DIY: Basic Speaker Upgrade- 2nd Gen Access Cab

Hey better to talk to someone that knows what you are looking for rather than a bunch of sales kids describing what is "da bomb"!

^^ Happened to me, and I'm only 31!

The rewiring that Rich91710 describes is if you want to keep the factory 'tweeter' and only replace the bottom speaker (which is called the midrange). In this situation there is no crossover to worry about.

If you are replacing both the factory 'tweeter' and the midrange speaker, then you would be getting what is known as a component speaker setup, which includes a crossover.
The crossover takes the signal from the stereo and splits the high tones to the tweeter and the low tones to the midrange.
the crossover resembles a small box, about the size of a double stacked deck of cards, and is usually mounted in the door, under the seats, or against the rear wall somewhere.
In this instance, you would have to take the wire that ran to the door speaker and send it to the crossover, then send new wires from the crossover to the midrange and the tweeter. It's actually not too bad of a process, it's mostly fiddling with a coat hook and electrical tape as you poke the wires around.

Baffles look like this. They are rings that go around the speakers to act as mounting brackets.

 

Chicky,
Thanks for all the info!
I think I am going with the recommendation you made on the Alpine setup.
According to the site, those have "built-in crossover", so kinda plug n play.
Replace both tweeter and midrange and Boogie.

Now I'm getting sucked into "Dynamat".
Geeeez.

 

lol, wasn't really my recommendation in speaker, though Alpine is good meat n' potatoes approach. The best speakers are the ones your ears tell you are great.

Instead of Dynamat, go with RAAMmat. Better cost and you get a discount from the TW forum!

 

No... I was referring to rewiring being needed if you want to eliminate the factory tweeter... with the options being to go with a coax or tri-ax main speaker or a separate crossover.

If you just unplug the factory tweeter without doing the rewiring I described, you will have no signal to the main speaker.

If you leave the factory tweeter, an aftermarket head unit and/or amp may overload it.

 

bleh. This is why I go all aftermarket.

 

did you just go raamat or MLV also?

 

Ensolite on rear wall and on the front doors. I still have some left over to do the rear doors at some point.

 

Was the rear wall hard to do?
I've got the factory subwoofer , not sure how difficult it is to remove?

 

FOR DC OWNERS:
I didn't have factory sub.
rear wall plastic is easy to remove.
Underneath is ridged metal, looks kinda like the floor of the bed, but not coated or anything.
Depending on what you are doing on the rear wall depends on what you need to do. I had a box made by Mr. Marv, it fit so snugly that all I could do was put the RAAMmat in the grooves and then do ensolite against the wall.
If you wanted to take things further, you'd either be removing seats or fiberglassing stuff in.

FOR AC OWNERS:
I really don't know what the back looks like, but I'd imagine you can't get much back in there without having difficulty with stuff fitting back together. You would have to talk to an AC owner who's gone the distance on that job.

 

sub

 

*this is for 05 to 08 (09 and up the rear seating arrangement changed) removing the back panel on an AC is easy. It's just held in by plastic tabs, just make sure you WATCH for where there is that thing you can remove for the baby seat, there's a small plastic strip that will break if you just take off the panel. Unbolt the metal brackets first, then you can pull the back panel off.

 

Thanks dude for that added know-ology!

 

So, I ordered these from Crutchfield, http://www.crutchfield.com/S-XEDi8KlbjAt/p_500SPS610C/Alpine-SPS-610C.html?tp=106

And now I need a mount for the new tweeters as well as the Raamat, Ensolite so I can do it all at once.

What I really need is some instructions on the factory sub removal, and seats to get the back wall deadened?

I'm gonna replace the fronts, deaden those doors, deaden the back wall, and Krank up Van Morrison; to show my age.

 

They get a lot of bad press due to their complete lack of response to emails, but for something simple that can't be fucked up like speaker adapters, I went with *********.

They sell a complete kit with adapters that will work for both the mids and tweeters with all hardware for under $50.
Just be sure that you give them the information they need to do it properly, which is the make and model of your new speakers, and the diameter hole needed... both manufacturer's recommended size hole, and an actual measurement from the tweeter.

When I ordered the set for my Polk speakers, I had my ********* adapters in 3 days.

The bad press? I sent an email asking a simple question. Never got a response.


There is an issue with the factory tweeter wiring that you need to be aware of if you are not going to rewire your doors.

 

Actually there's more. The only reason I keep pecking at this is because it got really ugly. Maybe things have shaped up?

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/audio-video/50597-*********-really-pissing-me-off.html

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/audio-video/18756-custom-sub-box.html#post246645

Please note that robsatx deleted or 'fixed' some of his posts when he knew he was in danger of being banned.

 

All I can go by is my experience and those of people I know.

A couple of the guys at work have bought the full speaker system and adapters and recommended them.
I bought my adapters, and they arrived PDQ.

But like I said... I asked about the tweeter wiring in an email.
They've got all kinds of cool videos that show the basic installation... things that anyone with a basic level of mechanical understanding can do without instructions... but they don't go into wiring.

They show the speaker installation, but that's it.... they don't show the connections being made.

I sent one email, and never got a response.

 

Rich,
You're starting to freak me out.
When I placed my order with Crutchfields, I told them I basically wanted to "plug and play".
They informed me that the setup I chose was just that. Built-in crossovers, mounting baffles for the mid-range, and that I was on my own for the tweeter mounting bracket only. Setup would come with wiring adapters to connect and go.

Now if I hear you right, you're saying there's more to it?????

I was gonna order the TT tweeter adapters once I get the speakers and can measure them.

I was gonna deaden the front doors and I will be pissed if I hit the "play" button and it doesn't after I insulate all those layers.

Thanks for your input.

 

when I put in my 6.5" comps all I did was cut the main wire going to the speaker set (still have them all connected as they were factory so if I need to reinstall them), wire that to the crossover and then install as you would normally (wiring the mid and tweeter accordingly). I also deadened my front doors.

so basically, cut the main wire that comes from the H.U. and you will be fine. Wire the speakers accordingly and then test BEFORE final install. Rule of thumb before putting everything back on. Better to do it right the first time than having to deal with a headache and worn out parts.

 

It's not bad at all

Here is the factory wiring:



The speakers are wired in parallel, so if both speakers have the proper crossover filters, it will work.

However, note that the parallel connection is made inside the shrink wrap for the factory tweeter. If you just unplug the tweeter, you'll be left with 4 wires... and they are literally in and out... and no power to the mid.
You will need to cut the tweeter off of the factory harness and wire the new tweeter to that.

Crutchfield will likely include and adapter that will allow the mid to plug into the harness, but I doubt they will include a tweeter adapter, so you'll need to cut and solder that part.

 

So you made the factory harness cut ahead of the tweeter.

That will work too, but then it's not quite as "plug and play" since you can't use the Crutchfield speaker harness adapters.