I searched here on any write-ups and couldn't find one, so I figured I would post this up. Hope it's useful.

I swapped the original 6.5 inch speakers in the rear door with a pair of Pioneer TS-A1675R that I picked up on Amazon for $42.99
Amazon.com : Pioneer TS-A1675R 6-1/2" 3-Way TS Series Coaxial Car Speakers : Vehicle Surface Mounted Speakers : Car Electronics

To remove the door panel, there are 3 screws that need to be removed first.

First thing you need to do is roll down the window. Then access the 3 screws as shown in these pics:

Screw #1 behind the grab handle. There is a little square that needs to be carefully removed. Use a small flat screwdriver, insert in the top of the square and gently pry out. It will swing downwards:


Screw #2: below the grab handle. A rectangular cover that also swings downward. Gently put a screwdriver in the top of the slit and pry out:


Screw #3: behind the door handle. With a small flat screwdriver, put it in on the left side and gently pry outward. This pieces comes off altogether:


Once the 3 screws are out, you will need to pop off the door panel. It's held in with a bunch of plastic pieces that snap in and out. Start at the bottom corner and use your fingers to pull out. You will hear them start to pop off one by one. Once you have all of the off, you will need to raise the panel a bit to get it off the window sill. You will need to disconnect the clip/wire that its barely visible in this picture. It is between the foam and the window sill. Just squeeze it and out it comes:


Once the panel is off, you let it hang by the 2 cables that go to the door handle. They won't come off.

The original speaker is held in place by 3 10mm screws. Remove the screws and unclip the speaker wire clip:


I purchased a speaker wire connector here:
Metra 71-035LC Speaker Wiring Harnesses For select 1992-up vehicles ? adapt new speakers to the factory wiring plugs at Crutchfield.com

Since my new 6.5 speakers didn't come with the plastic spacer ring, I cut out the original speaker to reuse the ring. I can't believe Toyota calls this a Premium audio system:




Here is the ring after I cut the old speaker out:


I then screwed the new speaker into the ring, and re-installed it on the door:


I can't share how much better this sounds, but hopefully this side-by-side picture will give you an idea:


The door goes back together easily enough.

Next up is to replace the 6x9 "premium" speakers in the front door with a pair of 6.5 component Kicker speakers. will place the mids in the door and the tweeters on the dash. I will also install 2 amps, one under each seat. One will power the 4 front and rear speakers, the other will power a sub in the trunk. I ordered some more install parts and will get to that soon enough.

Enjoy.

What is the improvement in sound quality like?

The new speakers sound much cleaner and crisper than the original ones.

The full improvement will be really heard once I'm done with the amps, sub and front speakers. all I wanted to do today was find out what speaker wire harnesses I needed, what spacer rings I needed for the front, and how to take apart the doors.

Since I had the rear doors apart and I was able to cannibalize the existing rings, I swapped the speakers today.

The wire harnesses I used today I had left over from my 2007 FJ Cruiser, which I had before this T4R. The 6x9 spacer rings to install the 6.5s that I had used in my FJC don't work for the T4R. I purchased these from Crutchfield today and hope they work:

Metra 82-8147 Speaker Mounting Brackets For select 2008-up Toyota vehicles ? adapt 6-1/2" and 6-3/4" speakers to fit factory speaker openings at Crutchfield.com

Crutchfield has not scoped out the 2014 T4R. I made a deal with them today. I am supposed to call them back to tell them if this fit the 2014 T4R. If they don't fit, they will pay for the shipping back.

Cant wait to see finished product. Subscribed for future reference.

Are you gunna do the tweeters too?

The 6.5 inch Kicker component speakers have 6.5 inch mids and 1 inch tweeters, and crossovers. I will run speaker wire from the amp to the crossover, then run the wire to the tweeters up to the dash location. For the mids in the front doors, i'll just tap into the existing speaker wire.

These are the speakers.
http://www.amazon.com/Kicker-11KS65-...onent+speakers

I have searched for how to take apart the center console (where the gear shifter is) and can't find it. I also haven't been able to find out how to remove the dash grill to get at the tweeters. So I'll have to figure it out myself. I will take pics and post another writeup when I get to it in the next couple of weeks.

[QUOTE/]

I have searched for how to take apart the center console (where the gear shifter is) and can't find it. I also haven't been able to find out how to remove the dash grill to get at the tweeters. So I'll have to figure it out myself. I will take pics and post another writeup when I get to it in the next couple of weeks.[/QUOTE]

It's on here somewhere but here's some good photos.
4Runner 12V Jack

Awesome write up! Look forward to see the rest.

If you can't find any spacers/adapters that work you can google up mr marv...he supplied mine and they worked really well. And they're made from wood vs plastic which is nice from a resonance standpoint I am sure. He normally does Tacoma rings I think but he's done my 4runner and I'm sure others by now so he's likely got it figured out.

The front doors come off as easily as the rears, and go back on even easier than the rears. Doesn't sound like you're running new wire into the doors...so I won't bore you with that.

The dash grilles just pry off - so long as your careful to not damage the dash they're very simple to pop on and off. You will need some sort of adapters there too as the factory speakers aren't just tweeters they're a 2.5 or 3" full range type speaker if I remember correctly (was a long time ago that I removed them).

Good luck!

Thanks for the note about the dash grill and mr marv. I will see if the ones from crutchfield work. I already took off the front door panels, that's how I know that the spacers I used in my 2007 FJ Cruiser don't work in the 14 T4R.

Hmmm, you're making me think on the dash. I may mount the tweeters along with the mids in the doors, and put some 3" speakers in the grill...

Nice, I'm debating on doing the same... are you going to dynamat the doors as well? I upgraded to all infinity speakers in my old 4runner and put dynamat on all 4 doors and tailgate... made a night and day difference in sound quality and also dampened road noise

I wasn't planning on it. I did one side of my FJCruiser and honestly could not justify the expense for how little difference it made. That car is much noiser than the T4R though. May make sense to do it here, it's just not on my radar for now.

I can't wait to hear if those new spacer rings from Crutchfield work. I've got two sets of 6.5 Polk DBs sitting in a closet doing nothing right now. If I can install them without any cutting/modification of any kind, it would be great. I am a complete novice at installs, but this looks fairly easy if those spacer rings work.

I can tell u that the front adapters that are for a tacoma and a 4 runner will not work that shape and holes are different

I will post up here if the spacer rings work. If you see the design in Crutchfield, they have several holes in each corner, so I'm crossing my fingers. The holes in this T4R are larger than the 6x9 holes in the 07 FJC.

The wiring harness definetely works and it's good to use if you don't want to cut any wires.

OK, so the adaptors came in and they fit the front door. The adaptors are:
Metra 82-8147 Speaker Mounting Brackets For select 2008-up Toyota vehicles ? adapt 6-1/2" and 6-3/4" speakers to fit factory speaker openings at Crutchfield.com



I just found 2 more speakers in the rear, on the lift gate. LOL! Truck is 10 days old, and I hadn't opened up the tail yet.

Looks like 5.25 inch back there. Anyone know which hiring harnesses work there and if spacer rings are needed?