Hey everyone, it’s Eric again! This is an install for front door car speakers that I did a couple years ago. Due to customer demand, I am sharing it again to help you all find and use it with ease. Thank you to those who share their feedback with us on our customer & tech support lines.
Many trucks on the road have seen a lot of wear and tear. This truck's a 2014 or newer GM and is still running just fine, but the factory speakers are made of inexpensive materials so years on the road and lots of wear and tear pretty much turn those speakers into dust. If your factory speakers are blown or worn out and you want to replace them with new car speakers, we've designed a kit that makes that super easy for your GM truck.
We have a pair of speakers, speaker brackets, harnesses, and even some foam rings to help the sound go directly into the cabin where you want it. This is a plug and play install, so we do rate the install two out of four pry tools on our install difficulty scale. Come with me as I show you how to take apart your 2014 or newer GM pickup and replace your factory speakers.
Before we get started, let's look at the tools we're going to use in today's install:
- ratchet with extension
- 7mm socket
- snips
- pick tool
- pry tool
- razor knife
- phillips head screwdriver
- safety glasses
- jigsaw
Step 1: Disassembly
Using a right-angle pick tool, carefully insert into the small hole near the door latch and remove the small piece of plastic.
Using a right-angle pick tool, insert into the small gap and remove the piece of plastic at the top of the door arm rest. This gives you access to the two 7mm bolts that need to be removed.
Using a nylon pry tool, pry up on the bottom edge of door trim panel.
Remove all the 7mm bolts from the door.
Pry away at the bottom edge of the door, releasing the snaps and now very carefully pull straight away from the edge of the door, ensuring that this rail with these clips remain attached to the door.
Push on the small plastic locking tab and then flip up the gray connector to disconnect this harness from the door.
Pinch the white connector down and pull back swing at 90 degrees and then lift straight up to remove the door lock cable.
Using the 7mm socket, remove the bolt holding the speaker into place. Slide the factory speaker up and tilt out to remove it. Slide back the red plastic tab and press down the black plastic tab to pull the speaker harness out of the speaker.
Step 2: Cut Speaker Brackets
Now we need to modify the speaker bracket. We're going to use a jigsaw to cut out the interior portion along the oval edge, so that we can fit the 6x9” speaker. Since we're using a jigsaw, it's very important to wear safety glasses.
Step 3: Install Speakers into Brackets
Using your knife, carefully poke between the two layers in the foam ring to separate them. Foam rings (aka fast rings) are sound damping materials meant to reduce unwanted noise and vibrations. Poke your finger between the foam and work all the way around the outside of the ring to separate the outer ring.
Using a knife, carefully trim the middle ring down to a quarter inch tall. Remove the larger piece, it will not be needed. Carefully remove the smaller piece, this will be used to form a gasket behind the back of the 6x9” speaker.
Remove the adhesive backing and carefully apply the foam to the outer back edge of the speaker.
Set the speaker into the speaker bracket and install four screws by hand at first. Once all four screws are installed, tighten them fully.
Connect the speaker harness to the speaker, the white wire connects to the positive terminal marked with a plus and the black wire connects to the negative terminal marked with a minus.
Step 4: Install Speakers into Truck
Remove the adhesive backing from the large foam block from the center of your fast rings. Pass it through the speaker opening, then pass the window mechanism, and adhere it to the door panel directly behind the speaker.
Plug the factory speaker wiring into the speaker harness and re-engage the small red locking tab.
Place the speaker into the factory opening and reinstall the 7mm bolt.
Remove the adhesive backing from the outer fast ring and attach it to the outside front edge of the speaker. This will help direct the speaker sound into the truck.
Step 5: Reassembly
To reassemble your truck follow the disassembly process in reverse order. When reattaching the door panel, push the top of the door straight in and reconnect any harnesses and cables when reinstalling your door panels.
And just like that we've taken the blown worn out speakers out of our GM truck and we've replaced them with great quality speakers. Wow with these aftermarket speakers, we will have much better sound. We hope you've found this install useful. Thanks and happy listening!