Working pictures in pdf format in this post
When I ordered my Scat Pack, I knew I would be upgrading my stereo, so I opted for the Base Alpine System with 6 speakers (2 door, 2 dash, 2 rear).
Two weeks after taking delivery, I have replaced the door speakers. I will be doing the rears later this week and as soon as I decide on dash speakers, I will get those in as well.
Following is an installation "how to" guide for the door speakers. I will do a similar write up for the other pairs once I get them done. Credit to forum member Trickster729 for providing the initial guidance.
Disclaimer: I cannot take responsibility for any damage you may do to your own car, but follow this guide and you should do fine.
Tools required:
small ratchet
7mm, 10mm sockets and extender
Phillips screw driver
Small prying tool (or plastic knife)
Dremel with coarse sanding drum
Large, towels, foam mats or other soft material (the length of the door)
Time required:
45 - 90 minutes per door depending on your mechanical inclination and bravery.
Let's get to it:
First things first. Using the ratchet and 10mm socket, disconnect the negative connection to your battery and lay the hardware on the top of the battery. 1 minute's work to avoid any potential electrical issues.
The door panels are very straightforward to remove. There are 5 screws (2 located under covers, 3 at the bottom of the door), 1 pin, and around 5 fir tree connectors inside the door.
First, remove the exterior fasteners:
3 phillips screws at the bottom edge of the door panel (one pictured):
There is 1 Phillips screw under the plastic cover behind the door release. It took me 20 minutes to try and figure how is it clipped on for fear of breaking off a tab. In the end, I realized all you have to do is extend the door handle with one hand and with the other, gently and firmly pull it and it will release:
The last screw is located under the rubber trim in the armrest. Use a soft prying tool to lift it out and the fastener is exposed. Use the 7mm socket and extender to remove. The cover is shown slightly lifted away:
The last exterior fastener is the pin located in front of the speaker / near the kick plate. Gently press in the center of it with your phillips screwdriver until it clicks. Once you hear the click pull the panel an inch or so away from the door and the pin will pull out.
Removing the door panel:
You are now ready to remove the door panel. A calming word of caution. It takes a good deal of leverage to release the fasteners. You will hear LOUD snapping plastic noises as the fir tree connectors release that may sound as if the whole panel snapped in half. This is normal. Fear not. I suggest not pulling on the outmost edges of the panel, but rather to reach in a few inches to gain some leverage and minimize flex of the panel.
Here is a picture of some of the internal fastener sockets so you can see what you are dealing with:
Before you begin, put your towels, mats or whatever you are using directly under the fully extended door. You will use this to rest the panel on once it is removed.
Start in the area in front of the speaker, near the pin you removed. Reach in under the pin area and slide your hand up towards the top of the door. Remember to reach in and not just grasp the edge. Pull firmly. You may need to wrestle with it a bit, but the fastener will give and you will hear your first loud "POP". First one done. <sigh of relief>
Now do the same on the back edge of the door, and again you will hear it release. Move up towards the top of the door near the lock pin and repeat. Now return to the front of the door and begin working the pins out along the top. I found it helpful to push my fingertips against the inside of the panel as I worked and to leverage my knuckles off the glass.
Once you get the last internal fastener released, lift the door over the lock pin. You'll want to make sure the pin is pushed down to make clearing it easier.
I like to keep things simple and realized I did not need to disconnect every wire or the door handle cable. There are 2 wires located near the center of the door and they were the only ones I needed to release. These have simple push connectors that you can press in with your thumbnail while pulling the harness from the socket. One is about 1" x 1" with a green connector near the window switch. The other is about 1/4" x 1/4" located in front of the green one and slightly higher up on the door. Unfortunately, I did not get pictures of these as I was working alone and did not have enough hands. But you should have no problem finding them.
Once you get these connectors removed you can up-end the door panel and rest in on the padding you put on the ground and lean it against the door skin, leaving you plenty of room to work. Pictured below (with the new speaker already installed):
Removing the speaker:
OK, now that you are over the anxiety of pulling the panel, here are some easy steps. To remove the speaker, it is easier to first remove the entire enclosure. Remove the 4 phillips screws holding the enclosure to the door skin. Leave one of the top ones for last and as you remove it, hold the assembly up or it will fall. Disconnect the speaker wire from the harness.
Now that you have the assembly removed, unscrew the 4 phillips screws holding the speaker to the enclosure. The speaker is also adhered to the enclosure with a rubber gasket, which will hold it in place. Turn the speaker over and press on the basket with your thumbs and the gasket should release.
My new speakers did not come with gaskets, and to avoid any vibrations, I reused the factory gaskets. If you are going to do this, carefully peel the gasket from the back of the speaker. It appears to be adhered with rubber cement and just peels off. It will stretch a bit but will shrink back to size.
Trimming the enclosure:
Test fit your new speakers in the enclosure. Mine required that I trim the enclosure. I used a Dremel with a coarse sanding drum. You can see in the photo below where I removed material. The rounded indents appear to be to channel away water so be careful not to cut through them.
Mounting and testing the new speaker:
If you are using the factory gasket or one supplied with your speaker put it in place and position the speaker in the enclosure and replace the 4 phillips screws.
When you order your speakers, also get a pair of Metra 72-6514 harnesses as these make wiring simple plug n play and eliminate any need to hack the factory wiring. Connect the harness to the speaker, then snap the harness to the factory connector. Screw the enclosure back onto the door skin and you are ready to test!
Reconnect the battery. You don't need to clamp it, just make the connection. Your screen may say "radio locked". You'll just need to push the start button to the RUN position, you don't need to start the car. Make sure your speaker works and disconnect the battery.
NOTE: The system has crossovers and you will only get mid-bass from the door speakers, so if you chose full range coax speakers as I did, instead of dedicated mid-bass drivers high frequencies will be filtered and you will have no sound from your tweeters, this is normal. I chose these in case I rewire in the future with an aftermarket amp.
Reinstalling the door panel:
This is pretty easy. First lift the door panel to where the wiring harnesses you disconnected reach and reattach them. Lift the panel over the lock pin and insert the top edge into the groove along the glass. Reach around and hold the outside of the door and press the fasteners back into place starting from the center and working your way towards the front and rear. Replace the 5 screws. You'll need to push the pin in the center of the pin fastener back out, but not all the way. Press the fastener back into the door and push the pin in and it will click into place. Replace the rubber and plastic covers and you are done with the door.
Repeat the testing procedure and remember to disconnect the battery again before starting the second door. When you finish the second door, of course remember to clamp down the battery terminal.
Once I install my rear and dash speakers I will continue this "how to" guide.
Enjoy!
15RT
2015 Challenger - How to Install Speakers
Working pictures in pdf format in this post https://www.challengertalk.com/threads/2015-challenger-how-to-install-speakers.274482/page-9#post-7643698 When I ordered my Scat Pack, I knew I would be upgrading my stereo, so I opted for the Base Alpine System with 6 speakers (2 door, 2 dash, 2...
www.challengertalk.com
When I ordered my Scat Pack, I knew I would be upgrading my stereo, so I opted for the Base Alpine System with 6 speakers (2 door, 2 dash, 2 rear).
Two weeks after taking delivery, I have replaced the door speakers. I will be doing the rears later this week and as soon as I decide on dash speakers, I will get those in as well.
Following is an installation "how to" guide for the door speakers. I will do a similar write up for the other pairs once I get them done. Credit to forum member Trickster729 for providing the initial guidance.
Disclaimer: I cannot take responsibility for any damage you may do to your own car, but follow this guide and you should do fine.
Tools required:
small ratchet
7mm, 10mm sockets and extender
Phillips screw driver
Small prying tool (or plastic knife)
Dremel with coarse sanding drum
Large, towels, foam mats or other soft material (the length of the door)
Time required:
45 - 90 minutes per door depending on your mechanical inclination and bravery.
Let's get to it:
First things first. Using the ratchet and 10mm socket, disconnect the negative connection to your battery and lay the hardware on the top of the battery. 1 minute's work to avoid any potential electrical issues.
The door panels are very straightforward to remove. There are 5 screws (2 located under covers, 3 at the bottom of the door), 1 pin, and around 5 fir tree connectors inside the door.
First, remove the exterior fasteners:
3 phillips screws at the bottom edge of the door panel (one pictured):
There is 1 Phillips screw under the plastic cover behind the door release. It took me 20 minutes to try and figure how is it clipped on for fear of breaking off a tab. In the end, I realized all you have to do is extend the door handle with one hand and with the other, gently and firmly pull it and it will release:
The last screw is located under the rubber trim in the armrest. Use a soft prying tool to lift it out and the fastener is exposed. Use the 7mm socket and extender to remove. The cover is shown slightly lifted away:
The last exterior fastener is the pin located in front of the speaker / near the kick plate. Gently press in the center of it with your phillips screwdriver until it clicks. Once you hear the click pull the panel an inch or so away from the door and the pin will pull out.
Removing the door panel:
You are now ready to remove the door panel. A calming word of caution. It takes a good deal of leverage to release the fasteners. You will hear LOUD snapping plastic noises as the fir tree connectors release that may sound as if the whole panel snapped in half. This is normal. Fear not. I suggest not pulling on the outmost edges of the panel, but rather to reach in a few inches to gain some leverage and minimize flex of the panel.
Here is a picture of some of the internal fastener sockets so you can see what you are dealing with:
Before you begin, put your towels, mats or whatever you are using directly under the fully extended door. You will use this to rest the panel on once it is removed.
Start in the area in front of the speaker, near the pin you removed. Reach in under the pin area and slide your hand up towards the top of the door. Remember to reach in and not just grasp the edge. Pull firmly. You may need to wrestle with it a bit, but the fastener will give and you will hear your first loud "POP". First one done. <sigh of relief>
Now do the same on the back edge of the door, and again you will hear it release. Move up towards the top of the door near the lock pin and repeat. Now return to the front of the door and begin working the pins out along the top. I found it helpful to push my fingertips against the inside of the panel as I worked and to leverage my knuckles off the glass.
Once you get the last internal fastener released, lift the door over the lock pin. You'll want to make sure the pin is pushed down to make clearing it easier.
I like to keep things simple and realized I did not need to disconnect every wire or the door handle cable. There are 2 wires located near the center of the door and they were the only ones I needed to release. These have simple push connectors that you can press in with your thumbnail while pulling the harness from the socket. One is about 1" x 1" with a green connector near the window switch. The other is about 1/4" x 1/4" located in front of the green one and slightly higher up on the door. Unfortunately, I did not get pictures of these as I was working alone and did not have enough hands. But you should have no problem finding them.
Once you get these connectors removed you can up-end the door panel and rest in on the padding you put on the ground and lean it against the door skin, leaving you plenty of room to work. Pictured below (with the new speaker already installed):
Removing the speaker:
OK, now that you are over the anxiety of pulling the panel, here are some easy steps. To remove the speaker, it is easier to first remove the entire enclosure. Remove the 4 phillips screws holding the enclosure to the door skin. Leave one of the top ones for last and as you remove it, hold the assembly up or it will fall. Disconnect the speaker wire from the harness.
Now that you have the assembly removed, unscrew the 4 phillips screws holding the speaker to the enclosure. The speaker is also adhered to the enclosure with a rubber gasket, which will hold it in place. Turn the speaker over and press on the basket with your thumbs and the gasket should release.
My new speakers did not come with gaskets, and to avoid any vibrations, I reused the factory gaskets. If you are going to do this, carefully peel the gasket from the back of the speaker. It appears to be adhered with rubber cement and just peels off. It will stretch a bit but will shrink back to size.
Trimming the enclosure:
Test fit your new speakers in the enclosure. Mine required that I trim the enclosure. I used a Dremel with a coarse sanding drum. You can see in the photo below where I removed material. The rounded indents appear to be to channel away water so be careful not to cut through them.
Mounting and testing the new speaker:
If you are using the factory gasket or one supplied with your speaker put it in place and position the speaker in the enclosure and replace the 4 phillips screws.
When you order your speakers, also get a pair of Metra 72-6514 harnesses as these make wiring simple plug n play and eliminate any need to hack the factory wiring. Connect the harness to the speaker, then snap the harness to the factory connector. Screw the enclosure back onto the door skin and you are ready to test!
Reconnect the battery. You don't need to clamp it, just make the connection. Your screen may say "radio locked". You'll just need to push the start button to the RUN position, you don't need to start the car. Make sure your speaker works and disconnect the battery.
NOTE: The system has crossovers and you will only get mid-bass from the door speakers, so if you chose full range coax speakers as I did, instead of dedicated mid-bass drivers high frequencies will be filtered and you will have no sound from your tweeters, this is normal. I chose these in case I rewire in the future with an aftermarket amp.
Reinstalling the door panel:
This is pretty easy. First lift the door panel to where the wiring harnesses you disconnected reach and reattach them. Lift the panel over the lock pin and insert the top edge into the groove along the glass. Reach around and hold the outside of the door and press the fasteners back into place starting from the center and working your way towards the front and rear. Replace the 5 screws. You'll need to push the pin in the center of the pin fastener back out, but not all the way. Press the fastener back into the door and push the pin in and it will click into place. Replace the rubber and plastic covers and you are done with the door.
Repeat the testing procedure and remember to disconnect the battery again before starting the second door. When you finish the second door, of course remember to clamp down the battery terminal.
Once I install my rear and dash speakers I will continue this "how to" guide.
Enjoy!
15RT