R/T,

All durangos have the steering wheel controls if they have the infinity system.

Dodge advertise 8 speaker Infinity system. Physically, there are actually 6 speakers. The extra 2 speakers that dodge advertise are the tweeter speaker built into the speaker that is located in the rear door location.

The 2 ohm and 4 ohm speaker rating is hard to say. some people say their OHM rating was 2, but when I tested mine, it came out to 4 ohms. To test your speakers to see what ohm rating they are, if you have a ohm meter, you can test them. The rule of thumb on ohms is that it is always safer to choose a higher ohm rating than a lower ohm rating if you are unsure. For example, if you have a 4 ohm rating power amplifer, you can use 4 ohm or higher speaker rating. BUT you cannot use any speaker with less than 4 ohm rating. A lower rating than what the amplifier is design for can damage the amplifier. Basically the lower the ohm, the lower the resistance, the amp has to work extra harder and amp will get hotter too. If you want to make sure what ohm rating the OEM amp uses, it is located on the passenger side kick panel. You can remove the amp there and then check if there is a label to identify the ohm load. But it may be easier to test the speakers providing they are not blown.

There is no manual that shows you how to remove the speakers. but if you look at the link I posted to you, I think it was craigs site or something, they actually show you pictures on how to remove the door panels and such to get access to the speakers. I replaced/repaired my own speakers using this site link. Very straight forward. The only thing you must be careful and double check is to make sure your power harnesses to the driver door are seated in nice and tight or else you may loose your power windows/locks control.

If you want to convert from OEM to aftermarket, I cannot help you there, I am satisfied with my Infinity system and will not change. Living in a big metro area like DFW, chances are your very nice aftermarket expensive system is just a big target for thieves to break in and tear up your interior. I went thru that a couple times already with my previous vehicles living in Dallas. Icannotphantom someone breaking in and tearing up my R/T. Now when I purchase a new car, I just opt to buy the highest line OEM audio system. Most of today's modem audio systems sound really nice and enough for my taste. If you do decide to go this route, you will have to do your own research on what aftermarket head unit will be compatible with the OEM amp without having to buy additional hardware. There are some aftermarket head units that will work with Dodge system, even work with the OEM audio controls on the steering wheel. You will have to google search these yourself. But a good place to start is crutchfield's website.

 

dont foget these spekers on the infinity systems are 2 ohm there for a 4 ohm will be half as loud the deep mount will fit the front but not the back call crutch field they no what they are talking abouthttp://www.crutchfield.com/S-ltxf6SgD1av/app/product/category.aspx?c=3

 

ORIGINAL: DurangoRT/RN

Hey, Lil Red, are you still able to use the steering wheel controls.
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Lucky me mine's a 2001 SLT no radio controls on the wheel, I got cruise controls on wheel only.

CD/cassette deck in-dash infinity speakers with those remote tweeters, and an infinity amp underneath burried in the dash all factory, I only have speakers in the front and rear doors however, so I guess the extra speakers and steeringwheel controls must be part of the R/T step-up.

I'll replace my speakers one day, for now I'm still beef'n up the WOT sound system

 

Changing the speakers will have no effect on using or not being able to use the steering wheel controls.

IndyDurango

 

Welp, there were a few posts regarding the rear channel speakers not as loud as the fronts if your fader setting is set equally. I just confirm that I have this same issue. I think this issue comes up with anyone installing aftermarket speakers. I am going to order the foam replacement kit for my OEM's from http://www.simplyspeakers.com for $26.95 a pairand re-install them to see if this same sound issue exist. If not, then there is something funny here. I will re-ohm my speakers again to make sure. I hope it is not the amp with the rear channels slowly going out. Just like other users have queried, the rears just sound awful when move the fader to the rear and then slowly max out the volume. I will let everyone know once I re-install the rear OEM speakers to see if this is still the case.

 

I have repaired my OEM speakers using the $26.95 repair kit from http://www.simplyspeakers.com. I will let the glue dry overnight. I will swap out my Infinity reference 6012's and put back the OEM's as I have ohm'ed out the OEM's and it is roughly 2 ohms vs the reference 6012's at 4 ohms. If I do not get louder sound and bass response, I fear the OEM amp is burnt and will have to replace that. But problem is I have yet to find a aftermarket 4 channel amp that can fit in the same kick panel location as the OEM. Anyone knows of any 4 channel amp that can fit in that passenger side kick panel?

I wonder how you can upload pictures here directly from your PC? I took some pictures of the procedure on repairing the OEM's. If anyone is willing to tackle this to fix their OEM speakers, I seriously recommend you to be very patient. Apparently the foam material and the glue the factory used is messy. Takes about an hour or more per speaker to remove the foam and scrap and clean off the glue in preparation to reinstall the new foam.

 

Okay, I am glad I figured out how to upload a file! You have to reply or create a new post to upload a file! Quick reply does not allow for file uploads. Here is the pics I took to repair the OEM's. As I can only upload 5 pics at a time, this will be multiple posts. The pics you see is very similar to the illustrated doc that came with the repair kit.

1st pic - Shows you the Rear speaker
2nd pic - Use a flat screwdriver to slowly pryoff the plastic trim
3rd pic - carefully peel back the insulation and use a torx driver to remove screw on each end to remove the tweeter assembly from the plastic trim ring. Tweeter assembly cannot be removed from speaker so be VERY CAREFUL not to break the wiring connection to the cone.
4th pic - Shows the original surround foam completely ripped and tweeter assembly loosely connected to speaker cone.
5th pic - Use a exacto knife or very sharp razor to trim off the broken foam

 

1st & 2nd pic - Speaker cleaned up by removing all the foam on the metal ring and trimmed off bad foam from the cone. Use rubbing alcohol or fingernail polisher remover to soften and wipe off the factory adhesive glue.
3rd pic - The trim ring. You will need to use the exacto knife to clean off the foam and adhesive. Again you can use rubbing alcohol or fingernail polish remover to make removal easier.
4th pic - trim ring all cleaned up.
5th pic - Install the replacement foam. Follow the easy instructions. It says to glue the inner foam to the cone first, let it dry for an hour, then glue to the outter foam to the metal ring. Let dry for another hour

 

1st pic - carefully remount the tweeter assembly back on trim ring. Screw the 2 torx screws back in place to hold the tweeter assembly. Careful not to tear the foam trim. Then glue the plastic trim ring back on speaker. Turn speaker upside down and set it on a smooth flat surface and let it dry for at least a couple more hours.

2nd pic - I used a ohm meter to measure the resistance of the rear factory speaker and it reads 2.6 ohms so roughly 2 ohms.

Now you are ready to re-install the factor speakers back to your Durango.

All in all, the procedure to repair these speakers is relatively easy. But you will have to exercise ALOT OF PATIENCE!! Because of the factory adhesive they use to glue down the foam and the plastic ring, it was very very time consuming to carefully clean off the glue from the metal ring and the plastic trim. It dirtied and stickied up my tools. If it was not for the adhesive cleaning, this project would only take me about 15 minutes to clean and remove the foam. Otherwise, it took me over an hour per speaker.

 

I re-installed the factory speakers. It is slightly louder than the reference infinity and the bass is a little better, but the clarity is crap compared to the reference infinity. But either way, the rear speakers aren't as loud as the fronts OEM 2 ohm or aftermarket 4 ohm. I would have to assume the rear channel on the OEM amp is weakening or on its way to burn out soon.

Wished someone out there makes a 4 channel aftermarket amp that can nicely fit in the same location as the oem amp that is located on the passenger kick panel.