Speaker Installation Questions

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NViejeP

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I'm debating on whether I need professional help installing these speakers or whether I can do it myself.

I'm not too great with electronics adn stuff, but I'm not bad also. I did make my own computer if that helps at all.

But, my questions are

1) do I need some speaker harnesses in order to install aftermarket speakers?

2) Would you recommend that I get the components installed by professionals?

3) Would you recommend that I get my coaxials installed by professionals?

Thanks in advance. This will all help me save money in the end.
 
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most people just tapped into the existing wiring, im sure you can find a diagram of colors by searching.

the speaker hooks up to wires using connections that you can buy at radioshack beucase i think the factory wires were soldered... then again you can solder the wires to the new speaker also if you wanted to.

if you are using factory wiring then all you need to do is hook it up, if youre running a new head unit then the wires will come out of the harness that you will have to buy to connect the head unit.

if youre running it from an amp, then you can eitehr tap into the wires that are going into the doors or you can run new wires into the door but thats kinda a pain in the ass even though i did it.

coaxials shoudlnt be a problem... components usually have crossovers which you may or may not have to set depending on what speakers you get. most crossovers are pretty simple with few options on crossover points and/or slope and level.

most panels are easy to take out, the sail panels are kinda tricky, my car is a 96 and the bracket holding it together broke when i took it out beucase it was just old and frail..

its all pretty simple as long as you know what (+) and (-) means and if youre not colorblind i think you will be ok doing it yourself

then again if youre not sure, it shoulnt be more than 50 bucks to get someone to do it for you.. .then you dont have to worry abotu breaking panels and losing screws.
 
Yah thats true. Taking out hte door panels might be a pain.

I'd be willing to give it a shot if all I have to do is connect the existing speaking wire to my new speaker, but if I have to solder and stuff like that, I'm not too good about that stuff. Does anyone have a step by step tutorail for a 3rd gen?
 
its basically the same thing

just pop out the window/door lock panel, unplug the wires

take out the armrest and 2 screws under it,

one screw on the door handle lever

one tab in the front corner near the dash, just push in the middle and pull it out

another similar tab on the edge of the panel between teh armrest and top

then you just pull out the bottom and sides and slide up the door from the window
 
Okay so here is what I need to do for the coaxials.

1) Remove the door panel.
2) Unscrew the speaker.

3) What do I do with the wiring, I'm really confused on the topic of wiring. I did a search and some people cut it, crutchfield said to attach a harness. Some people said I don't need a harness.

Sorry Jade for my ignorance. But thanks a lot for the help, I appreciate it.
 
the panels are easy to remove i had all 4 off in 15 minutes
wiring isint bad to do but now comes the hard part for me
mounting new speakers you need wood or fiberglass and u must make a bracket
 
franco said:
the panels are easy to remove i had all 4 off in 15 minutes
wiring isint bad to do but now comes the hard part for me
mounting new speakers you need wood or fiberglass and u must make a bracket
Click to expand...

Really now? I can't use the old brackets, even if I use the same size?
 
i used factory speaker brakcets and it worked fine for me. if you have a speaker that doesnt fit into the factory bracket, i am sure that you can easily find one after a quick search on google.

for wiring:
what all is being replaced? are you just replacing the factory speakers with new ones or are you adding HU and amp etc?

what is powering your speakers? is it an amp? or head unit? if headunit, is it factory or aftermarket?

if you are just replacing the factory speaker for a new speaker, just unscrew the old one, cut the wires going to it taking note of which is positive and negative, and then just buy some wire connectors from radioshack. if you want, just bring a bit of the wire and your speaker and tell them you want the two connected (connectors are wire gauge specific).

they look like this:

pRS1C-2266843w345.jpg


all you will have to do is strip the rubber sheath of the wire so that there are a few centimeters of bare metal wire, slide the connector over the wire and crimp it down with some pliars. then you just slide the connector into the speaker connector.

all the different things you have been hearing about wiring... those are just different ways that people prefer to get the signal to the speaker. personally, i repalced the factory wires with a better one. to do that i just had to rewire the whole car. if you dont care about that, the easiest thing to do is just tap into the factory speaker wires that were going from your factory head unit to the factory speakers. so if you are running the speakers from your headunit, the harness going to the headunit should take care of all of that so that the signal is already going to your speakers using the factory wires.

if you have an amp in the back, all you need to do is run a new wire near the door, find the factory speaker wires going into the door, and just tap into them.
 
My entire plan:

Right now I have a aftermarket head unit.

I plan on buying all 4 speakers to replace my factory speakers. I plan on getting the components profesionally installed. But I might wnat to tyr to install the coaxials on my own to save money.

I plan on wiring all 4 speakers to the head unit for now, until I get more money for an amp, which I will get profesionally installed.

Also, probably the last question, instead of cutting the wire would I just be able to bypass everything by taking out the plug off the factory speaker and putting a harness on that to connect to my aftermakets or would this not be possible?

Thanks a lot for the help Jade. Appreciate everything.
 
if you currently have an aftermarket HU and your factory speakers are currently playing music then you can just go ahead and replace the factory speaker...

the factory wire will most likely be soldered onto the factory speaker so you will need to cut that and get a connector.. thats it.

components arent too different or difficult... you may consider trying to install it yourself if your eally want to save money.
 
Yah but the crossovers and tweeters kind of scare me, I'm really new to the whole audio scene, maybe my next upgrade I will. I prefer a profesional doing it. But I think I'll go ahead and do the coaxials. Whats the worst that could happen? Haha

thanks for putting up through my ignorance
 
On my 2000 runner sr5 same as yours I installed boston acoustic coaxials in the rear doors....these are a little strange because they only have 3 screws holding them in, no fiberglass required. Boston is the only speaker that doesent require mods...that i have seen. The fronts are easy..direct fit , I dont remember the size but crutchfield has a chart, I think its 5.25". Jl makes a direct fit tweeter as does dei and a dozen other companies to fit in the upper door panel. just buy the harness at suckit city to bypass the crappy factory amp, plug that in, clip off the factory speaker connectors in the doors, strip the wires, take out your trusty bic lighter and solder the factory wires to your new speakers. Pay attention to polarity and dont burn down your runner....oh yeah....dont get pissed and yank on the door panel they're expensive
 
tacotunes

Their speaker adapters look OK but check-out the shipping charge.

$11.95 for two pieces of plastic.......ouch !!!
 
im installing a system on my 05 runner i wired everything installed the amps the only problem is mounting the speakers to my door panels. i tried with mdf wood but i suck at cutting wood they is getting me pissed the speakers are smaller and go through the hole.
 
Same Boat

Hey i was kinda like you... but i think i can help ya out... seeing as im 16 also and we weren't ignorant as you said but new to the whole automotive scene right...we turned 16 we can drive we never thought about it b4...but i think i speak an understandable language ..... to change front door speakers...disconn. battery... remove the door panel...i have pics if you dont know how...i used simple butt connectors and electrical tape to connect my new spaekers... a simple cut and splice job and it works perectly too...
 

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thanks for the help kregg. I'm pretty confident in my installing abilities of the coaxials. I'll be able to figure it out, I'm not as electrically retarded as I may sound. I'm just worried and I'm trying to make sure I don't screw anything up.

My main concern right now is the wiring, I really don't know what it's going to look like. all I know is I cut the old wires off the factory speaker, cut some rubber. I guess I'll take a look at my new speaker and see what I have to connect it to.

And antoher thing, my freakin MP3 player just died. My backpack had like a puddle of water in it, so much for Jansports waterproof backapcks. anyways, going to see if I can sell it broken on ebay for like $50 and I'll probably have to buy a new iPod which will set me back.

hoping to reel in around $200 for my birthday, all of which probably will go into my ipod lol
 
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