Ive pretty much got all the information about putting a new system in my 4runner (1995 4wd 3.0). But i have a few questions. I read alot of posts and someone said that a powerfull speaker in the rear could tear apart the panel or anywhere for that matter. (dash). If i put new speakers in say all the factory locations as well as the doors should i do sound deadening. Should i mount speakers in the door to the metal or panel??

 

lol unless you are running 1000 rms to each speaker or something, you shouldn't have a problem. I've never heard of a speaker "tearing apart" a panel. The only thing I could ever see happening is it ripping some threads where the screws are that hold the speaker, but other than that I just don't see it happening.

 

And I really dont want to put sound deadening in but if it sounds horrible by replacing them in factory locations i will.

 

just put speaker baffles behind the new speakers, in the stock locations... you shouldn't have any trouble.... you can check out my build thread "https://www.yotatech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96346&highlight=86%27+upgrades" for pictures/instruction on how to build kickpanel boxes if the stock locations don't work out. goodluck Hiriden

 

Deadening at least behind the speakers and the door panel will make a great improvment in sound quality.

 

I had the same issue with the crap sound from the stock head unit. First I tried to get new 4" speakers and position them in the stock location in front. Nice enough but I’m still working with a stock head unit and a pair of 4"ers in the front and, worse, a pair of 4"ers in the rear. How am I supposed to enjoy my Van Halen at volume through a few 4" speakers?

I took apart the rear speaker panel (not fun) and took out the 2 baffles that were there and modified the opening to accept a pair of 6" Sony X’plod's hoping that would give me a little more bass. It really didn't.

I replaced the head unit with a SONY CDX-F7715X head unit for about $190 from an online store. This unit had a 52 watt per channel amp build in. Great! But I’m still running this through 4's and 6's.

I looked at other location options and found a nice place in the front door panel for the Sony 6"ers and went to Fry's for $20 to get a 2" spacer for a 6" speaker so that I could mount it in the door and not have it hit any of the window stuff behind it.

Here’s a piece of advice. If you are planning to do this, also plan on re-skinning your doors. I cut the holes a little off and had these ugly gaps between the speakers and the off-center hole. A trip to the fabric store located some black padded vinyl. They’re better now.

I haven’t installed rear door speakers yet.

But I still have no real rear speakers and certainly no bass. I have seen everyone else with a 4runner put a box in the cargo area and screw in an amp to power it but I wasn’t ready to give up my cargo space that easily. There has to be a better way.

I finally came up with the idea to make a couple of baffles out of 5 gallon paint buckets. Funny, I know. But, after cutting them down a bit found that I still had 4 gallons of baffle per speaker. And the bottom of the bucket was a perfect fit for a pair of Pyle 10” subs. I used the same material that I used to re-skin the doors to make a cover for the speakers and mounted them where the tools compartments were just behind the old speaker ports. It takes a bit of modification to mount a bracket system and cut out an opening large enough to fit the new projections but that’s all part of the fun.

I mounted a 600 watt Pyle amp behind the rear driver’s side seat and concealed all the wiring and cables. Van Halen never sounded so good.

I will need to fabricate a ring or something to cover up the gap between the speaker and the wall.

 

Nice job on the doors.