Adventures in Car Audio (Front Install)

I had some time after my rear speaker install so I started to work on the front speaker install. I knew I wouldn't have time to do both so I decided to work on the side of the car that was giving me problems. I did a test fitting of the front speakers Mon and found that the speakers might not fit where I wanted them to go. So I talked to a local auto stereo installer and he assured me that they should fit. I worked the speaker onto the bracket.

 The speaker bracket with the BOSE amp housing next to it. 

My first plan of attack was to simply drill new holes into the bracket to support the new woofer, but that turn out to be a hard task simply because the bracket offered little surface area to drill into. The new plan became to begin with one bracket hole and work my way around until all four had a screw in it. I managed to get the bottom 2 and using the top 2 holes screwed them until the flat part of the screw pressed against the rim of the speaker. Problem solved!

Now I needed a place to hold the crossover. My first place came up short as it was not flat enough to get a good hold of the Velcro strip I wanted to use, but I manged to fit it a little bit forward velcro and all. I may have to change this position because I forgot to take into account that the crossover is underneath the windows. I worry that water may leak from window and into the crossover and ruin it. We shall see.

 You can see the new speaker with the old speaker.

I have the crossover done and the wires ran from inside where the crossover lies. Time to install the woofer and wire everything up. I go to mount the woofer to the bracket and for the life of me I can not get the holes to line up. I struggle some more with it and then scrap that plan. A new plan forms which takes from the previous plan taking the flat part of the screw I screw into the brackets until the screw head has a nice grasp on the speaker. Four screws later the woofer is mounted.

 Here is the woofer installed 

Here is how the speaker stays put. Nice and tight.

The last part of the install is the tweeter. I wanted this to go in the A-pillar where the original tweeter was located. using the factory wiring made that part as easy as a butt connector. With everything wired and installed I turned on the stereo and basked in the glory that is a fully operational stereo system. Just have to do the driver's side and I will be done.

I spoke too soon. I get in my car to go to work this morning and notice that once again, my passenger speakers sound like crap. So I'm forced to do what I have tried to put off and that's rewire my ride. Oh well the weekend will soon be here and not only will I have better TV, I will have a better stereo system.

Spent last night working on rewiring the front speakers straight after work before the sun went down. Got the right side done just as the sun was setting. Running wires from the inside of the truck to the door was a complicated task (especially the driver's side). My had will probably be sore for a week. Also since I was rewiring the truck I figured it would be a better choice to mount the crossover on the inside for a few reasons

1. It protects the crossover from the weather
2. It would be easier to run one cable to the door than 2. (If I had decided to keep the crossover in the door I would have had to run a second cable back inside to the tweeter)

In theory running the wires from the the vehicle to the door is a simple process. Poke hole in grommets, pass wire through hole in grommets secure the wire. In practice it's another story. Tight spaces and weird angles make it tougher than a beef jerky. But the Pro.Fit International DM-45-33 Wire Worm really saved me much time and trouble. It snaked it's way through the grommet and gave me something flexible enough to make its way through some tight corners, but rigid enough to keep its shape under pressure. 

Here you can see the wire going into the door for the woofer 

 The crossover in its new home and some of my tools and random door pieces

After the rewiring I go to check how the speakers sound. They still sound like crap. It's 11:30 and I'm getting a little pissed right now. So I check the amp: fine. Check the wires going from the stereo to the amp: fine. Check the wires going from the amp to the speakers: fine but I noticed that the Best Buy guy installed them in a way that I just didn't like (made troubleshooting rather difficult). So I spent a few minutes changing the setup. Then I check the stereo itself. Sure enough the source of the problem was coming from there. Damn finicky stereo didn't like the way the wires were sitting. A liberal use of electrical tape finally solved my problem. 

After everything is said and done. I have a system that I enjoy. Nice bass (without a subwoofer), and nice mid to highs. All it took was 6 hours, lots of electrical tape wire and some busted hands. 

Because I can