stereo upgrade -- gen 1

[tamarindo2]

Just bought an 86 gen 1 4runner. Upgrading the sound system and have a question that I wanted to put out there.

Has anyone upgraded the 4 inch dashboard speakers and ended up with a good sound? Or is it better to cut out some larger (6 x 9) holes in the front doors?

 

[fourwd1]

I upgraded to some highend stock size (4"?) and they sound decent.

I put some cheap replacemnt speakers in the rear, but the mounting location acts as a big speaker enclosure, and they sound much better than I ever thought.

If you have/want one of those "want to go deaf" audio systems, you may need to go elsewhere.

 

[ultrabongo]

I replaced the dashboard speakers with better quality ones from a Saab, and put two cheap thumpers under the seat. Its OK, but its a loud machine. I got an 86 as well. If you want to hear the stereo at highway speed, you'll have to address all the regular noise an old truck makes. You can do acoustic insulation of the firewall, doors, and floors, using Dynamat or a similar product. Or get some from a junked highend car- MB or Audi. The only problem with this is with a hi mileage truck you WANT to hear what its doing so you can catch stuff before its too late.

 

[the_dingman]

Your biggest challange in these trucks is going to be noise. The previous owner to my current 4Runner apparently didn't get that when he put in some really high end stuff.

My old one had 4 cheap 6x9s (one in the back seat on each side, and one behind the back seat on each side), and a small single 10" bandpass box behind the seats and it sounded great.

Current truck has nice Polk 6x9s by the back seats and Boston Acoustics components in the front doors, plus the same bandpass box, and it doesn't sound very good. Somehow the better quality stuff just isn't helping as it distorts when you get the volume over the road noise.

My plan is to keep the low frequency 5.25" component speakers in the doors, but move the tweeters into the old 4" speaker positions, they sound like crap mounted in the bottom of the doors.

 

[oneflat83]

first off. lets start by saying the door speakers should be where its at. the rear speakers are just for fill sound. spend all the money on good door speakers. You can get a set of shallow mounts on ebay for under a hundred if you look around. second. dont skimp on your amp. clean sound comes from clean power. lastly, if you have a noisy truck spend a few hours fixing rattles. take out the carpet and put down sound deadening. get a quiet muffler. I mean, the 22re isnt a perfomance engine anyway....why make it loud?