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How To: Install Front and Rear Speakers

233K views 98 replies 61 participants last post by  Nuke 
#1 · (Edited)
Well santa gave me some new speakers to install for xmas so I went ahead and put them in last weekend. I took some photos to do a writeup for everyone so that this is easier for anyone else.

Some technical info first...
Front Door Speakers - 6x9"
Dash Speakers 3.5" (not installed in this writeup)
Rear Speakers - 6.5"
Rear Deck Sub - 8" (not installed in this writeup)

Front and Rear Speaker Wiring:
Left Front Speaker Wire (+): Gray/Violet
Left Front Speaker Wire (-): Gray/Yellow
Right Front Speaker Wire (+): Dark Green/Violet
Right Front Speaker Wire (-): Dark Green/Yellow
Left Rear Speaker Wire (+): Dark Green/Tan
Left Rear Speaker Wire (-): Dark Green/Gray
Right Rear Speaker Wire (+): Dark Green/Brown
Right Rear Speaker Wire (-): Yellow/Gray

I do not know what the wiring would be for the 3.5" speakers or OEM sub location would be since my car was not equipped. I will need to rig an amp setup to my aftermarket radio to install these later if I chose.

I installed Infinity Kappa 692.9i 6X9" 2 ways in the front and Infinity Kappa 62.9i 6.5" 2 ways in the rear.

I've always liked the Kappa series and I also knew the 6.5" speakers had the needed adapter to install them (not all speaker manufacturers have the adapter so you will want to check first and buy some if they don't come with em).

Anyway with that said we get to the actual speaker install. We'll start with the doors. The only diff between each side is that the drivers side has 2 electrical plugs to remove, the passenger side (pictured here) has one.

Your first step will be to remove the plastic "rivets" from the front and rear of the door card. To do this, just push the center in about 1/8th of an inch or so with a screwdriver head and then carefully pry the whole rivet out with a plastic "bone" or a flathead screwdriver (the former prevents scratches and comes with those scoche radio install kits you can find at walmart or best buy). There are 7 total you will need to remove.



Now next you need to remove 5 phillips head screws. 3 are along the bottom of the door and are easy to get at. The other two are located behind the door grip and door release. These each have a small cover you need to pry open (but not off). The door grip one you just pry from the top grove to pop open, the release cover is a bit bore tricky, I had to push a small flathead in a little but at the top grove and then pull down and outwards at the same time to release.



Once they are removed there are 5 fir tree fasteners holding the door on. 3 at the top, 2 at the center. I just suggest pulling straight out at the bottom first to release the middle ones and then from the rear of the door to release the top ones. TARE CARE NOT TO PULL TOO FAR OUT. Your door release bar and a cable are still connected and you definitely don't wanna bend the release bar. Make sure not to drop the door at this point. It would be best to make sure you have a flathead screwdriver within reach for the next step.



The cable (or cables if you are working the drivers door) have a simple side clip you pull back to release. Nothing fancy. The release bar is harder to remove. My suggestion is carefully pry it off the bracket with a flathead. Having someone hold the door card will help but I did this myself. Once it pops off just pull up on the bar to release it from the pull handle and you can set the door card aside.



Now, as you can see you have easy access to the 6x9 speaker. It is attached to a plastic bracket via 4 torx screws. You will need a torx 15 bit to remove these and then just pull the speaker out and unclip it from the harness.



Continued in next post...
 
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#60 ·
Huge Thanks Airman!! Learned to ditch those paper cones years ago. Negotiating panel, fastener, and linkage removal has always been an uncomfortable experience. Your post and pictures are fab and will certainly take the tension out of the exercise. Well done, rock on!
Irish
 
#62 ·
Subscribed as this could come in useful later on.
 
#63 ·
#65 · (Edited)
I just got thru installing a pair of
Rockford Fosgate PRIME R169X3 6"x9"
Car Speakers in my 2009 SE front doors.

They were slightly too big and did not fit into the speaker adapter plate.
The Prime R169x3 6"x9" speakers fit a 5.93" x 8.59" oval hole. Too big.
I had to do some major trimming on the adapter plate and even when
I got the speaker to sit flush with the adapter plate, the mounting holes
for the speakers did not line up with the holes on the adapter plates.
I ended up gluing the speakers to the adapter plates with some RTV silicone glue.
I killed two birds with one stone. Adhesion and vibration resistance between
the speaker to adapter plate interface. Those suckers are stuck on there good.

A better choice would have been the Punch P1692 6"X9" SPEAKERS.
They fit in a 5.77" X 8.51" oval hole. Just right for the Challenger
speaker adapters for the door speakers. Live and learn.
Most speaker manufacturers have the measurement data for
download before the purchase. Do your homework before buying.

I also went thru 5 SQ Ft of DynaMat Xtreme covering the inside
of the plastic door panels and the metal parts of the door.

Now to remove the dash panel and install some
Rockford Fosgate R1T-S 1" Dome Car Tweeters

in the 3.5" dash speaker locations.


After thats all wrapped up, I will focus on the rear package shelf speaker replacement.
I will be removing the OEM speakers for close measurements BEFORE ordering the new rear speakers.
 
#66 ·
The door mounts have to be modifed to fit nearly all aftermarket replacements. I used my Dremel to cut away the drip shields. The JBL P963's that I installed this weekend were ever so slightly larger like your Rockford Fosgates, but there was enough give in the plastic door mount that I was able to force the Torx screws in no problem.
 
#69 ·
HELP! Considering putting in 6x9s in doors and amping them.

Hey Guys, (all free to chime in as needed)

I've got a 2012 RT 6spd. It's got the 6 speaker setup. God knows if it's the BA setup or whatever, I'm pretty sure it is. I've got that lousy 130 basic head unit.

Anyway, I've got enough bass. I have a cvr kicker in the trunk. Vented out the rear deck to allow the air to flow, have no rattles. I took out the rear 6.5s and put 3.5s in their place.

Problem Is............................

My highs are nice, lows are great, but I can't hear anything in the middle! Lol. I'm thinking of putting 6x9s in the doors (dreading taking all that apart) but since it only sounds like the door speakers have BASS coming out of them, I'm considering running an amplifier on those as well - just piggy back off my subwoofer amp that I have set up with my audiocontrol Lc2i.

thinking about running just some simple Kicker 6x9 CS6934 3 ways and running a simple 100Wx2 at 4 ohm amp.

Please advise me on if I need to have the amp push these 6x9s for best sound???

And if any of you have done this can you send me pictures or video of the process. I also beleive once you start taking door panels off, they will never be the way they were when they were brand new. I wish QLogic would sell a kick panel box for our challengers.

Any help is vastly appreciated. :pillepalle:
 
#71 ·
6x9 on outside of panel?

Hey,

What do you think about possibly mounting the 6x9s right on the outside of the door panel?

I'll just cout from inside out toward the size of the 6x9, dremel a somewhat smooth shape, and then let the lip of the 6x9 and grill sit right over it. Would it be too big? Just a thought. Might look kinda cool.
 
#72 · (Edited)
Wow I didn't realize this thread was still active. I'd figure it would have been replaced by now but I guess I did a better job than I expected. You have a PM btw HemiKing

Now I'll make a confession...I actually haven't had my challenger since late 2010. I was having issues with Chrysler cealers doing work on my car and I finally got fed up and traded the car for something else. The car was literally shaking at highways speeds and the 3 dealers all said everything was fine. This admittedly was during the whole bankruptcy deal so I can't say that this is a current issue, or even an issue outside of my area, so don't judge your service on my experience. One of these days I might try and get a Challenger again. I prolly can afford an SRT8 now. Maybe if they'd bring back the green color (I know they offered it for a time)...
 
#79 ·
I figured you were not a Challenger owner for a while. But I want to thank you for showing me how to take the panel off the right way. I used your thread to be able to change out the weatherstrips that cracked shortly after I got my car. I did it right and for 4 years now, it's still good. Thanks again and I'm sorry your not a Challenger owner anymore but hey, maybe in the future you will.

Dino
 
#73 ·
Kicking Myself now

Hey Everyone, just wanted to update on the 6x9 front door install.

The door panel was super super easy. Probabaly the easiest and best designed door panel ever. I used a forhead strap headlight while working, so that helped visually, but this was a piece of cake.... that being said I'm totally
kicking myself for not having done this way back when and being so nervous about it.

I installed just a basic Kicker cs694 6x9s on each side. They are much bigger than the lousy paper zero weight crap that came out, but still fit in the original piece that holds the speaker. Most people end up having to cut the watershed thing to make speakers fit, the kickers fit right in. Plus I didn't want anything outrageous, I have a kicker CVR in the trunk providing all the bass. I just needed more mid area coverage which these do perfectly.

I'm also amplifying these bad boys, they are sounding spectacular!!! I had to run new wiring through the rubber thing that connects the door. Very simple 4 tab release on that boot thing, drilled a hole through it ran and soldered the wires. Also made sure wire was ziptied up by the existing cables to make sure the window rolling didn't hit it or anything. Then into the car, and the rocker panel, kick panel, all very simple easy pop off and pop back on like nothing happened.

Just a tip, kick panel comes off last, first rocker, then a panel higher up right along dashboard thickness, then below - the kick panel.

thanks for all the help. I'm soo happy!!!!

Just to sum up the whole system that is pretty banging on a budget.

Stock head unit 130.

Two factory 3.5s in the dashboard.

Two aftermarket 3.5s Polk Adio DB 351 $50 frys electronics in place of the stock 6.5s in the back deck to allow for the subwoofer to breathe into cab through the original holes. Also removed cover from factory 8" hole to also allow breathing. These 3.5 hooked up to factory wiring - not amplified by aftermarket amp.

One kicker 12 inch CVR in a single sealed box set up at 2ohms, with an MTX Thunder 250D pushing it. In addition to the MTX have installed an Audiocontrol Lc2i which is tapped into rear speakers for sound input as well. Excellent with bass saving.

dynamat on rear trunk lid under the carpeting.

Kicker cs694 $50 sale in the front doors, pushed with $65 sale SSL 150x2 at 4 ohm amp. This amp was high speaker level input from rear speakers also.

Since the amps are not overly demanding, ran 8 gauge power wiring two kits about $15 bucks each.

NO issues whatsoever, everything works like magic. I did slightly crack the kick panel though during install. But better that then something else important. haha.

Thank you folks!:banana:
 
#76 · (Edited)
just a couple of pictures I took when installing my new system. after you pop the rubber boot off and take the 4 clips out all you need is a pair of scissors to poke a hole in the plastic above and then use those scissors to twist out a nice clean hole 4 speaker wire to run through the doors..no drilling or anything needed just a pair of scissors. Also the factory amp under driver side is held on by 3 screws that attach it to a mounting bracket. you need to remove the whole bracket &amp so you can take the end off and then place the bracket back on. I did this to remove the amp. hopefully pictures below are useful cuz I was worried about how hard it would be to make a hole for the speaker wires to go through but it literally took 10 seconds on each side
 

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#78 ·
gmatic, when you were in the doors did you notice if the speaker wires were piggybacked from the door speakers to the dash speakers in a series? I recently swapped out all 6 speakers on my factory non amplified system. There were only 4 sets of speaker wires behind the factory head unit to power the 6 speakers. I put a 4 channel amp on the 6 speakers via a LC7i. The front 2 channels are powering the front door and dash speakers and the rear 2 channels are powering the rear deck speakers. I then added a sub on a 1 channel amp. The 6 speakers inside sound horrible and it is because of the front 4 speakers being on 2 channels. They are completely overpowering the rear speakers to the point that I have to fade a lot to the rear. I ordered a set of components and I am going to remove the door and dash speakers all together and just put the components in the door via a mounting bracket. This way I eliminate having that second signal going to the dash. Does this make sense to you?????
 
#81 ·
Yeah the back are supposedly 6.5" but they're not. Why're actually somewhere between that and 7". And with that stupid tripod screw setup they make it terrible to change without a speaker harness for the back. Good thing is you can use a speaker harness for rear or front as long as they're for a dodge/Chrysler. I put ones for the front in the back and they worked fine. I believe they're metra 82-6600. My pioneer 2 way I bought that are 6.5" are no where near big enough to even cover the screw holes. Also, it could be the mounting depth of your speakers you have to take into consideration. The speakers themselves cant be much taller even with the mount than the original speakers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#83 ·
factory Boston Acrapsticks rear deck center single woofer

I have the upgrade $1500 stereo, around 368 watts? Getting lost on these topics, followed a few posts and today just changed out the boston acraptsticks rear left and right speakers with some nice JBL/harmons thanks to all these topic, which stopped the speaker distortion issues I was having and added much needed clarity. I am not going to add a new sub in the trunk, just leaving as is with the small sub in the dash. But what have you all done with the this stock radio upgrade with the REAR center woofer? did you leave what was there or is there something that will make better low end bass? Or better to leave as is?
 

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#84 ·
factory Boston Acrapsticks rear deck center single woofer

I have the upgrade $1500 stereo, around 368 watts? Getting lost on these topics, followed a few posts and today just changed out the boston acraptsticks rear left and right speakers with some nice JBL/harmons thanks to all these topic, which stopped the speaker distortion issues I was having and added much needed clarity. I am not going to add a new sub in the trunk, just leaving as is with the small sub in the dash. But what have you all done with the this stock radio upgrade with the REAR center woofer? did you leave what was there or is there something that will make better low end bass? Or better to leave as is?
That 8” speaker in the rear deck is at an extreme disadvantage when it comes adding low end bass.
  • it’s only an 8” woofer
  • it’s enclosure type is Free-Air
  • it’s not getting much power from factory amp (? watts RMS)
  • it’s a factory speaker, so it is on lower end of quality scale

If you want low-end bass, having that 8” factory installed speaker back there is better than nothing I suppose, but just barely.

If you do not want to add an (larger) aftermarket sub in trunk to deliver the bass, you can upgrade that factory installed 8” woofer with an aftermarket 8” sub that is meant to operate in a free-air setting. There aren’t many available that fit that criteria (while still being somewhat affordable), but there is at least 1 or 2 that can be found on Crutchfield or Amazon and won’t break the bank, IIRC.

I used to have one bookmarked somewhere, and I will try and find that to update this post with the info. That upgrades the speaker, but the factory amp may be under driving the new aftermarket sub, so that’s another caveat to this approach you should keep in mind.

Another way to go with that upgrade would be to find a suitable 8” sub you can afford and can work well on available power from factory amp, but which is meant to be mounted in a sealed enclosure. Replace the factory 8” speaker with that upgraded choice meant for sealed, and then construct the optimum sized sealed enclosure for it yourself. Now, that box will obviously need to be made so that it can be attached to the underside of the deck, immediately below the speaker, otherwise it’s not going to help much.

That way is definitely more work, but it has a much better ROI in terms of bass output delivered beyond what factory setup could do. So that’s an option to consider as well...

I’ll update this thread with whatever I can find on those free-air subs and the custom sealed box. I know I have bookmarks for them somewhere, but finding them could take me a minute...
 
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#85 ·
Thanks for the info. and while we are on the topic, my rear deck JBL/Harmon club 6520s that I put in started rattling against the plastic adapter ring between the rear metal deck and/or the the speaker. As a noob, how in the world do I stop that, do I put a silicon between the metal deck and the ring adapter and something between the plastic adapter and the speaker? only worked for 2 days this way then started the annoying vibrating. If I push down on the ring adapter between the 3 mounting screws hard down towards the rear deck it stops.

Auto part Audio equipment Technology Engine Electronic device
 
#86 ·
I found a couple of links I was talking about in my previous post, but they are expired or 404 now, so had to do a little inter-webs searching for myself. I found a couple options for the subwoofer on Crutchfield:

One is 4 ohm and other is capable of 2 ohm operation. Both are identical in other params, so depending on whether or not the amp powering the speaker is 2 ohm capable or not, that will be the decisive factor for choosing between those particular 2.

(I found one more on their site, but it’s $180, so I won’t list it here. Search their site for 8” infinite baffle if you want to see it.)

If you were going to go with one of those for a rear deck upgrade, I would suggest getting an aftermarket amp to push it. The factory amp would do the job, bu a good aftermarket one would do it better...probably much better...though that’s relative to each person I guess.

Adding an aftermarket amp to trunk could be done without sacrificing space if done right. See this thread for an example: https://www.chargerforums.com/threa...he-rear-deck-and-make-a-cheap-amp-rack.81444/

Also, I ran across more than one thread that stated the factory amps that power a factory sub were capable of pushing 100w RMS for sub channel. So if an upgraded amp was being shopped, it should be able to provide >100w RMS at whatever the chosen sub’s impedance is.

Nuke
 
#87 ·
I found a couple of links I was talking about in my previous post, but they are expired or 404 now, so had to do a little inter-webs searching for myself. I found a couple options for the subwoofer on Crutchfield:
One is 4 ohm and other is capable of 2 ohm operation. Both are identical in other params, so depending on whether or not the amp powering the speaker is 2 ohm capable or not, that will be the decisive factor for choosing between those particular 2.

(I found one more on their site, but it’s $180, so I won’t list it here. Search their site for 8” infinite baffle if you want to see it.)

If you were going to go with one of those for a rear deck upgrade, I would suggest getting an aftermarket amp to push it. The factory amp would do the job, bu a good aftermarket one would do it better...probably much better...though that’s relative to each person I guess.

Adding an aftermarket amp to trunk could be done without sacrificing space if done right. See this thread for an example: https://www.chargerforums.com/threa...he-rear-deck-and-make-a-cheap-amp-rack.81444/

Also, I ran across more than one thread that stated the factory amps that power a factory sub were capable of pushing 100w RMS for sub channel. So if an upgraded amp was being shopped, it should be able to provide >100w RMS at whatever the chosen sub’s impedance is.

Nuke
Wow, people have talent. Me being me Id try the 2ohm first unpowered to see how that works. Thanks for the info :)
 
#89 ·
If you do end up adding aftermarket amps, etc - here is another option.... Assuming your Challenger came without a spare tire like mine, you can use the empty spare-tire-well as a good place to install amps.

I installed both my Rockford Fosgate DSR1 (factory integrationa and DSP for ~$250!) and my JL Audio XD600/6v2 amp (6x75W RMS). With this setup, I have complete control over every aspect of every speaker in the car. Full 31-band-per-channel parametric EQ, digital crossovers, time alignment, phase switching, speaker gain controls, etc. Talk about being able ot tune the system the way you want it! :)

For my first real amp install, it turned out pretty damn good - and is 100% "hidden". It helps that the battery is right next the the spare-tire-well in the trunk. :)




Once you close the "trap door" int he trunk, you would never even know it was there - and since the amp is class-D, heat is not an issue at all.



LOTS more detailed info/running log of the install here:
https://www.challengertalk.com/thre...e-6-speaker-amplified-system-upgrades.671131/
 
#90 ·
Nice, so is it safe to assume you didn’t strap the spare to the roof or something hillbilly like that right? It’s just left behind in garage I hope... :D

If you haven’t made one yet, I would strongly advise putting together a flat tire kit to keep in the car since you won’t have the spare in an emergency.

I used to keep a small duffle bag about the size of a big ham in mine. It had a tire plug kit and some needle nose pliers and box cutters to help make using it easier. And then there was the 12v mini-air compressor and separate psi gauge since the ones on those compressors is never accurate. And we can’t forget the ancillary yet very useful stuff like gloves, flashlight(s) with extra batteries, and insect repellant.

That kit saved my bacon several times when I had the two 6 cylinder Challengers. I never carried a spare in them to keep dead weight to minimum. (Acceleration was always just too much of a struggle to be lugging around 50lbs of spare and jack and such if I could get by without it)

Now that I have the Bacon Hauler I keep the spare in it though. Haven’t had to use it yet thankfully, but it’s there ready to go if I ever need it!
 
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