Front and Rear Speaker install

[LittleBeast]

I know there are other threads on here on this same topic, but I thought I would add some photos to help us more visual oriented people along if you are wondering what is behind all that plastic and have not pulled the VX open yet. I added 4 INFINITY Reference 6020cs 6½" Component to the front and rear stock locations, it sounds so so much better, those tweeters are amazing!

Front Tweeters installed, I had to cut some holes in the plastic, but I think it turned out great:


Front woofers fit perfectly in the stock location no cutting needed:


Tweeter pod hanging there, woofer installed:


Back of tweeter install:


Tweeter installed in the rear passenger side and woofer installed:


Close up of woofers in rear:


Tweeter in rear Drivers Side:


Tweeter in rear Passenger Side:


Woofer installed behind speaker panels, passenger side:


Woofer installed behind speaker panels, Drivers side:


New cutout for larger than stock speakers in rear:


New Cut Our for larger than stock speakers in rear:


Comparison of stock 4" woofer and 6 1/2" Infinity Component System:


The only real necessary parts to remove in the rear to make things easier is the rear handle bars, hand holds. You slide the rubber covers off and there are 2 screws, then the panels covering the speakers just have a lot of pop tabs that pop out of place to release the panels that cover the rear speakers. Parts I remove:


Behind Passenger side speaker panel, notice location of all the pop tabs:


Behind Passenger side speaker panel, notice location of all the pop tabs:


Behind Passenger side speaker panel towards the top, notice location of all the pop tabs and notice where the rear passenger handles were removed, this is the only real necessary thing to remove outside of all the pop tabs on the panel covering the speakers, and notice the tape looking thing on the body panel, this is the area I used to have room for the tweeter on the back side:


Behind Drivers side speaker panel, notice location of all the pop tabs:


Behind Passengers side speaker panel, notice location of all the pop tabs:


This is the Fastener on the connection between the rear panels on the drivers side and the far rear panel that houses the factory jack. Notice if you wanted to remove the far rear panel you would have to remove this screw, but this screw does not need to be removed to replace the speakers as the panel that covers the speaker area simply pops in place in this area:

[LittleBeast]

These are all shots of the optional far rear panels that house the factory jack and lug nut wrenches, etc. These panels do not need to be taken off to replace speakers in rear, but doing so does give you more room to work with. Unlike the panels that cover the speakers however there panels have a few fasteners that need to be removed before it pops out from the pop tabs. Here are the locations of the screws, etc.


This is the reason that these far rear panels feel like they are so firmly in place, each far rear panel has these two bolts holding them in, and these bolts are only accessible after you have popped most of the panels that cover the speakers out of place:

[Mark B]

Great Pics. I still want to do my speakers when I have the time.
Thanks to all who have done the speaker replacement and posted pics. It will help me when I do mine.

[Joe Isuzu]

well done littlebeast, good pictures
to those who are preparing to tackle this, please go ahead and purchase a number of those christmas tree fasteners, you will undoubtedly break several of them putting the panels back into place

[tysamigo]

where do you get the "christmas tree fasteners"?

[Scott Harness]

Thanks Ryan! mine need to be done before any long road trip. very helpfull

[Ldub]

where do you get the "christmas tree fasteners"?

Bring an old one with you (for comparison) to NAPA, or any place that sells automotive paint/body supplies, they should have something that will work.

[a745035]

LittleBeast, excellent job with the photos and cataloging of the process. Same to all others who've tackled this job and contributed. I'm going with Polk 2-ways (DB651)for the rear. I figure the sound stage is mostly up front anyway with my Polk Components (DB6501), and if I haul around little passengers, tweets won't be right in their ears.

I read most who do this job go with shallow-mount speakers. I'd really PREFER to go with the non-shallow Polk DB651 for better driver excursion due to the already-limited bass response in that "free-air" location. I know the magnet depth is exactly the same for both Polks 2-way models (slim vs. non-slim), but not sure if the tweeter height on the non-slims will make it under the stock panel grills.

Any insight into this, measurements for distance between the speaker mounting plates and the outermost convex curvature of the stock grill once installed... or general opinions about the sound of the Polk DB651 vs. DB651s? (I know this mod means 6.5's" would be mounted a bit higher than the stock grill's center.)

Excellent forum... & much grass.

[a745035]

So I finally did my rear speakers... went with the non-shallows hoping they'd fit. Same as the others, I had to trim away nearly all of the internal plastic grill material so the drivers wouldn't make contact with them, and I kept the black felt/fabric material which wouldn't stay in place until I lightly prayed the interior of the metal grills with black spray paint and stuck them back in place. I like the stealth look better, and they fit and sound really good. But as expected, the system still needs bottom-end fill so a powered bazooka's next on the modding agenda. After some research I'll probably go with either a 6.5" or 8". Recommendations are welcome. (BPA)

[dietz99vcross]

Be careful with placement of the crossovers in the doors. I just redid my speakers and the crossovers that where installed by Best Buy a while ago where sitting in the door behind the woofer as described above. Unfortunately there is a drain/weeping hole for any moisture to exit the door right in the same area so I have some corrosion on the connections of the crossover.

[VX4EJR]

I know this is a somewhat old thread but I have searched, found a few places where it was asked but did not find real complete answers. With that said...

Does anyone know what both the front and rear speaker bottom mount clearance (space between the bottom of the mounting surface to the nearest opposing obstruction) and top mount clearance (space between top of mounting surface to the VX OEM grills) are?
These measurements are good to know when researching new speakers, etc and what would fit aside from speaker diameter and cutout. ANY feedback would be great! Thanks!

[LittleBeast]

Mine were the maximum depth on front and back of rear speakers. Fronts had some wiggle room.

[VX4EJR]

Mine were the maximum depth on front and back of rear speakers. Fronts had some wiggle room.

sooo..in inches, what would that be? Should have clarified in my original post, was looking for (approx) measurements in inches

[LittleBeast]

I know I was thinking if wanted to you could research the Speakers specifications listed on any search or the Infinity website for the speakers I used. I don't think I have the box anymore.

[LittleBeast]

Top-Mount Depth 2.09"

And this is perfect for fronts but rears were very tight