need some tunes
 

The AM radio in my truck is dead so I was thinking of upgrading the sound system. I can get the cd player in myself(I hope) but I was wondering where are some places I could put speakers? It's gonna be a daily driver and not a show winner, so any location's fine with me. I'm just tired of driving around with no music.

i KNOW i'll catch some slack for this, but I'd cut the lower doors and mount them in there.

tunes
 

longhornmail shame,shame, on u with all the options u have for speakers u want to have him cut the door panels. how about kick panel speakers. someone posted they got a overhead console from whitney i think? just my $.02 worth . please think before u cut.

Swivel mount box speakers on the forward side of the kick panels, won't even notice they're there.

bigcarguy, I'm interested in your question also as my truck is soon to be out of the body shop and I also want to upgrade the sounds in it. I moved the behind the seat tank to under the bed so have a good place to put some 6x9 speakers. Plan on making my own custom boxes to sit in the corners. Have been thinking of using the aftermarket speaker which replaces the original under the dash, behind the radio. It has two speakers mounted side by side in the same frame and is good for up to 50 watts I believe. Anyone have any experience with this speaker? Are they worth spending my money on? Will be watching this post for any ideas and input from others. Thanks.

OK, please don't send a goat to my house or anything, but if someone can weld up replacement rockers, cabcorners, upgrade to discs etc, I'm thinking cutting holes in the doors isn't that big of a deal because they can always be repaired later on if wanted. Now I understand not wanting to cut it up if it's concours original, but like the factory steering, a/c, suspension & braking, we've come a long way & common placement in most production trucks these days include multi-speaker systems w/some mounted in the lower doors. Remember, I don't want to start a holy war or anything.

Fortunately, my doors came pre-cut, ie. they were like that when I bought the truck. Not my fault, but for space used and sound quality, I can't think of a better or more natural place. You decide, its your truck.

IMO there is absolutely no reason to ever cut into a perfectly fine dash, and it is absurd to cut into doors. There are both stereos and speakers available that can provide great sound, without butchering a perfectly good truck. Custom Autosound has everything available in a stereo that will fit right into the stock position, I have one and it's great. Ironhorse, I wish you would have mentioned this topic when we were at the Winfield car show, I would have fired up some good tunes, whatever your pleasure, he-hee! I have encased speakers under the seat, and they CAN be heard! Sorry if I rant guys, but cutting un-necessary holes in perfectly good sheet metal is ridiculous! Speakers in door holes draw moisture and get wet from weather, car washes, etc., unless of course you're that idealic individual that seals them perfectly and never washes your truck.

Here are my ideas #1 being the best

#1 get one of those stereo or dual voice in-dash speakers (they do project themselves as stereo pretty well and are fairly inexpensive

#2 Headliner with built in speakers-If you ever want to change or go back to stock its easy, just change back to your hold headliner which doesn't take long. LMC has these I believe (GMCPaul I think does also....... possibly Chevy Duty and JC Whitney) Get it from Paul if at all possible. LMC and I dont get along.

#3 Run your wires under your carpet and there IS room in the corners of the cab to put some box speakers. They would probably sound best if you didn't want to cut.

#4 I wouldnt do this and cut up stuff but you could get kickpanels with speakers.

#5.... DONT do door speakers or cut up the dash. You will regret it later. Remember, be good to your Chevy and it'll be good to you.

I don't know who's truck this is anymore, but they did an excellent job in my opinion. I've been stacking up on the pictures that people post, so now I have quite a selection to post for people.

Take a look at the following:

There is no room on the drivers side in the corner, and I don't personally like the headliner thing...too much like K-mart rash to me...but it's just my opinion.
If the cab corners can be welded...so can the inside of the door.
I have already cut my dash, and over a year later, I still have no regrets. I woulda cut my doors, but I haven't found any worth cutting yet. As for the stereo hole, you can get units now that you dopn't need to cut up for, but you can spend alot less, and get alot more, and cut it. Plus, if/when the stereo dies, you can get another D.I.N. stereo...it'll fit. No tellin if JVC will still be making those once everyone who wants one, has one in there rig.
If your windows leak, and you haven't replaced the seals, get poly speakers.
I knew I'd ket bashed for this, but WOW! I think there is a mob at my door now, all waking tranny dip sticks trying to whip me with them.
And acousticly...it may well be the best place that is not directly over your head.

Have seen ads for 2 different middle of the dash speakers. One is actually 2 small speaker and the other is an upgrade single. The single seems to cost more.
Which one sounds best?
Figured the new head unit would be set up for 4 speakers. Thought I could get the "dual" center for 2 of the leads and use the kickpanels for the other 2. I dunno.
Thanks

You wanna sell that dead AM radio? Is it the factory one?
Lemmie know.

If you do decide to cut the doors don't do what the previous owner did to my truck and put them in the rear corners. The seat seems to absorb a lot of the sound (or maybe it's my butt on the drivers side! LOL)

I need more speakers further forward but am worried that the kick panel speakers will get in the way of the emergency brake handle. Has anyone fitted these to a truck with the handle type brake?

I'm not cutting any of the metal in my truck for my speakers. Well, drilling a hole or 2. I took out the gas tank and putting subs back there. Maybe some 5.5 components in separate, but attached boxes, then i'm going to mount some 4.5 inch woofers in the front floorboard, up under the dash, then put the tweeters for those 4.5 woofers in the sunvisors.

I know thats more custom than you want to go, but, you could always buy some 6x9's and make some wide and thin boxes that would fit under your seats. Or maybe a pair of 5x7's would fit better.

I got a friend thats car audio crazy, he always wanted to put tweeters in the A/C vents. Possibility if you have A/C. I've also seen tweeters mounted to the shoulder harness mount in the pillars.

A previous owner put holes in my doors, too bad the speakers are junk. I need to upgrade my system, so when I can find a CD player that can stand the bounce of my suspension, I'm putting 6x9 triaxials in the doors with a slight wedge to angle them up a bit. Then once I lose the tank behind the seat, I'll put in these speaker boxes I've been saving (10" woofer, and a nice bright horn tweeter aimed straight up). This setup worked well in a previous truck (which will remain nameless) and a '65 El Camino I had years ago. My 2 cents as well.

RipMeyer: Yes, it's the stock radio. I don't have any plans for it so I'd be willing to part ways with it.

Much as I hate the thought of cutting anything on my truck, I'm planning on cutting the dash to put in a DIN size component. I figure it's my truck, and I'll do what I want to make it enjoyable to me. I can't afford to do a thoroughbred restoration to it, and a plain C10 Deluxe wouldn't be worth doing that to anyways. Depending on size, clearance, etc. might put speakers in the door instead of the kick panels, or might build a custom center console and put the speakers there instead. Just my opinion....

I think I'll avoid the holes in the doors mainly because of the possibility of water getting in. I'll probably do kick panel speakers and put my Pioneer CD player from my other car into the truck, but that's about as much cutting as I'm willing to do. Like I said, I'm not trying to win any shows here, just trying to get some tunes.

I too also cut my dash and doors!!
 

and i have no regrets either. The cd player in dash is sweet and my 6x9's in the door are also sweet. MY only complaint about this set up is that i have two tens sitting under the seat. I had to lift the seat up (it is sitting on a pair of 2x4's (hehe). Hey but it works, anyway, the only complaint i have is since i have all that bass down there, i can barely hear the 6x9's to a good quality. ONce i get that tank out from behind the seat i will put my tens there and hopefullly get better sound from my door speakers. Probably an amp will help too.:cool:

joethemobster - I believe that's stroker383's truck.
I like that setup the best, but it's a '67, so he doesn't have to worry about emergency brake clearance. My doors were already cut for 6x9s, so that's where they're staying. Truthfully, I would have still considered the doors.

I wouldn't and didn't cut the bottoms of the doors in my truck, but I did put separates in the door panels themselves. That way if you want to go back to stock, just change door panels. Cutting the dash is up to you. I drove my Jimmy and hemmed and hawed about it from '87 until '89. I sucked it up and did it and won't go back! I only had my pick-em-up about a week before it went under the knife. Kicker separates with crossovers on kickpanels, free-air 10 in backless enclosure, Alpine CD changer and Crossfire 100x4 amp bridged 200 to the sub. I have the first generation Alpine QRB and can switch between one of 6 different Alpine head units that all use the same sleeve. Just too handy. The Jimmy, the truck, my boat and Datsun all use the same QRB. I use my truck for hauling and reasonably long distance trips and can't afford, nor want, to give up my spare under the bed. After thinking long and hard about this solution, it is the best for me. And yes, it sounds REALLY good. Better than the Jimmy system with less money and less power and a smaller sub.
http://209.198.134.122/photos/truckint1.jpg
http://209.198.134.122/photos/truckint2.jpg

I will e-mail someone pictures of my Kenwood in-dash if you post them for me. I haven't figured out how to post pictures yet.

:D :D :D

Hey Joethemobster-

Do you have a pic of the driver's side kickpanel/speaker? It seems as if it would stick out a little too far?