Re: Replacement of front speakers

["ksgrimsr" <knut.s.grimsrud@xxxx>]

I replaced my front speakers last weekend. It can try your patiene 
but there are a couple tricks that make the job a lot easier.

For those that still have their original speakers, I was surprised to 
find when I removed mine that the foam surrounds on my front speakers 
was completely gone. It appears to have deteriorated with time to the 
point where it had completely crumbled away. My speakers still 
worked, but the quality of sound obviously wasn't the greatest. I 
would suspect that most all original front speakers are kaput due to 
age.

In order to give me a little better access without removing more 
stuff than necessary, I simply removed the air duct leading to the 
door jamb on both the driver's and passenger side. Removing these 
ducts is a 2-minute job and gives you a little better room. I did not 
find a need to remove anything else to get sufficient access.

You get at the speakers using the usual technique of laying on your 
back in the footwell. Some people reportedly remove the seats to get 
better access, but I have never found this to be necessary. It may 
depend on how nimble you are and your general size of build.

Removing the speakers is a breeze. Usually it's getting the new ones 
back in that gives people fits since the magnet has a tendency to 
steal the fasteners when your fumbling with them under the dash -- 
but there's a trick to it. Using a properly sized socket on an 
extension, put a shim in the bottom of the socket so as to keep the 
nut flush with the end of the socket. Put the nut in the socket. Put 
the washer ontop of the nut and secure in place with scotch tape. 
Using an exacto knife (or similar) cut out the hole in the center of 
the washer in the tape (to avoid the tape fouling the threads). The 
nut and washer should now be secure in the socket attached to the end 
of a suitable extension.

Laying in the footwell, you can now use your setup to screw one side 
of the replacement speaker in place. I found that I could only get 
one hand on the speaker at a time, but with the little trick it was 
possible to hold the speakeri n place while also threading the 
nut/washer on the stud. After it's threaded on, the tape tears away 
leaving the nut/washer on the stud with the speaker in place. Repeat 
with the other stud (which will be easier once the speaker is 
suspended from the first fastener).

Because the speaker is mounted from underneath and there is no cavity 
to accommodate a protruding tweeter, you have to make sure your 
replacement speaker has no tweeter protrusion.

Good luck. The installation can try your patience and working with 
your hand over your head is a little tiring, but take your time and 
take it easy.

Knut



--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, jordan rubin wrote:
> Hello all:
> 
> I have confirmed that my driver side front speaker
> is dead, and not the fault of the radio. I figure I
> might as well replace both. It seems almost too easy
> to get to from the bottom but I have this feeling that
> to remove them, i have to take the whole dash apart. 
> Does anyone know the easiest way to get at these
> speakers for replacement?
> 
>