Speaker Install
 

I had a fun day. I installed some new 6x9 speakers. I used the new 6x9 adapters from http://********.com/Chevrolet-GMC-Su...ers-clone.html

Remove the rocker panel.

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/x...0Install/1.jpg

Remove the back seat. Start with the bottom part. You will need to pull up on the front part of the seat and then pull forward.

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/x...0Install/2.jpg

To remove the seatback you will fold the seat down and then look at the hinge you will see what I saw in the second photo. You will need two people to do this because it has to be done at the same time on both sides. Just push the silver piece back and lift the seatback up and out.

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/x...0Install/5.jpg
http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/x...0Install/6.jpg

Now it is time to remove the lower interior trim piece. I started at the bottom front and worked my way to the back.

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/x...0Install/3.jpg

Next remove the back window trim. When you pull this off be careful their is a black clip that needs to be removed after you get this off. I think it is part of the airbag system.

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/x...0Install/4.jpg

Now remove side window trim. You will need a 7mm socket and T50 torx bit. There are two screws. One is hidden under the "Airbag" piece above the seatbelt for the front seat and the other is by the back window. You will need the T50 torx to remove the front seatbelt. After you have all of the screws removed just pull on the piece and it will pop out.

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/x...0Install/7.jpg

Now the real fun beggins. The rear speaker deck. There are four push tabs on the front part that need to be removed. Once you have them removed get under the speaker deck in the trunk and you will see four push pins that need to pushed up.

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/x...0Install/8.jpg

Here is the underside, You can see the four blue push pins. This is what is holding this piece in place. I worked my hand between the deck trim and the sheetmetal and pushed up on the deck trim and they came out.

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/x...Install/10.jpg

At this point the rear deck trim still did not want to come out. If you look at the photo (below). You can see three of the four tabs that hold this in place. I just had to pull hard to get this to come out.

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/x...Install/11.jpg

Here is what it looked like after everything is out

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/x...Install/12.jpg

You can see the factory speaker now. If you notice there is a big foam piece right next to each speaker. I'm not sure what this is for, but I think it helps to put pressure on the speaker deck. I would say do not remove this.

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/x...Install/14.jpg

Installed Dynamat.

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/x...Install/15.jpg

I installed the new speaker to the ******** adapter. New and old.

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/x...Install/17.jpg

Here is the speaker installed.

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/x...Install/18.jpg

Just put everything back in the reverse order and your done. It took a few hours to do this, but it was worth it. The sound system sounded so much better. Next step will be amps and sub.

I hope this helps others who are thinking about doing this. I did shoot some video of this, so I will edit it and upload it later.

Sweet thread!!!! looks like a lot of work. I hope it was worth it. Great job and thanks for sharing the pics.

How did you go about wiring them in? Do you have the BA or non-BA system?

It is the non-BA system. I just cut the speaker plug off the wires and used the wire adapters that came with the new speakers.

Thanks for the walk-through! I'm doing the same thing next weekend.

excellent write up, that really confirms that I dont want to do that job! I had been dreading it, now I know not to even try!

Ya....What the hell, seems like alot of work. Good write up though. Like the guy above, now I know why I dont want to mess with it. I hate dealing with all that interior pins and tabs. Seems like they didnt want us to mess around back there. Maybe I will wait for Best Buy to have one of their "Free Installation" with purchase deals. I will buy the speakers and laugh as I leave, lol.

WOW looks great..... thanks for all the info and walk threw

Should post this in the DIY section or possibly a mod could move it there????

thats alot of work to change the 6x9s...hard to tell from the pics but would there be a way to hang the 6x9s?mount them from the trunk so if you have to change a speaker again you dont have to rip the whoe back end of your car apart again...maybe an adapter to hang them if possible..hint hint ********..

It seems like a lot of work the first time that you do it, if I had to do it again it would take about a quarter of the time. I had never done this before so I went slow and it took most of the day to do. The new adapters from www.********.com did not come with any instructions, but it looked easy enough to install.

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/x...l/IMG_2951.jpg

you could use this adapter from the bottom or the top because the screw holes for the adapter will go into the sheetmetal. If you use this adapter to mount underneath it is 3/4 of inch thick, so your speakers will hang lower and may get in the way of things. If you dont care I don't see why you couldnt.

This is a nice write up.

Couple of things:
1. Would you be willing to go back and edit your pics, specifically pointing out the clip locations and what not? You can use mspaint to do this.

2. Also did you mess any clips or break any fasteners when doing this?

I ask these two questions only because this looks like a major pain and this photo right up is excellent. With the addition of the fastener points it would make it perfect.

Cheers
K

I would like to edit the photos, but they don't show the all the places where the trim tabs are located. I did shoot some video of the install. It shows some of the trim and what your looking for. I will try to edit it this week.

I will be installing an Alpine MRP-F300 amp this weekend to power the new Alpine 609s. I will try to reshoot the trim photos to show the clip locations and screws.

I did not break any clips or fasteners. I just worked slow and took my time pulling off the trim.

Awesome, good write up!

I just want to replace my door speakers... How easy is the wiring to aftermarket speakers with a stock head unit?

awesome
 

if its not to late please seal those mdf adapters,they will deteriate in that back glass with the heat,alot of work im sure you dont want to do again anytime soon lol...should sound great!

Great write up :). Now I know what I will be getting into once it warms up some.

I can't get past taking out the top part of the backseat!!! Help please

nice, what a PITA just to replace them..:(

I have done a few installs but this is the hardest of any of them!! WTF :mad0260:

Really cool. But, I wouldn't do that myself. No way.

omg.... i never knew that changing out the rear speaker take that much work.....

Honestly, it looks like a lot of work but it isn't really THAT bad. I've had my rear deck out several times over the last couple months and I can have it out in 20 minutes and back together in another 30. If you want new speakers, and don't want some bone-head at Best Buy to thrash your car, go for it. Its a fun project.

Pull the seat forward and look to the left and right of the base on the backside. You will see the pivot point and where the small arms rest in the carriers. As you hold the seat forward at a 45 degree angle, reach down there and push the mouth of one side open. Rotate the arm out of the carrier. While continuing to hold the seat, move over to the other side and repeat.

The trick is that the arms are notched to only come out of the carrier if the seat is rotated 45 degrees to the front.

Good luck!

I finished it last night!:happyanim: Removing that part was the hardest because the rubber piece was sliding and covering the exit point.

Thanks for the write up and pictures.

Thanks for your write up, it made it easy to install. I had my laptop in my garage and kept going back to reference this post. It took me 2 1/2 hours from start to finish to do. The hardest part for me was taking out the screw on the back side panel.

Awesome write up!!!!

Was anyone else able to do this without completely removing the backseats?

I did mine about a month ago and thought I'd see how far I could get without removing the back seats. I managed to finish the entire job no problem.

If you're very careful you can get the drivers side panel completely off and the passengers side loose enough to life the deck cover off and rotate towards the drivers side and out of the car. You just have to be careful not to scratch the plastic.

I did mine exactly to this post. It saved me a lot of time. And now that I have taken it all apart, I know how and where I am going to mount my rear LED lights and rear footwell lights.

I agree; for noobs like me who'd be stupid enough to attempt something like this it would be nice to see the connector points, tools used, and the technique used to pry off the pieces.

quick question here, i have an amo and sub and aftemarket speakers are my next venture. When I installed a new DDIN head unit, upon raising the volume more than halfway, my speakers would distort. does this just mean i need new front and rears? or should i get a 4 channel amp when i replace them as well? Sorry to post here, but no one has been able to answer me anywhere else....would love some help

I think it means dont raise your volume more than half way. :)

I believe it would be a good idea to replace the speakers as the OEM ones dont have a huge range (range as in power handling), so when you send more power to them you are over driving them I believe.

Or if you have the aftermarket amp connect to the speakers you could try changing your gains I forget it is it raising or lowering them.

Cheers
K

that seems odd that at 50% volume your distorting. are they REALLY loud and distorting or just distorting at moderate volume?

Its possible that there is something in the Metra kit thats causing the distortion and you just dont hear it at low volumes. There are a lot of connections between the head and the metra

Its possible that your overdriving the speakers (as Moriartii stated)

Its possible that the powered amp in your head unit is THAT bad... though with most mainstream heads, your going to get a much cleaner signal than an OEM head and it will be stable to a higher volume...

If you DO decide to get new speakers, I would suggest an aftermarket amp to power them instead of the amp within the head unit... while not typically as bad as you are describing, they are notoriously poor performers.

thanks for the info fellas!!!!

It's at a high volume. I have a Pioneer 3200bt and when i hit volume 20 or higher they distort, but the volume goes to 30 or more I believe....was just wondering.

I like how loud they are, just sometimes you always want more haha.

Again, thanks for the advice, I'll look into it somemore

Sean

The speakers just can't handle that much power. When you get replacements they'll handle it much better. I think the stock speakers are only rated for 20Watts and that Pioneer unit probably puts out 50Watts. I can turn my Pioneer up to around 25 or so without any distortion on my Kicker speakers.

Excellent write up/procedure. Although I've done plenty of installs over the years, I think I'll wait a little bit before attempting this. Certainly an "Add to Favorites" :thumbsup:

old thread so apologies for the revival. but why can't you just remove the speaker covers and pull the 6x9s out and replace them that way? i totally don't see why it's necessary to pull any panels out since after all, you're replacing speakers only and not panels. any explanation or help is appreciated.

speakers are top mounted into the rear deck. they have to come out from the top and the only way to get them out is to remove the entire rear deck. The speaker grill tops do not just lift off.

wow that sucks. way easier just to add a sub and disable those 6x9s than replace them with some 6x9 woofers...

These were a certified P.I.T.A. ...put a stamp on em'

Old thread but great write up. Just to give my .02, I kept reading how the back seat back was such a PITA to get off the hinges. When removing mine I decided to spare the headache and just take a chance by removing the 4 bolts and 1 nut that hold the back seat bracket down. Was so much easier and also was able to do this by myself without scratching any interior. A few pics of the seat with bracket attched below.