1987 rear speakers

[gaijinrider]

So I wanted to put in a little more volume in the back of my '87. But I quickly discovered that there are some difficulties with installing after market speakers in the plastic wall in the rear section of the truck. So I got creative.

I bought 1/4" plywood and reconstructed the mold to replace the plastic rear panels. Leaving the access holes to the side panel and cutting in mounts for 6X9" speakers. Realizing that I would either need to carpet the wood or find another way to make it look nice, I decided that doing a 'bed liner' over the back might not look bad. Plus, I had been wanting to do it for a while anyway.

 

[gaijinrider]

pics

 

[gaijinrider]

more pics

 

[gaijinrider]

fitting the new panel

 

[gaijinrider]

after the covering...

 

[gaijinrider]

seats re-installed

 

[gaijinrider]

FINISHED!

 

[gaijinrider]

Left side

 

[4runninAZ]

that looks great i think im going to steal your designs man! my plastic is cracked and the speakers are just hanging there. i have a 10 inch sub woofer i think ill try to put that in the wood too anyone have ideas for that i want it just out of the way!

 

[gaijinrider]

It would be possible to mount a 10" sub woofer where the right side access panel is instead of cutting a whole for the access, just cut the mount hole for the speaker. I would recommend using 1/2" plywood instead of the 1/4" I used. I don't think 1/4" would support the weight of the magnet.

One problem I see right away with the thicker ply is that it will be difficult to smoothly remount the paneling by the seats.

 

[4runninAZ]

true, maybe i can use the 1/4 for half the right side then use 1/2 inch of the part holding the sub, i just dont want a box in the way of storage room. maybe make some extra support and still use 1/4

 

[gaijinrider]

That would be the way to go. Also, It might be possible to close the whole 'box' in by custom fitting a board just aft of the seat belts in the rear. Some creative caulking and your in there!!

 

[podzhopnik]

big sub like a 10incher creates a lot of vibration. too maximize the performance i suggest to use a board as thick as possible to prevent exssessive flexing. 3/4" will work just fine. Use MDF(medium density fiberboard) for best results. If still going with thin board then i suggest cross bracing to stiffen up the area. maybe create a isolated enclosure and stuff it with insulation to fool the sub into thinking that it's in a larger enclosure.
Don't ask me how that works

 

[4runninAZ]

where can i find that mdf stuff??

 

[podzhopnik]

any store that sells lumber. it should be next to plywood and particle board. it comes in a 4X8 feet sheet. Maybe some store will sell half of sheet. the reason i suggested MDF is because all high end woofer enclosures are made from it. Particle board will work too and it's cheaper, it's just not as stiff. You can still make an enclosure and not have it stick out. Make the enclosure shallow and long. Also, the woofer does not have to be in the center of the enclosure.

 

[7seanc]

This is a really cool idea, I'm probably going to do it to my 87. Were you able to close the back corner where the original plastic curves around?