rpeAMP

Hey everyone,

I forgot how to get the panels un-done in the back of my 92 4Runner so that I can get to my speakers back there. I'm going to run new speaker wire and connect an amp to these speakers but cannot for the life of me figure out how to get the panels back there off.

HBoss

I'm not sure if you mean rear door panel or very rear panels. You mentioned speakers so I'm assuming you mean rear door panels.

This is my write-up for a 1997, and although our year 4Runners are not the same, the removal may be close/similar:

http://www.hboss.net/4runner/door-panel-removal.htm

Hope it helps.

Robinhood150

Well, the 2nd gens don't have speakers in any of the doors so I'm assuming he means the ones in the very back. However, there's still some abiguity because some have two pairs of speakers back there, the large speakers in the walls and two tweeters in the ceiling.

So, to remove the plastic walls on the side, take off the plastic strip on the floor first (near the tailgate). There are some plastic caps there that need to be removed which reveal some phillips screws. Just pry those caps off carefully and unscrew the screws and the strip will come off.

Once that strip is off the side panels can just be pulled off. Start on the bottom and work your way around to the top. There are metal clips (I think they're metal) that keep the plastic panel to the wall. When you pull on the panel, it will come off with a pop.

To take off the ceiling panel you have to do the above first, except the side panels don't have to come all the way off, just to the top. If I remember correctly, the sides help keep the top on, and the top just snaps to the roof with those metal clips.
Pretty easy.

Good luck,
Steve

PS. HBoss, good door writeup. I just used that last night to take off my door panel to push out a dent. Before that, I never knew how to take off the door handle.

HBoss

Thx Robinhood150

I didn't realize the 2nd gens had the speakers in the rear of the truck. Kind of makes me want to add 2 back there and make a nice surround sound effect for the rear passengers.

UKMyers

Reamp just a heads up but taking them panels off is a pain. You will most likely end up breaking some of the plastic clips that hold it on I had to replace about 4 or 5 of them. Also you can get away with only pulling the panel halfway off to get to the speakers. I never did figure out how to get my to come completely off. Sure sounds nice though with some real speakers in there!

Robinhood150

I'd have to agree with UK, I've never had to take them off all the way. I guess the snaps are plastic and not metal.

Steve

rpeAMP

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Robinhood150- Yes, now that I'm thinking about it, I think that's how I got them off the first place. I had forgotten if there was some sort of trick to getting the panel to come off but I guess it's just pulling and hoping that you don't break anything!

Skydigger

I've just spent the last couple of days pulling my panels off in the rear of my 1990 4Runner. I was trying to see if there was enough space to build small boxes for my JL Audio 8" subs in the storage spots.

Anyways, I ended up removing rear sill as Steve suggested first but then you also have to remove the upper panel which houses the rear interior light. The light cover just pops off and then you can pull off the entire panel which is held with those caps. Once that upper panel is off, it exposes two screws on each side which support the adjoining main panels. I would not have been able to remove the panels without removing these screws so don't forget them. It may be different on the '92'; I'm not sure.

In order for me to completely remove the panels from the wall, I also removed the rear passenger door sills. You will understand why when you look! The sills overlap another panel which has to be removed as it overlaps the main rear panels. There is a cap holding this panel on which is accessable by lifting the rear seat. It is right behind the seat belt bolt. I had to loosen the seat belt bolt and turn it to get to the cap and then the panel comes off.

You'll also see there is another screw behind a plastic cover on the seat belt holders that needs to be removed as well. I found a panel popper helps but isn't necessary to 'carefully' remove the panel. You may also find that you'll be able to get the panel well away from the wall if you remove the upper seat belt bolt.

I think that's it. I've taken my right hand side panel off three times in the past 2 weeks for measurements and haven't broken a single cap.

I know it sounds complex but once you get going it's quite simple.

Also, in my SR5 V6 the rear speakers are self-powered with a little amp so you may have to bypass that or replace the speakers to passive ones. My speakers were the stock ones but I yanked them outta there.

Good luck,

Warren

UKMyers

Hey skydigger if you plan on pulling off these panels again any chance you could take some pics and maybe do a write-up for the tech section? I know this comes up alot because people are always wanting to upgrade their sound. I had no clue there were some actual scews holding that sucker on and I bet alot of other people don't either. I have to redo mine sometime because I broke some pegs and I was only able to get 2 screws into my speakers instead of 4 because it was so tight in there without having the panel all the way off. So now I have that and my panels never fit back on right. One is kinda loose and annoys me. It's fine on the highway but offroad it's gonna rattle for sure. I gotta get some of the new snaps before I try it though. Thanks for the info.

Skydigger

Sure. Next time I'm there i'll take some pics and write it up.


Warren

rpeAMP

Warren-

The self-powered speakers are the exact reason why I am trying to get back there. You see when I switch to CD on my head unit, the power antenna goes down and I guess that deactivates the amp in the back so I get no rear sound. However while listening to the radio (antenna is up), rear speakers work perfectly.

Where exactly is that amp located?

Thanks in advance.

Skydigger

Hey AMP,

The stock speakers I removed from my 'runner (front and rear) all had a custom plastic cabinet, ported and all. I believe the very small amplifier is located in the cabinet. I think only the rears are powered.

...weird that the amp only works with radio though. Wiring issue maybe?

Good luck,

Warren

rpeAMP

Well at first I thought I had screwed something up. Then, I remembered that the factory equipment was only an AM/FM radio. So, my theory is that when the +12V was sent to the power antenna to send it up, that same +12V was sent to the amp's remote turn on. How do I come to this conclusion you say? When the power antenna goes up when I switch my Kenwood head unit to radio, the speakers "magically" turn on. When I switch to CD, the power antenna goes down, and with it the speakers cease to play any music. No static, noise, nothing.

BTW- I'm confused as to the location of the amp...which cabinet? In the back or somewhere in the front?

Thanks for the help!

Skydigger

Hi,

I am holding in my hand a plastic toyota speaker cabinet. It's basically the housing (case) that holds the rear speaker. Each rear speaker case has a 3 wire connection and a metal heat-sink in the back and so I'm assuming that that is the amplifier. It's built right into the speaker cabinet in the same housing as the speaker itself. So, if you remove the speaker and disconnect the 3-wire connector you are also removing the amplifier which is built-in.

I'm not 100% sure that yours will be the same as mine but it is quite likely.

Take care,

Warren

rpeAMP

Well, I gave it a shot and couldn't figure out exactly how to remove the top panel (where the light fixture is). I removed the light fixture and unplugged it to give me room, but the top panel would not budge at all. Any suggestions? I tried pulling down firmly and trying it side to side but to no avail.

Skydigger

Hey AMP,

Maybe you need a panel popper. Mine just came out with some gentle pulling force. Try carefully using a flathead screwdriver to pop one of the outside rivets.

Good luck

Warren