Rear Speaker Install

halo434321 · 10-21-2009, 07:50 PM

Has anyone here installed 5.25" speakers as a replacement for the 2.5 inch OEMs? I am looking at this thing and realizing that I am going to have to do some tricky metal bending to make this work All my wiring is new and complete but the physical install of the speakers looks like it is going to be a real b#^$h. It looks like in order to get the correct depth so the speaker does not hit the plastic cover I will have to reverse bend the metal plate that held in that bizarre 2.5, 3 point speaker. At the same time I will have to be careful with very limited tolerance with spacing to not bend too much so it hinders the seatbelt or the attachment point. Any suggestions?

mr2tim · 10-22-2009, 03:25 PM

Hey Air Force !!

I don't usually participate in the radio/speaker discussions but last weekend I put a radio/CD into my racecar (89 Mark1 series SC) finally. Seems like it took forever to tear down the dash to fit the radio dead center, right depth, screw it off etc etc etc

I too ran into those old paper speakers in the rear, that is, once I got got all that cladding stuff out of the way which wasn't easy with a full roll cage in the way.

The magnet of my new speakers fit into the existing whole and that was about it. I thought about just screwing the new speakers into the plastic trim but that is not a good idea with very brittle old plastic parts. Ever.

So I gave up on the existing holes and just screwed my B-52's to the carpeted firewall with 4" wood screws right behind the drivers and passengers head. The speakers are somewhat hidden from prying eyes by the seats headrest and still close enuff to my ears to blow my head off.

I used black looming covers to mask the ugly wires going to the blasters.

My real bitch was finding the 50watt or better front speakers which I did finally find at the local yard for $8 each (60 watters) after 3 visits. I didn't have to compromise here and the dash still looks stock and won't draw thieves to it.

I'd add that if a thief can see your stuff when he walks by then your a prime target for a breakin which will undoubtedly get your ride all ripped up in the process.

You stateside permanently?

Tim
US Army, Veteran

muffinman · 10-22-2009, 04:01 PM

Tim get some enclosures for those speakers , they will sound a million times better.

to the OP i'm assuming your referring to an MK2? i never knew the rears were that small.

Ben · 10-23-2009, 12:35 AM

IIRC, the only 5.25" speakers that fit without a problem are a discontinued Kenwood brand. I was looking to get 5.25" speakers myself, but I opted to just get 4" speakers.

Medusa · 10-23-2009, 02:15 AM

My MKII has 5.25" in the rear, but they were already installed when I got the car. I think they're partially blown, they buzz kinda funny.

it's okay though, i'll probably be stripping all non-essentials out anyways (speaker system, A/C, interior, etc).

It looks like whoever installed them just took a cut-off wheel and cut anything in the way of the speaker, and then just used wood screws to secure it to whatever metal was close enough to get screwed (no pun intended).

PearlJammzz · 10-23-2009, 08:32 AM

I prefer the sound stage better if those rear speakers are completely disconnected. It cleans up the whole sound a lot I think. Try just moving your sound stage all the way to the front, and see how you like it. If they are stock speakers, it might sound ****ty, but if you have an amped set of good components it should sound amazing. Play w/ it, and you might be able to save some cash, time, and have better sound in the end.

halo434321 · 10-23-2009, 02:12 PM

MR@TIM..... Stationed stateside. Been over to Iraq 4 times and headed for Afghanistan sometime early next year. Man I miss the Cold War Era European stations. I used to get some pretty good trips and hit most of Western Europe back then. Did some time in the Pacific at Okinawa (miss that too) and trips to some other PACAF bases like Guam and Hawaii. I have 7 more years to go before the bean counters try to push me out. Hopefully I will be able to get back to Europe. My Dad was Army (Vietnam 62-64 11 Echo). Thanks for your service.

As for the speakers, I think that I have found a way to do some very minor cutting/ crimping and a mild amount of bending to fit the 5.25s without hitting the rear pillars and without comprimising the integrity of the seatbelts and pillar snaps. We will see. I will take some pictures of them and post it but I don't expect to get to it anytime soon. The weather has obviously made a turn and being that my SW21 has not seen a good downpour until now, I just found out that T-Tops are a B#$H too. LEAKING int 3 places. Got to seal that up first. I went to Twos R Us and picked up the seals. Hopefully they get to my post before I get too wet.

halo434321 · 10-24-2009, 02:55 PM

Medusa.... So they just cut the metal without bending anything? How did the speakers fit without hitting the pillars? The way I see it, the metal has to be bent outboard (or from the inside it needs to be pushed towards the outside of the car) in order for the speakers to fit without hitting the plastic. That is probably why they are shot. The big dilemma is that there is limited space to force the metal back to accomodate the depth of the 5.25s and not hit the outer shell.

halo434321 · 10-24-2009, 03:04 PM

Yeah Muffinman, the rear speakers are 3 pointed 2.5" speakers 4 Ohms, 1 Amp. IMO, why did Toyota even bother? And the 5" subwoofer behind the driver's seat in a plastic box? WTF? I ripped that out and am installing my amp there. I plan on using a computer fan installed in the OEM hole for the subwoofer speaker to keep the amp cool and I will have to build a 3 inch box covered in floor carpeting to go over the amp. I thought about a subwooofer which I can install at a later date if I choose, but I don't know if I am willing to compromise the limited storage space behind the passenger seat to accomodate a subwoofer. I am really not one of those guys who needs to shake the paint off my car anyways.

SW21T · 10-24-2009, 03:08 PM

I have 5.25 speakers in my mkII also.

halo434321 · 10-24-2009, 03:18 PM

Both front and rear YELLOWMR2? If so, in the rear, how did you adapt it?

SW21T · 10-24-2009, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by halo434321

Both front and rear YELLOWMR2? If so, in the rear, how did you adapt it?

Just rear, What I did was unweld the connections from the old speakes and sodered them to the new 5.25. connected them, tested them and then placed them in. Had to wiggle them around a bit and from there mark where to drill the new holes. Did that and then just screwd them in.

Medusa · 10-24-2009, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by halo434321

Medusa.... So they just cut the metal without bending anything? How did the speakers fit without hitting the pillars? The way I see it, the metal has to be bent outboard (or from the inside it needs to be pushed towards the outside of the car) in order for the speakers to fit without hitting the plastic. That is probably why they are shot. The big dilemma is that there is limited space to force the metal back to accomodate the depth of the 5.25s and not hit the outer shell.

I didn't look specifically to see what they did, but from what I remember, the metal is just cut out enough to fit the speaker. Maybe it's more shallow than most 5.25's, I don't know much about sound systems. And it doesn't hit the plastic, I know that. I think they're shot because they're ****ty.

halo434321 · 10-24-2009, 03:37 PM

Alright everyone! Thanks! I will keep you guys updated as to what I do. Just hope everything works out just right. I remember hearing that the 4" were pretty much drop ins and anything above that was a hair puller but the way I see it, hair pulling leads to self satisfaction if it works. Wow.... that sounded weird....

Medusa · 10-24-2009, 03:38 PM

I guess we know what you do with your free time...

halo434321 · 10-24-2009, 03:43 PM

There is so much work to do on this thing to get it back to life! I have been upgrading as fast as I can and I thin I won't need to pay for natural gas in my house this winter due to the fact that my credit card is on fire! I guess what I meant to say is that there is nothing more satisfying than doing thigs yourself even if the learning curve bites your butt sometimes.

Denz · 10-24-2009, 04:43 PM

I had some 5.25 in the rear but had the option to swap them for some better 4" sony's so I did that. The 4" were a lot easier than the 5.25" to get in.

I have 6.5" in the front as well

halo434321 · 11-02-2009, 02:55 PM

OK. This weekend I installed the rear speakers. As I said before, these were 5.25" Kenwoods. After looking at the thing for a while I decided that the best method for installation was the hammer. On the aft side of the original skeaker hole, there is an ear that sticks out which had the original third screw mount for the OEM speaker. I carefully pounded that down. The total bend was around 1/2 inch. After that, the clearance was just fine. I then tested the plastic pillar against the temp mounted speaker. There was pleanty of room to house the speaker and even had a little more than 1/4 inch from the speaker to the back side of the pillar. Next, I had to swivel the speaker around to get the most advantagous mounting position. I marked my drill holes, drilled and installed. The problem that I ran into is that the flat surface of the speaker was not going onto a completely flat surface on the car. I fixed that by using cardboard and padding shaped just large enough to encompass the mounting brackets. This now made a surface that would mold to the not so perfect surface of the car (small bends to include the initial bend out towards the seatbelt). When I tightened everything down, the speaker was not only flush with clearance but also had a padded back which I hope will help with the overall sound. Oh yeah, I also filled the hole with some padding behind the speaker as well. Not too much but enough to hopefully help the overall sound.

As for the front, I went a little different. I did pretty much all of the same things except I also added a vapor barrier by installing plastic in the hole. I punched a small hole through the center of the plastic, ran my speaker wire through it and sealed the plastic around the wire.

Now I am down to installing the Alpine amp which I will have located behind the driver's seat in the bucket. That OEM amp was stupid! It rated what new headunits are putting out these days! Anyhow, that has been ripped out and the wiring is now ready to be hooked up to the amp. Once that is done and a platform is built for the amp itself, everything else should hopefully be plug and play.

10-21-2009, 07:50 PM	#1 (permalink)
halo434321 Learn Through Experience Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Indiana Posts: 61 Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (1/100% )	Rear Speaker Install Has anyone here installed 5.25" speakers as a replacement for the 2.5 inch OEMs? I am looking at this thing and realizing that I am going to have to do some tricky metal bending to make this work All my wiring is new and complete but the physical install of the speakers looks like it is going to be a real b#^$h. It looks like in order to get the correct depth so the speaker does not hit the plastic cover I will have to reverse bend the metal plate that held in that bizarre 2.5, 3 point speaker. At the same time I will have to be careful with very limited tolerance with spacing to not bend too much so it hinders the seatbelt or the attachment point. Any suggestions?

10-22-2009, 03:25 PM	#2 (permalink)
mr2tim SUPERcharZed ToyZ RacZer Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: South Florida Posts: 1,789 Thanks: 8 Thanked 118 Times in 111 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (6/100% )	Those pesky rear minature speakers Hey Air Force !! I don't usually participate in the radio/speaker discussions but last weekend I put a radio/CD into my racecar (89 Mark1 series SC) finally. Seems like it took forever to tear down the dash to fit the radio dead center, right depth, screw it off etc etc etc I too ran into those old paper speakers in the rear, that is, once I got got all that cladding stuff out of the way which wasn't easy with a full roll cage in the way. The magnet of my new speakers fit into the existing whole and that was about it. I thought about just screwing the new speakers into the plastic trim but that is not a good idea with very brittle old plastic parts. Ever. So I gave up on the existing holes and just screwed my B-52's to the carpeted firewall with 4" wood screws right behind the drivers and passengers head. The speakers are somewhat hidden from prying eyes by the seats headrest and still close enuff to my ears to blow my head off. I used black looming covers to mask the ugly wires going to the blasters. My real bitch was finding the 50watt or better front speakers which I did finally find at the local yard for $8 each (60 watters) after 3 visits. I didn't have to compromise here and the dash still looks stock and won't draw thieves to it. I'd add that if a thief can see your stuff when he walks by then your a prime target for a breakin which will undoubtedly get your ride all ripped up in the process. You stateside permanently? Tim US Army, Veteran Attached Thumbnails

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10-22-2009, 04:01 PM	#3 (permalink)
muffinman U-P-G-R-A-Y-E-D-D Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sunny South Florida Posts: 5,881 Thanks: 53 Thanked 283 Times in 272 Posts Blog Entries: 1 My Google Map iTrader Rating: (2/100% )	Tim get some enclosures for those speakers , they will sound a million times better. to the OP i'm assuming your referring to an MK2? i never knew the rears were that small.

10-23-2009, 12:35 AM	#4 (permalink)
Ben Same In The End Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Oceanside, CA / Reno, NV Posts: 4,274 Thanks: 20 Thanked 309 Times in 284 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (16/100% )	IIRC, the only 5.25" speakers that fit without a problem are a discontinued Kenwood brand. I was looking to get 5.25" speakers myself, but I opted to just get 4" speakers.

10-23-2009, 02:15 AM	#5 (permalink)
Medusa HAY GUISE! Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Reno, NV Posts: 752 Thanks: 9 Thanked 18 Times in 17 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	My MKII has 5.25" in the rear, but they were already installed when I got the car. I think they're partially blown, they buzz kinda funny. it's okay though, i'll probably be stripping all non-essentials out anyways (speaker system, A/C, interior, etc). It looks like whoever installed them just took a cut-off wheel and cut anything in the way of the speaker, and then just used wood screws to secure it to whatever metal was close enough to get screwed (no pun intended).

10-23-2009, 08:32 AM	#6 (permalink)
PearlJammzz Cage Fighter Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 2,115 Thanks: 9 Thanked 74 Times in 69 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (7/100% )	I prefer the sound stage better if those rear speakers are completely disconnected. It cleans up the whole sound a lot I think. Try just moving your sound stage all the way to the front, and see how you like it. If they are stock speakers, it might sound ****ty, but if you have an amped set of good components it should sound amazing. Play w/ it, and you might be able to save some cash, time, and have better sound in the end.

10-23-2009, 02:12 PM	#7 (permalink)
halo434321 Learn Through Experience Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Indiana Posts: 61 Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (1/100% )	MR@TIM..... Stationed stateside. Been over to Iraq 4 times and headed for Afghanistan sometime early next year. Man I miss the Cold War Era European stations. I used to get some pretty good trips and hit most of Western Europe back then. Did some time in the Pacific at Okinawa (miss that too) and trips to some other PACAF bases like Guam and Hawaii. I have 7 more years to go before the bean counters try to push me out. Hopefully I will be able to get back to Europe. My Dad was Army (Vietnam 62-64 11 Echo). Thanks for your service. As for the speakers, I think that I have found a way to do some very minor cutting/ crimping and a mild amount of bending to fit the 5.25s without hitting the rear pillars and without comprimising the integrity of the seatbelts and pillar snaps. We will see. I will take some pictures of them and post it but I don't expect to get to it anytime soon. The weather has obviously made a turn and being that my SW21 has not seen a good downpour until now, I just found out that T-Tops are a B#$H too. LEAKING int 3 places. Got to seal that up first. I went to Twos R Us and picked up the seals. Hopefully they get to my post before I get too wet.

10-24-2009, 02:55 PM	#8 (permalink)
halo434321 Learn Through Experience Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Indiana Posts: 61 Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (1/100% )	Medusa.... So they just cut the metal without bending anything? How did the speakers fit without hitting the pillars? The way I see it, the metal has to be bent outboard (or from the inside it needs to be pushed towards the outside of the car) in order for the speakers to fit without hitting the plastic. That is probably why they are shot. The big dilemma is that there is limited space to force the metal back to accomodate the depth of the 5.25s and not hit the outer shell.

10-24-2009, 03:04 PM	#9 (permalink)
halo434321 Learn Through Experience Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Indiana Posts: 61 Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (1/100% )	Yeah Muffinman, the rear speakers are 3 pointed 2.5" speakers 4 Ohms, 1 Amp. IMO, why did Toyota even bother? And the 5" subwoofer behind the driver's seat in a plastic box? WTF? I ripped that out and am installing my amp there. I plan on using a computer fan installed in the OEM hole for the subwoofer speaker to keep the amp cool and I will have to build a 3 inch box covered in floor carpeting to go over the amp. I thought about a subwooofer which I can install at a later date if I choose, but I don't know if I am willing to compromise the limited storage space behind the passenger seat to accomodate a subwoofer. I am really not one of those guys who needs to shake the paint off my car anyways.

10-24-2009, 03:08 PM	#10 (permalink)
SW21T 400HP 3rd gen?? Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Washington St Posts: 1,853 Thanks: 143 Thanked 32 Times in 30 Posts iTrader Rating: (18/100% )	I have 5.25 speakers in my mkII also.

10-24-2009, 03:18 PM	#11 (permalink)
halo434321 Learn Through Experience Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Indiana Posts: 61 Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (1/100% )	Both front and rear YELLOWMR2? If so, in the rear, how did you adapt it?

10-24-2009, 03:37 PM	#14 (permalink)
halo434321 Learn Through Experience Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Indiana Posts: 61 Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (1/100% )	Alright everyone! Thanks! I will keep you guys updated as to what I do. Just hope everything works out just right. I remember hearing that the 4" were pretty much drop ins and anything above that was a hair puller but the way I see it, hair pulling leads to self satisfaction if it works. Wow.... that sounded weird....

10-24-2009, 03:38 PM	#15 (permalink)
Medusa HAY GUISE! Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Reno, NV Posts: 752 Thanks: 9 Thanked 18 Times in 17 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	I guess we know what you do with your free time...

10-24-2009, 03:43 PM	#16 (permalink)
halo434321 Learn Through Experience Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Indiana Posts: 61 Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (1/100% )	There is so much work to do on this thing to get it back to life! I have been upgrading as fast as I can and I thin I won't need to pay for natural gas in my house this winter due to the fact that my credit card is on fire! I guess what I meant to say is that there is nothing more satisfying than doing thigs yourself even if the learning curve bites your butt sometimes.

10-24-2009, 04:43 PM	#17 (permalink)
Denz Cage Fighter Join Date: May 2008 Location: Hamilton, New Zealand Posts: 487 Thanks: 2 Thanked 16 Times in 16 Posts iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	I had some 5.25 in the rear but had the option to swap them for some better 4" sony's so I did that. The 4" were a lot easier than the 5.25" to get in. I have 6.5" in the front as well

11-02-2009, 02:55 PM	#18 (permalink)
halo434321 Learn Through Experience Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Indiana Posts: 61 Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader Rating: (1/100% )	OK. This weekend I installed the rear speakers. As I said before, these were 5.25" Kenwoods. After looking at the thing for a while I decided that the best method for installation was the hammer. On the aft side of the original skeaker hole, there is an ear that sticks out which had the original third screw mount for the OEM speaker. I carefully pounded that down. The total bend was around 1/2 inch. After that, the clearance was just fine. I then tested the plastic pillar against the temp mounted speaker. There was pleanty of room to house the speaker and even had a little more than 1/4 inch from the speaker to the back side of the pillar. Next, I had to swivel the speaker around to get the most advantagous mounting position. I marked my drill holes, drilled and installed. The problem that I ran into is that the flat surface of the speaker was not going onto a completely flat surface on the car. I fixed that by using cardboard and padding shaped just large enough to encompass the mounting brackets. This now made a surface that would mold to the not so perfect surface of the car (small bends to include the initial bend out towards the seatbelt). When I tightened everything down, the speaker was not only flush with clearance but also had a padded back which I hope will help with the overall sound. Oh yeah, I also filled the hole with some padding behind the speaker as well. Not too much but enough to hopefully help the overall sound. As for the front, I went a little different. I did pretty much all of the same things except I also added a vapor barrier by installing plastic in the hole. I punched a small hole through the center of the plastic, ran my speaker wire through it and sealed the plastic around the wire. Now I am down to installing the Alpine amp which I will have located behind the driver's seat in the bucket. That OEM amp was stupid! It rated what new headunits are putting out these days! Anyhow, that has been ripped out and the wiring is now ready to be hooked up to the amp. Once that is done and a platform is built for the amp itself, everything else should hopefully be plug and play.