Put 5.25 componets in my 98 XLS (PICS!!!!)

[Kyle_Mains]

I put a pair of Alpine 5.25" type X components in my 98 XLS with 7 speaker sound system. It took me two days, countless trips to the hardware store, and some trial and error, but it was all worth it as they sound like a combination of Fergie and Jesus (Stepbrothers).

I got some pics and tips for the install for those who want to try this.

Although 2-Ways would be easier and cheaper if components are what you have in your car anything else is kind of a downgrade, not to mention only 4 inched of the woofer is exposed to it would be pretty muffled.

I found this install varied greatly from this guys install and his XLS was only a year different from mine. So I highly recommend taking off your door panel and looking before running out to the hardware store.
New Audio System On 97 - It's Easy

What I used:
Alpine Type X components http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500SPX1...REF.html?tp=97
Dremel tool (Dremel 100: $32 at Walmart)
about 20+ 22-16 male and female INSULATED wire terminals
heavy duty mounting tape (for the crossovers)
about 30 feet of speaker wire
plastic wire cap things
hot glue gun
staple gun
sharp knife
Metallic and Black Sharpie
electrical tape
the longest bolts I could find (I dremmeled them down to size later).



What you have to work with



Tweeter fitting into place after being Dremmeled out



Dremmeled out speaker fitting. I used the circle drum grinder thing on the second one and found it much easier, cleaner, and controllable. When drilling the holes for the bolts use a silver sharpie to mark where to drill. I just used the Dremel drill bit. Once you know how long the bolts should be, dremmel them down to that size so they don't prevent the door panel from going back into place.



New speaker in!!!!!! I made sure to use three bolts to keep them in and I also used hot glue to hopefully help keep them in place. If it doesnt work I'll find another way.



I made a huge error that got me really down about the project, because I was clueless about it. When I ran the wire for the first woofer I used the wires that were outputted for the old tweeter. Unknown to me there is a tiny low pass filter in there so when I hooked the first one up the tweeter was on loud but the woofer was almost inaudible. It wasn't till I tore the whole thing out and tested the woofer on my home stereo that I figured out the problem.

The sneaky low pass filter



Use the white clip for the woofer because the two wires next to it are for the old tweeter



I hid the crossover in the pocket of the door and mounted with with the most heavy duty mounting tape I could find. I was aslo careful where I stapled the wires into place

The crossover



the inside of the door panel with the wires ran

[xalkoholiqx]

Damn! Looks Like You Went All Out! Haha. I Just Put Some 5"'s In My 97 Xls. Screwed Right In. Took Me 20 Minutes. Wish I'd Found Some 5" Components Tho. I Hadda Install Some 2wayz.

[Kyle_Mains]

I later put some JL Audio 2 ways in my back doors, now I'm working on running wires and acquiring a good sub and box

[xalkoholiqx]

Got Any Ideas As To What Bump?? Recently Put A 12w3 And A Power Acoustik 980w In Mine. Trunklid Is About To Blast Off Tho. I Would Reccomend Dynamatting The Rear Deck And The Trunk Lid. These Are My Biggest Problems. I Think It Sounds Horrible But Im Afraid Of Going Higher In The Jl Line. Mo Power Mo Problems Mo Rattle Mo Battle. Haha. Just Blame It All On The Gas Prices......freakin Gas Prices.

[Kyle_Mains]

dude i would get eDead for now rather than a new sub, its $1-$2 per square foot, and you only need like 25 ft for an avy trunk. Its applys just like dynamat and the $2 one is actually thicker than dynamat extreme.

http://www.edesignaudio.com/index.php?cPath=1_24

(scroll down)

[xalkoholiqx]

YUP..IM M DEFINATELY GONNA LOOK INTO SOME eDEAD THEN...GOT A 10W3V3 FROM SOME 55YR OLD DOOD FOR $80 A SEC AGO. HE DIDNT CARE ABOUT PRICE I GUESS. SHIDD'S NEW! I'LL PROLLY POST SOME PICS IN A NEW THREAD SOON AS I GET A HOLD UH SUMMA THAT eDEAD U WERE TALKIN BOUT. WORD.

[xalkoholiqx]

PICKED UP 45FT OF eDEAD OFFLINE LIKE YOU SUGGESTED. GOT THE TRUNKLID AND LEFT WALL DONE. TRUNK STILL RATTLES CRAZY. DIDNT REALIZE HOW TIME CONSUMING THIS PROJECT WOULD BE. ITS A REAL PAIN IN THE AZZ. I'LL MORE THAN LIKELY PROCASTINATE ON THIS NOW.

[Kyle_Mains]

With 45 feet you could probly do multiple layers in the spots that rattle worst, that might help.

[Vernon29RW]

Kyle, do you have any more pics of your install?? I know you gave a pretty good shot of the woofer installed but i'm curious just how well it sits on the housing. You didn't need to install any foam tape to create a good seal?? What did you end up doing with the one mounting tab on the speaker frame by the white connector? It looks like its sticking up in the picture. Maybe a shot at an angle to show how the speaker sits in the box?
Thanks,
Steve

[Kyle_Mains]

For 5.25" speakers its almost impossible to get it sealed so I didn't even try. I only secured the speaker with 3 of the 4 tabs cause that's all you really need to keep it in there, doing all 4 of them would not of been worth it cause you can only get 3 securely. My previous post was of my front doors and when I did the back ones with JL Audio C2-525x 2-ways I found an easier and cleaner way of doing it.

It's kind of hard to explain but I dremeled out room for the new speaker like before, then drilled holes for the bolts. Here is where I switched it up: I put the bolts in backwards then drilled holes in the back of the plastic speaker housing, stuck a phillips head through the hole, found the bolt head, and secured the nut from the front of the enclosure. I also used the nuts with the plastic inside so that they wont come undone, instead of using hot glue. It sounds confusing so I hope the pics help.

Installed









Fishing a screwdriver blindly sucks but It's one of those jobs that looks good and you only have to do once.





Here are a couple of shots of the rest of my audio system. I consider it complete the only thing I could possibly think of adding is a 5+ farad capacitor.

Pioneer-AVH-P4100DVD with iPod cable and DVD lockout bypass chip (I'm to simplistic for a toggle switch)



I made a MDF cutout of my trunk to secure everything, which includes an Alpine MRP-F300 4-channel amp, Alpine MRP-M850 mono amp, 2.0CuFt box ported at 32hz, and a 12" Rockford Fosgate T112D4 wired at 4 Ohms for least possible distortion.

[Vernon29RW]

See now there's a nice write up!!! Great job Kyle...system looks very nice and i'm sure sounds just as nice. I'm just curious about the bolts and those holes you drilled. How come you drilled the holes on the back side of the enclosure? Why not just push the bolts through the holes in the front before you put the speaker in? Were you worried that the bolt would just spin when you cranked down on the locknuts and you used the back hole to hold the bolt in place while you tightened the locknuts down? I can't think of any other reason. Secondly did you seal up the holes in the back to prevent air from escaping out of there and causing resonance?? Finally got any pics of the rear enclosures after you dremeled them?? You're right the rears came out much better than the fronts did. Very clean and very professional looking. All around great job though. Looking forward to getting some stuff for my 95 shortly.

Steve

[mmejia]

This is a lot cleaner than the way I did mine. I put 5.25 all around. Components front, 2-ways rear. I used some Diamond D3's if I remember correctly.

[Kyle_Mains]

I drilled holes in the back side of the enclosure to secure both ends of the bolt for when I tightened the nut, if I didn't do that the bolt would just spin endlessly. I sealed the holes I drilled with aluminum tape to keep dust and other particles out. I didn't take any pictures of the rears between dremeling and speaker installation cause I didn't think I was gonna post it on Toyota Nation. You should take some pictures of yours to post, the more examples the better.