so my buddy replaced all 4 speakers in his 02 silverado a couple weeks ago.. this got me thinking I should put a new stereo and some decent speakers in my truck. mind you it only took him an hour and a half to do all this to his truck... so we figured hell it wouldnt take that long on mine.... WRONG.

first of all the book at walmart said I had 6 1/2's in the front door and 5 1/4 in the back.. so thats what I bought plus a decent stereo. first thing we did was take apart the dash to get to the stereo and installed that... it wasnt really that bad. an hour into it the stereo was in. then came the agony of trying to get to the back speakers. after 2 hours of trying to figure out how to get all the molding off without breaking everything, we come to find out that the 5 1/4's were too small to mount properly. however, it just so happened that the 6 1/2's i bought for the front door fit in there perfect. so i ended up putting them in the back. Then after another half hour we got the door panels off only to discover that it had 6x9's in the front.... wtf? so another trip to wal mart was needed. I come back with new 6x9's only to find out that the "frame" of the speaker sticks out too far and wont go into the damn hole. finally I just said to hell with it... I'll order some from crutchfield that I know will fit right. Then... we spent another almost 2 hours trying to get the damn door panels to get back into place... which leads to my first question.

is there an easy way to remove the door panels... or actually an easy way to put them back on? The only way we could get it all the way off was to remove the door handle first... the bull**** part was getting the panel back on over the handle and getting it to clip back into place. there has to be an easier way right?
anyway... 8 agonizing hours later... I had a new stereo and 2 new 6 1/2's in the back door panels. this left me wondering.... WHY DOES CHRYSLER HAVE TO MAKE EVERYTHING SO DIFFICULT???? on my friends chevy... you could get to everything by taking out a few screws here and there.
oh well. at least all I have left to do is the front speakers.

 

Well, the door panels come off in less than three minutes and go back on in less than five. I was astonished at how easy it is. Two 6x9s in the front and two 6 1/2" speakers in the rear, plus a new head unit with dash panel and harness adapter took less than two hours including soldering all the connections and drilling new screw holes for the rear speakers.

The front door panels have four screws: one in the sail panel behind the mirror, one near the handle and two in the bottom of the panel. The door handle comes out with the removal of one bolt. The rear door panels are much the same. Re-installlation of the door panels just involves slipping the hooks on the panels into the holes in the doors, threading the door lock buttons through the holes in the panels.

Having done a few hundred car stereo installations in the 70s, I was pleasantly surprised how easy this was. No blind screws, no razor-sharp metal to tear up my hands... It was wonderful.

 

not sure how to tell you how to do something that is already easy... easier?

 

The Walmart Pioneer 4way 6x9's speakers fit fine in my front doors. The Sony's did too, but I ended up with the Mopar/Kicker speakers in all 4 doors. very clear and sound great.

www.kicker.com/mopar

 

Not trying to sound like a jerk, but what the hell are you going to Wal Mart for if you want a good sounding system, all they sell is garbage. Sure it might be a little better than what is in your truck but not much and not worth the money. Spend a couple more bucks and get alot better quality and maybe an amp to push that sound through alot better.

 

Mine took a little while to install as well. Only because I had to bypass the factory amp and run all the speaker and amp wires. Taking the panels on and off were no problem at all. Have Kickers in front and back (fit fine)and two 10 subs with Alpine amp.

 

tried those same exact ones and they wouldnt fit... they were close but wouldnt go in all the way. I need to find some with a really shallow basket.

 

just with new 6 1/2's in the back and a new stereo it sounds way better. Most of the money I spend on my truck goes to performance stuff not stereo stuff. besides, you cant have anything too nice in your vehicle where I live or it gets stolen.... everyone's on heroin (besides me)

 

I bought pioneer speakers, the front door ones fit perfect with a plastic spacer, for the back door ones I had to drill a hole in each side because the factory speakers only have three screws, vs the pioneer's 4. Havent replaced the stereo yet, I want a touch-screen pioneer deck but im too poor at the moment. Hope this helps

 

If you go to a stereo shop, they can sell you a spacer for the speaker and it will allow for it to clear without hitting.