2004 Tacoma Stereo / Speaker Help

I recently (in January) bought a 2004 Toyota Tacoma TRD (Double cab) w/ 37k miles on it from my local dealer.

While I love the truck, I hate the stereo with a fucking passion.

Here's my problem - I am having one hell of a time finding information on replacement speakers that fit the stock configuration that won't require any mods to the door panel.

The current set up (according to Crutchfield) is:

6x8's w/ 1.6" tweet up front
5x7's (or 6x8's) in back
4 din cd/tape deck

The only "match" I have found for the front speakers are Polk's top of the line SR5250 $800 component speakers. I'm not dropping $800 for a pair of speakers when Polk's DB (5251) line can be found for $150 on Amazon - and they rock.

Question - who has installed what components in the front door of their Tacoma? Is a little bit of modification to the door panel necessary regardless of what speakers I choose?

 

I am going to buy new speakers for my 03 tacoma extra cab and as long as you get the same speaker size that crutchfield.com says then you wont have to modify anything, just plug and play!

 

I thought front door were also 6x8's

 

I have JL Audio 6.5 seperates in the front and rear of my 02.

 

Problem is that Crutchfield says nothing is a direct match. Which is f'ing weird.

So - it's a question of how much vs how little of a mod I am going to have to do (or have the tech do). Unless of course Crutchfield is wrong and something will work w/out modding - they tried to sell me on w/ Infinity Reference components.

I'm just trying to figure out if anyone has ran into same issue and what their solution was.

 

Just call your audio shop and tell them what kind of truck you have and they'll know exactly what to put in for you.

 

I just put infinity 5x7s in my 04. I put them in the stock baffels/mounts. I had to cut the plastic a little with a dremal. It took about 15 minutes. They fit perfict with a little trimming. I didnt have to modify the door panel at all.

 

X2. I used some Infinity 6822cf speakers http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1086822CF/Infinity-Reference-6822cf.html?search=6822cf&ssi=0&tp=92 They are discontinued now, but they have a replacement pair that are basically the same. I put them in all four doors. Like mwild, I just had to do some cutting on the spacer (the black plastic thing that goes between the speaker and the metal on the door). It was a bit of cutting but a Dremel or a jigsaw can take care of it. The magnets on the Infinities were much larger than stock and that is why cutting is needed (it is only plastic that needs to be cut).

Front driver's door


At a later date, I put some mass loader on (pictured) and then put some sound absorbing material over that (not pictured). Sealing up those large access holes really helps bring out the mid bass. Rear door.

 

You can buy adapter rings that fit in the original mounts to allow a 6.5" or something else. That is the best option. The door panel sits far enough away from the speaker nothing will hit it unless you have the speaker mounted farther out than the original.

 

I just got done putting in alpine cde507 5x7 in mine. no cutting!!! Sounds great now I need to order a deck and bazooka tube from crutchfield.
You have 5x7s in your truck!

 

did you hook your stock tweeter back up? I hooked mine up, not sure if I should have. What deck do you have?

 

Ska? like Reel Big Fish, Aquabats, and other awesome music such as? If so big props!

I have the xtra cab, but I replaced front and back with 6x8 Pioneers and they fit perfectly, no problem at all. Also have a single DIN Alpine HU that fit fine with a mounting kit.

 

Just get adapter plates. They're cheap.

It's what a lot of install places will do.

It's easy and not a big deal. Then just put in 6.5's.

 

What do you guys do with the stock tweeter in the front doors? I haven't taken the door apart to look at it yet so I don't know how it's connected. I'm planning on buying some kenwood 3-way 6x8's so the stock tweeter won't be necessary will it?

 

I wouldn't hook it back up. It is very easily disconnected (you have to unplug it to take the door panel off.

I replaced all my speakers with kenwood 4way (3 different tweeters and the cone) 6x8's and reconnected the tweater. The stock head unit barely put enough power out to push the speakers. After I got my aftermarket HU, the speakers sounded great, but eventually the tweeters in the door panel started sounding like shit (crackling). If you got tweeters in the speakers, its not worth hooking the stock ones up.

You can replace them with good quality ones if you are really ambitious.

 

Thanks, I kind of figured what's the point of the tweeter when you'll have a new one. Last year I bought a kenwood head unit and I'm getting distortion from my stock speakers so I definitely need a upgrade. I figure Get Kenwood speakers for the Kenwood deck? These are the ones I'm looking to go with.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113KFC6894/Kenwood-KFC-C6894PS.html?tp=93

I'm just gonna start with the front speakers and see how it sounds.

 

I also installed some infinity speakers. I went with the 6832CF's. They are 5x7/6x8. This was my first time replacing factory speakers. To do all 4 doors it took me almost 3 hours. After you do one of the front doors the other front door takes half as long and the same with the rear doors. There is quite a bit of dremeling involved. The speakers sit in black plastic housings. You have to remove a fair amount of the plastic from the housing to get the new speakers to sit down all the way. But they do fit and the screw holes line up perfectly once you get the speaker to sit down in the housing. No cutting of any metal was involved in my install. You also have to un-solder the old speaker wires from the speaker. I reused the stock harnesses on the front doors and soldered them onto the new speakers. For the rear doors I had speaker adapter harnesses that I ordered....I ordered ones for the front doors as well but they came with the wrong connector.

Don't expect much of a difference in sound using the stock head unit and no amplifiers at all. In fact I had one new speaker installed in the front and couldn't tell the difference between the new and the old speaker in the other door. I am installing a new head unit (higher power output) and am hoping that these speakers come alive. If you don't plan on increasing the power to the speakers either via new head unit or amplifier than I definitely would not waste my time installing aftermarket speakers. You won't even be able to tell a difference...especially when listing to the staticky fm/am radio.

 

While we're talking about installing/upgrading speakers, it bears mentioning that stock Toyota head units are DETUNED (both bass and treble control range from -5 to +5)(+max volume w/o worry of distortion; - far less fidelity on either end of the eq)so any talk about upgrading the speakers and realizing even the most meager results MUST involve first upgrading the head unit. Otherwise, any money spent upgrading the speakers simply won't be worth it. (Premium speakers will still sound unimpressive producing sound with trimmed highs and lows.) I say this to underscore points already made about putting the amp/head unit issue before your speaker issue, unless strictly replacing a busted speaker.
That being said- .....Personally, I'm still attached to my stock unit. It helps that I'm running a 100W JBL amp to a pair of 3-way MTX's in the jump area, which add a bit of the missing punch on either end(both hi & low.)

 

They stopped talking about it 3 years ago.

 

I wanted to share this JL Audio C3 570 will fit with trimming of plastic bezel and bending the metal of the door slightly,
tweeter mounts in stock location snaps in with hot-glue to ensure it stays

2004 Tacoma 4x4 Extra cab