Front Door Panels

Thinking about adding some new speakers to my non JBL 2018 access cab...just the front doors and maybe the tweeters.

I've watched a couple good YouTube videos, and it seems simple enough.

But I have zero patience, and a temper from hell.

There is a stereo shop about 8 miles from me that got killer reviews, but at the same time I don't like people fucking with my truck.

I know great multitudes of y'all have replaced the front speakers. Is there any thing about removing the door panel that's a bitch?

 

Patience is required. If you know you do not have it, frustration will compound.

You need a plastic trim panel removal tool to minimize damage to small door panel parts.

One of the most annoying parts is that removing a triangular panel near the mirror puts 3 tiny white clips want to drop inside the door. Some prevent this by saving them to the side when you can see them and apply to the panel first instead of pushing the panel into the clips and the clips must be literally "vacuumed out" because they are hard to find.

Also there is the entire assembly of door lock and window motor/control buttons you do not want to disturb.

Patience is required. You know your own limits.

 

As @RichochetRabbit said, nothing to be afraid of. DIY.

I've pulled door panels and replaced speakers on umpteen cars and trucks over the decades and the Tacoma's is probably one of the easiest.

An inexpensive set of trim tools

$8 Tresalto Auto Trim Removal Tool Kit - 5pcs (No Scratch Plastic Pry Kit), Door Panel Removal Tool, Car Clips, Push Rivets, Molding, Dashboards, Interior Trim Tools, Blue

like this, a little patience and you'll be good to go. Worst thing you could do is lose or break one of the clips that attaches the panel to the door. See below.

I've replaced all of the door speakers with Infinity Reference and the tweeters with

$80 DS18 PRO-ST OEM Subaru/Toyota Upgrade Bullet Compression Tweeters with Crossovers 1.9" - Car OEM Tweeter Upgrade Kit for Many Subaru/Toyota Models - Replacement for H631SFJ101 and H631SFJ100 (Pair)

DS18 ProST. Consider adding sound deadener to the outer door skins for improved base (and less road noise) while you're at it. Makes the OE (non JBL) stereo sound pretty good. More here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/accessories-worth-getting.796560/page-6#post-28666444

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2023-tacoma-rear-speaker-sound-problem.800676/#post-29087481

If you or anyone that follows ends up needing replacement door clips, these work great:

$8 50PCS Door Trim Panel Retainers Clips Compatible with Toyota, Lexus, Camry, High Lander, RAV4, FJ Cruiser, 4-Runner ES 350, GX 470, is 250, is 350, is F, LS 460 & LS 600HL 90467-A0005

https://www.amazon.com/Retainers-Compatible-Cruiser-4-Runner-90467-A0005/dp/B0B4YZKWP2

$6 Rexka 20pcs Door Garnish Moulding Retainer Clip Compatible with Toyota Lexus 67771-58010 Tundra Tacoma Sequoia RAV4 Land Cruiser Highlander C-HR Yaris Scion xD

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08R247XX6?ie=UTF8

Hope that helps!

 

You don't have to remove the latch cables from the inside door handle. many have locked themselves out because they didn't correctly reinstall them. you can remove the handle with cables attached from the door panel. it's how the FSM says to do it.

 

Curious on speaker choice- component, 2wY or 3way? For Front and rear?Whenever I looked into doing speakers I never wanted to go with the common recommendation of kicker just cause that’s what the common tweeter swap is but then would get stumped on best type of speaker for the application. Like is it better to have component in front and 2wY in rear or 2wY front 3wY rear or all same? Not an audiophile just looking for better sound with no plans to dynomat etc

 

The 2 videos I watched both popped the door latch out of the panel, and let it hang by the cables.

 

The infinity (6x9 front and 6.5 rear) are two-way speakers and have a decent response curve/sound for the price. Have had Kickers which were fine (although tried the Kicker tweeters and returned them for the DS18s). Have Rockford Fosgates and JBLs in our other vehicles. All depends on the sound and price whenever I'm in the market. If you're planning on keeping the OE stereo there's really no reason to spend a lot on speakers IMHO, just replacing the OE speakers improves everything overall. That said, the DS18s do an excellent job with high-end and probably made the biggest difference of the six.

Sound deadener inside the doors (used Fat Mat Rattletrap) really helps with low-end sound and is really easy to do while you have the speakers out - peel and stick. A powered sub would help even more. But then again, once you start down that road it can cost more than just replacing the head unit with one that has a good amp, etc.

Someone here installed JBL component front speakers - two-way door and tweeters in the dash. More wiring to run and all but they said it sounded quite good. I like that the DS18 tweeters are PNP and Crutchfield includes the connectors for the door speakers so PNP there as well. My days of running wires everywhere are pretty much behind me.

Also keep in mind that the rear speakers receive less power than the fronts. Lots of folks just leave the rears alone. I noticed a little improvement when I replaced our rear speakers when I adjusted the output to include a little more rear, but if I were to do it again, I'd just leave them alone as well.

So without additional power, IOW adding an amp and/or replacing the head unit, new speakers aren't going to make the OE unit sound anything more than decent, just better than it sounds with the OE speakers. I've built some nice sound systems, but the Taco's a truck and I didn't want/expect it to be a great audiophile-level sound stage.

 

Yes, that is correct. I forgot that the YT DIY guy removed the cables which isn't necessary. I deleted the video for that reason. The handle mechanism easily pops out of the door and just as easily pops back in.

 

If I go with an aftermarket head unit, I'd still be able to have the backup camera...right?

I don't give a shit about Apple, or Android stuff, as long as I'd be able to listen to tunes from a flash drive.

Stopped by a local stereo shop that had great reviews. Told the dude I just wanted some good sounds. This is the estimate he gave me, he's got a connection to DS18. Plus he said he'd need my truck for 2 days. I may have zero patience, and a temper from hell, but I can do this for a hell of a lot less than $900 labor!

I was thinking I could just change out the 4 front speakers, and have a noticeable improvement. If replacing the head unit would get me better sound, hell I can do that. Would Crutchfield be the best place to buy everything?

The estimate.

 

Great post! Where exactly would the deadening material go? TIA

 

Yes, you'd need to double-check with the seller, but most (if not all) replacement head units will utilize the OE backup camera in our Tacos. With an adapter like this one they also keep the steering wheel controls (SWC) and the on-screen vehicle data like the OE stereo. Whether you use Apple Car Play or Android Auto, most have it anyway (look for wireless) and it'll be a plus when you go to sell one day.

So it looks like they're quoting adding an amp, a subwoofer and 6 new speakers? I guess it's not a terrible deal depending on what they're using. I can only ID the DS18 tweeters which are PNP. Running wires for the sub, the amp and such would take a while. No idea what their hourly charge is or how fast they work, but it all could be done in a day, probably less by professionals IMHO. So $900 might be reasonable but maybe not? But again, if you take your time, even if you've never done it before, it's a DIY if you have the time and patience. It's always good to know one's limits though.

Guess I'd ask how much a good head unit (Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood, Sony, etc.) would run. Might not need an amp or sub depending on the head unit and what you're looking for. I'd think that would cost less in the end.

The door speakers can easily be replaced in a few hours (probably less once you do one) and the tweeters in about 15-30 minutes.

Me? This is just about the first vehicle I've owned where I didn't replace the stereo. I kind of like the OE stereo so I decided that I'd replace the speakers with decent ones that would also work with a new head unit if I wasn't happy with the results. Although I wish there was a bit more "oomph" bass-wise, I'm happy. A powered subwoofer would nicely fill in the rest. For an OE stereo with upgraded speakers, I'm happy with it, but that's a really personal decision.

Sounds like you have a good plan with replacing the two front door speakers with reasonably good 2-ways, PNP tweeters like Kicker or DS18 (my preference) and see what you think. If you need more you could add an amp, sub, etc. If you want a concert venue, sky's the limit.

Crutchfield doesn't sell the DS18 brand so I bought the DS18 tweeters from Amazon. The rest came from Crutchfield because they sell (or sometimes include for free) the PNP speaker mounts and wire adapters. I've bought home and car audio from them for more than 20 years now. Competitive pricing, excellent support and return policy as well. Here's a good primer from them:

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-HmaxU0TCLR7/learn/2016-up-toyota-tacoma.html?omnews=11081047

So do some more research (here and elsewhere), decide what your goal is and go for it!

Hope that helps.

 

The deadening material works best on the inside skin of the doors. Some just put it behind the speaker opening, but it's fairly easy to stick it to most of the inside of the door by reaching through the speaker opening in the door. Forgot to take photos of the front door, but here's how it looks in the back door.

Keep in mind that you don't want it to interfere with any of the mechanics inside like the power windows, etc. If you feel around in there, with the window in the down and up positions, you can tell where it should and should not go. For the Taco there's a lot of clearance though.

FWIW, there are a bunch of threads on the forum that show what other folks have done and what they recommend if you do a search.

EDIT: Earlier I mentioned my go-to sound deadener, FatMat Rattletrap. Just looked and their prices have gone up quite a bit. I've been happy with

$30 Noico 80 mil 10 sqft car Sound deadening mat, Butyl Automotive Sound Deadener, Audio Noise Insulation and dampening

Noico Sound Deadener which is cheaper. I think Amazon has a house brand too but I've never used it. I've always used 80 mil. It's easy to cut the material up with a sharp box cutter. Doesn't really matter how neat it is as long as you're covering the metal surface. No one's probably ever going to see your work.

 

I called Critchfield asking about a new head unit and the 4 up front speakers. I told the girl I just wanted some good sounding tunes. She said with these speakers in the link, I'd get a noticeable upgrade using my stock head unit. The first link is with Kicker tweeters. Told her I've hear a few weren't happy with them. She then sent me a link for a different set of 6x9's, and I could buy Subaru or DS18 tweeters from somewhere else. I'm not looking for concert hall sound, just noticeably better than what I have.

Was most impressed they didn't want to sell me more. Sounds like a stand up honest company.

Set with tweeters.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_20648KSS26/Kicker-48KSS269.html


Set without.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_20647KSC69/Kicker-47KSC6904.html

 

Either way looks like a good option.

IIRC @02Duck has the Kicker 48KSS269 door and tweeter set and might chime in.

Nice that Crutchfield includes all of the wiring harness adapters and speaker mounts in the price. They are great folks.

 

only you can determine if you're capable of installing speakers. having zero patience and a temper from hell isnt exactly the best combination for DIY efforts.

 

I have access to Grey Goose, and 10mg Valium, plus an awesome set of tools. Just need to buy the trim removal stuff.

Was able to remove this dreaded pinned and welded flash hider so the correct one fit a few days ago without breaking anything!

 

If some of your temper and impatience comes from your past disassembly of door panels, you will find the Tacoma easy. I've taken mine off multiple times and have not broken anything at all - I cannot say that for other vehicles I've owned or the rear doors to my Access Cab. As far as I'm concerned you do not even need any of those plastic trim removal tools, just grab the plastic panel at the bottom and pull. Remove all other retainers first, such as the pin below the mirror panel, the screw under the pull handle and the screw behind the door latch plastic trim. There maybe more, but since you have watched a few videos, I believe those would have been covered.

Agree with adding sound deadening, I did, but not for improved radio sound, but for just the closing of the doors sounding not so tinny. I will do the same to my remaining vehicles whenever I have their doors open again.

Do watch those three retainers on the mirror panel, as mentioned they can be lost down into the door. Proper reinstallation is to place them on the plastic panel not on the sheet metal door.

 

Agree with adding sound deadening when you have the panels off. It definitely makes the doors feel nicer when they close them and the bass seems better. But I'd do it again if for nothing but the better feel of the doors. Make sure to put some around the handles, it makes them feel solid.

Also went with the KS Kickers based on Crutchfield and am very happy with them. I was worried I'd need an amp to get the sound I was looking for. I'm happy with these speakers and the stock unit.

 

hope you’re still > 16” or else the atf is gonna come kill your dog.


Regarding speakers… if you only put new speakers into the front door, they are going to be underpowered and not sound good. The stock head unit does not have enough guts to power them correctly.

I did new speakers front and rear, Line Out Converter from the stock HU, amp, and a sub box behind the rear seats. All in a few years ago was around a grand from crutchfield (they are great btw). Install took a few days to run new speaker wires, Amp wires, and the like. It sounds great and I’m glad I did it as well as added sound deadener in the doors. Sorry don’t have any pics off install but here is what I bought… some was open box at crutchfield.