all your connections are made.....double and triple check.....
After the door panel is back on the truck you should have an extremely small gap by the factory speaker grill. The gap is not noticable....in my rig it's less than 1/8th of an inch....The reason there is a gap is I did not want to trim the plastic mounts for my factory speaker grills.
A word to the wise....
I would not trim the factory speaker grill mounting plastic behind the door panel. They are 4 plastic rods with lock washers that hold them in place....Plastic gets brittle and if you break the plastic rod you will be using the Exile Grill included with the speakers....either way it would look fine but I wanted to maintain the facotry look...Like I said you'll never notice the small gap....
When your all finished this shouuld be your result......
Like I said some results may vary, but if you take your time yours should turn out awsome....
My total install time was about an hour, but I do this everyday for a living so I would say plan on about 2-3 hours worth of work and a decent assortment of minor tools....
Cordless drill, couple odd hand screw drivers, wire strippers, crimpers and a hole saw....
Like I said everything I used (except the tools) are avaliable in a package deal, if your interested PM me and I will let you know pricing....
The speaker sound awsome under factory power conditions and amplified power conditions......you cant go wrong on this setup...
NEXT WEEK I'M DOING THE FACTORY SUBWOOFER UPGRADE/REPLACEMENT PROJECT!!!!..............I CANT WAIT!!
As promised here is the DIY'er's guide to replacing your front door speakers featuring Exile Car Audio's XP65COMP Component speakers. This is a step by step guide for you to replace or upgrade your factory front door speakers. I used my 1997 Lexus LX450 for this guide so the photo's may vary depending on the year of your 80 Series rig. I'm not familiar with the early to mid 90's rig, but I assume they are all the same on the interior panel.
I chose the Exile XP65COMP speakers because of the 1.85" mounting depth of the 6.5" driver and the overall sound quality these speakers are capable of producing under factory power or externally amplified power.
On a scale of 1 to 10 I would consider the difficulty of this job in the 5 to 6 range depending on your mechanical and electrical capability's. The thing to remember is be patient, take your time and dont rush and your results should be the same. Everything I used to complete this install is avalaible in a replacement package, if your interested in the speakers and pricing PM me for more details.
Ready?......Here We go....
Ok, here is my factory door panel with my factory speakers in the door. Your door panel may vary depending on the year of your rig....
REMOVING THE DOOR PANEL
STEP 1 - Push up on your factory arm rest cover, there are a few clips that hold it in place.
STEP 2 - From the front side of your window switch panel lift up, there is a clip that will release. Once the clip releases slide the panel forward to free it from the door panel
STEP 3 - Remove the phillips head screw under the arm rest handle.
NEXT - Remove the phillips head screws under the arm rest and the door handle cup. Gently remove the door handle cup....it makes removing the door panel much easier....Now unplug the power window switches, there is a release on the plug in.
With a flathead screw driver go to the lower right corner of the door panel insert the flat head between the panel and the door metal and gently pry the panel away from the door.
Once the door panel starts to be released you can gently pull the rest of it by hand. Once all the panel pops are released, gently lift up on the door panel and remove the door panel from the truck, make sure you unplug your door lamp harness.
Feast your eye's on your totally butt naked door for a minitue and then remove the factory speaker, make sure you unplug the speaker from the factory harness.
Take a miniute to compare your factory speaker with the Exile 6.5" driver. Your factory speaker is a 5.25" that is about 1/8th inch shallower than the Exile Driver.
NEXT - I HIGHLY reccomend wiring up the passive crossover on the bench before putting it into your door. I personally cover my crossovers with the plastic bag provided in the box, in case of MUD, Water, etc.....MAKE SURE YOU MARK YOUR WIRES!!!.....ie: input from truck, output to woofer, and output to tweeter......This will save a BUNCH of headaches.
I placed my crossover near the bottom of the door, and to prevent rattleing or jarring it around I zip tied it to the factory wire loom in the bottom of my door. Once you have the crossover in there and in place run the wires up to thier locations...ie: woofer to the factory speaker hole and tweeter where ever you want to mount it....
HOLD UP!!!!!
Now, as I said in the photo.....we originally tried to cut a spacer out of peg board....this DID NOT WORK....It spaced the speaker out too far and the door panel would not corrctly fit.....
I took 8 - 1" self tapping screws and screwed the Exile 6.5" driver down evenly. The basket of the driver will rest on the window track but clears without any problems. The Exile driver should have about 1/8" gap all the way around it, between the plastic of the speaker and the metal of the door. Toyota for some reason counter sunk the metal for the factory speaker to sit closer to the window track....dont know why?.....It doesnt matter.....The Exile Speaker still sounds great with that minor gap. Whatever you do DO NOT over tighten the self tappers. Tighten them up firm enough to hold the speaker in place, it is a VERY light speaker. If you over tighten them you'll be pushing on the window track and slowing your window down....you'll have to disassemble and loosen them up and the reassemble....I know I overtightend them before...
OK....
For the sake of the forum and the DIY'er I flush mounted my tweeters.....This is a MUCH MUCH easier option than mounting it in another location (I had them in the factory location originally). I used a 1 3/4" hole saw to cut the hole for the tweeter. The whole was just big enough to get the tweeter to pressure mount as there is no room behind the door panel for the flush mount bracket. Even under serious rock climbing condition I gurantee if this step is done correctly the tweeter will never come out.
When your ready to use the hole saw....Remember to cut from the inner panel to the outer panel....Take your time and be patient. If you cut from the outer panel (where the leather is) you will most likely rip all the leather or cloth off your door panel....trust me....go from the inside of the panel out, and for god sakes....take your time....lol
After your tweeter hole is cut and the tweeter is in the door panel start to re assemble....make sure all your connections are made.....double and triple check.....
After the door panel is back on the truck you should have an extremely small gap by the factory speaker grill. The gap is not noticable....in my rig it's less than 1/8th of an inch....The reason there is a gap is I did not want to trim the plastic mounts for my factory speaker grills.
A word to the wise....
I would not trim the factory speaker grill mounting plastic behind the door panel. They are 4 plastic rods with lock washers that hold them in place....Plastic gets brittle and if you break the plastic rod you will be using the Exile Grill included with the speakers....either way it would look fine but I wanted to maintain the facotry look...Like I said you'll never notice the small gap....
When your all finished this shouuld be your result......
Like I said some results may vary, but if you take your time yours should turn out awsome....
My total install time was about an hour, but I do this everyday for a living so I would say plan on about 2-3 hours worth of work and a decent assortment of minor tools....
Cordless drill, couple odd hand screw drivers, wire strippers, crimpers and a hole saw....
Like I said everything I used (except the tools) are avaliable in a package deal, if your interested PM me and I will let you know pricing....
The speaker sound awsome under factory power conditions and amplified power conditions......you cant go wrong on this setup...
NEXT WEEK I'M DOING THE FACTORY SUBWOOFER UPGRADE/REPLACEMENT PROJECT!!!!..............I CANT WAIT!!
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