The days project: 4-Channel Amp and new speakers!

[S0UL_CHICKEN]

Alright! All finished and ready to lay it all out with a ton of pictures of the install.

Revisions: Added pictures of the soft-tools, and the finished 6x9.
Working: Wiring color change on front doors, trying to figure out positive and negative leads.
Thank you's: x_mods for the support, glamisdude for the feedback, and truckin_NC for the technical help. I could not have done this without any of your help!!

4-Channel Amp: MB Quart 4.80 Onyx - 80 RMS to each channel @ 4ohms
6.5 Alpine Type S SPS-610G Rear door speakers @ 80 RMS
6x9 Alpine Type S SPS-619 Front door speakers @ 85 RMS

You can find the specs for the front speakers HERE, the specs to the rear speakers HERE, and the specs to the amp HERE.

This is a two part post due to a 1000 character limit. Lets start part 1!
Here we go! I started off running the wiring, and mounting the fuse next to the mono amp fuse.



I then drilled a hole next to the one already in the firewall on the drivers side, to the left of the brake pedal. I ran two separate power wires as I didn't feel comfortable going with only one, and then branching off.



The wiring kit I purchased only came with 17 feet of 4GA wiring, so I purchased another 10 feet from a local audio retail/installer. Since I knew I was going to be short, I had to get a mechanical connector to connect the two wires together. I purchased one from Lowes, which also came with a length of heat shrink to keep it insulated.



I then ran the wiring up behind the dash brackets and wedged the mechanical connector behind one of those brackets.



I then ran the 4GA under the blower motor for the heater/AC and across to the far right of the vehicle. The instructions said not to run the power wire next to any RCA's, so that is why I went the long way around.





The next step was to figure out how to mount the 4-channel. x_mods was gracious enough to point out that there were three receiving nuts on the floor, but when I pulled back the carpet I found several 'anchors' in the floorboard.



Much to my disappointment, the 4.80 Onyx amp was bigger than I thought, so on my dry-fit I ended up removing the vent to the back. Since I did that, I went ahead and blocked off the vent where it attaches. Doing so actually moves more air to my footwell - esp. to the passenger side. My wife doesn't mind that at all. We don't have kids, so the back seats are never used, and it will keep the heat away from the 4-channel amp, and my subwoofer.



I ran the RCA cables and speaker wire along the center console to keep distance from the 4GA. Once I had them all run, I went ahead and attached all leads, remote, power, and ground. I used two large rubber grommets under the front of the amp and used two m6x1.0 screws to lock it down. I did not use any hardware on the back side since the amp sat on a section of carpet with very thick padding.





I was going to run all new wiring, but my time was limited at the shop today. I ended up running the 16GA wiring right up to the head unit and tapped in there. Since everything was connected and tight, I re-connected the battery and fired up the stereo to make sure everything was connected properly and working. Stage one completed and successful!!!

Stage two was to replace the factory 20A speakers with Alpine Type S 6.5's and 6x9's. Once it gets warm again, I will more than likely run all new speaker wire to the doors, but for now it will pass.

First off, I recommend replacing all four speakers, and testing the system before you put everything back together. Pictures from here on out are on the drivers side. I recommend getting a set of soft-tools to remove any panels, door trim, head unit trim to keep you from scratching everything up. I found this set at a local Autozone for 18 bucks. I used only the two on the left to remove the panels.



The passenger side has an extra panel on the lower left, but you will get the idea once you tackle the driver side. On that note, let's start off with the suicide doors. First, remove the covering on the upper connection on the seat belt with your soft-tools. DO NOT REMOVE THE SLIDER BUTTON!!







The bottom of the belt on the drivers side simply lifts up, making it easy to get to the 14mm bolt.



Remove the upper and lower bolts and let the belt dangle. Next it's time to get the panel off. I started at the top and popped the top two clips and once I had them loose, all I had to do was move down each side and pulled them out by hand. If you have an orange clip stay in the door, don't panic. You can pop them out with one of the soft-tools and put it back in the panel.



Here is the panel removed, you can see all the orange clips in the panel. Note the two top clips are a part of the panel itself, which is why I started there.



All that is left is to remove the factory junk, and install the Alpines. I cut the wiring right at the connector, and spliced in the wiring that came with the speakers. The factory 6.5 is one unit, including the standoff. I did not use any of it, rather took a 1/8th drill bit and drilled new holes into the door, and mounted it that way. You may need to hack the standoff if you have a rather tall speaker as there is a support bracket behind the speaker position. Have a dremel ready in case you run into this issue. I pulled up the plastic under the speaker mount and ran my hand up behind the speaker after it was mounted and found I had about a half an inch clearance.



When you go to put your panel back on (AFTER YOU HAVE TESTED THE SYSTEM), the outer weatherstripping may get pinched behind the panel. Use your soft-tool to pull it back out.



Here is finished look:



See the next post to continue the front door as there is a 1000 character cut-off. Thanks!!

[S0UL_CHICKEN]

Part 2 speaker install - front doors!

Not too terrible! I figured it would have been harder and taken longer to get that installed - the front door was just as easy!! First off, I highly recommend rolling down your windows just to be sure your front 6x9's fit. Some of the taller speakers my have this issue, in which you will need to get a spacer to get it further out of the way.

The plastic V shaped piece of plastic comes out with minimal effort, along with the cup behind it. Use your soft-tools so you don't scratch up your parts.





The harder part is getting the armrest off. Do not try to grab the inner piece of the handle, as that is part of the panel. Instead, take your soft-tool to start at the point of the armest and work your way back to the heavy side until you can get a hold of it and pull straight up.



You will now see all three 10mm bolts holding in the panel. Take and remove all three, and then you are ready to start removing the panel.





I started next to the black stopper popping two clips. I then easily was able to grab the panel by hand and work my way around the whole panel.



All you need to do now is lift the whole panel straight up as it hangs on the top lip of the door.



What comes next is the switch removal. Many complain on this next step, but it is very easy if you pop the switch panel out, and then disconnect the wiring harness. If you look on the back side of the panel you will see two tabs on the door side. If you lightly pull on these two tabs, the switch panel starts to pop loose allowing you to easy separate it from the panel.





Now you can easily disconnect the harness, and move the panel away to the side. Here is the door showing the massive amperage factory JUNK...



I removed the factory 6x9, and then noticed a little standoff peg on the lower right side that needs to be cut so the new speaker lies flush. The passenger side peg is on the upper left.



Once I cut that out, all I did was splice in the new wiring from the Alpine and install it. On the drivers side (I can only state the following for 2010's!!) the wiring changes to a blue/white wire, and a blue/red wire. The blue/red is your positive line, and the blue/white is your negative line. On the passenger side there is a white/black wire and a blue/black wire, with the white/black being positive, and the blue/black wire being negative. Thank you truckin_NC!



Here are two pictures of the final product. I did not need to modify the speaker stand at all except for the tab removal.





Before you put all your door panels back on, test the system to be sure everything is correct and works properly! My only issue at this point is the wiring coloring change from the back of the head unit. At this time, I am not sure I have the polarities correct, and working on further confirmation of my setup. UPDATE 04/29

Thanks to Skibane on this, here is the speaker wire polarity setup.
Left Front Positive: Blue/White
Left Front Negative: Blue/Red

Right Front Positive: White/Black
Right Front Negative: Blue/Black

#1 Left Rear Positive: Blue
#1 Left Rear Negative: Orange
#2 Left Rear Positive: Green
#2 Left Rear Negative: Black

#1 Right Rear Positive: Blue
#1 Right Rear Negative: Orange
#2 Right Rear Positive: Gray
#2 Right Rear Negative: Orange

Now that all is said and done, I really couldn't be more pleased on how well everything went, and how it sounds. This job took me five hours from start to finish and I enjoyed every second of it. Having the job done professionally would probably run a good 300 to 400 bucks, easy. Doing the job myself was very satisfying and would recommend everyone out there to take on the job. The sound system is very, very tight! I love hearing things in music that was never heard before. I think it is time for another test drive!!!

[truckin_NC]

VERY NICE WORK SIR!! Both the post/write-up and install are excellent! It's great to see it all come together!

Interesting to see you had to remove and block off the passenger side floor vent. I suppose I could do that, too, since rear heat is definitely not necessary.

[S0UL_CHICKEN]

Thank you sir! I appreciate that very much seeing how you went their first! I still haven't gotten my battery terminal upgrade yet... I was hoping to include that in the write-up as well. Perhaps next week as I would like to add it in since there are three tie-ins.

[truckin_NC]

Originally Posted by S0UL_CHICKEN

Thank you sir! I appreciate that very much seeing how you went their first! I still haven't gotten my battery terminal upgrade yet... I was hoping to include that in the write-up as well. Perhaps next week as I would like to add it in since there are three tie-ins.

Awesome! I will be looking for that, as well

Looking back at this write up, I have a couple questions: first, did you have to remove the raised plastic lip on the front speaker mounts to fit the Alpines? I had to remove the plastic nib sticking out and the lip along the bottom edge. Also, after reading glasmisdude's write-up on audio install, I looked at the wiring scheme for the radios and decided to check all my speaker connections to make sure they were properly connected (neg on neg, pos on pos, etc). I discovered two things - first that only one of my speakers was correctly wired (oops!) and also that the front speakers have different colored wire at the speaker than they do behind the dash. I posted a new pic here Untitled | Flickr - Photo Sharing! showing where it changes. Was that the case with your truck?

[klipsch17310]

Wow ,exl work ..I will do my truck soon .Please let em know the Tool to take off door panel ,where are you buy that ? Thanks

[S0UL_CHICKEN]

Originally Posted by truckin_NC

Awesome! I will be looking for that, as well

Looking back at this write up, I have a couple questions: first, did you have to remove the raised plastic lip on the front speaker mounts to fit the Alpines? I had to remove the plastic nib sticking out and the lip along the bottom edge. Also, after reading glasmisdude's write-up on audio install, I looked at the wiring scheme for the radios and decided to check all my speaker connections to make sure they were properly connected (neg on neg, pos on pos, etc). I discovered two things - first that only one of my speakers was correctly wired (oops!) and also that the front speakers have different colored wire at the speaker than they do behind the dash. I posted a new pic here Untitled | Flickr - Photo Sharing! showing where it changes. Was that the case with your truck?

The Alpines fit perfectly in the speaker mounts without any modification other than cutting off that tab - even the mounting holes lined up perfectly. Since I did not get a finished picture of the install in the front door I will pop that panel off and do that.
Good point on the wiring, yes, mine was like yours. There was a wiring change, on mine as well with the backdoors unchanged. Do you recall which wires were the negative on the front speakers? I wouldn't mind double checking my setup. I will also look over Glamisdude's thread as well for hints.

[glamisdude72000]

Great job explaining everything! The install looks great as well! Do you mind if I link to your write up in my Research/ install guide? I have videos that show my install but yours makes great use of pictures

[S0UL_CHICKEN]

Originally Posted by glamisdude72000

Great job explaining everything! The install looks great as well! Do you mind if I link to your write up in my Research/ install guide? I have videos that show my install but yours makes great use of pictures

Thanks glamisdude! I appreciate that very much. Yes, feel free to use whatever you would like in the write-up you have going on - let me know if you need a text copy of all the picture urls. I will be taking a couple more pictures this afternoon to complete it, and to double check my front speaker + and - hookups since they changed color wires at the front doors.

[S0UL_CHICKEN]

Originally Posted by klipsch17310

Wow ,exl work ..I will do my truck soon .Please let em know the Tool to take off door panel ,where are you buy that ? Thanks

Thank you! You can get a set at Crutchfield, but I purchased mine at a local AutoZone for about 18 bucks. It comes with five tools in total, and worth every penny!

EDIT: Pictures added of the soft-tools, and the finished 6x9 in the door to the write-up.