How to swap out speakers

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2K10HemiRam

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This DIY was performed on a quad cab without the alpine system and only showing the driver side, passenger side is the same. I cannot give any advice specifically related to regular/crew cabs or alpine equipped trucks as I don't know anything specifically related to them. None of the in work splicing is shown as I installed these about a month or so ago. My speakers are spliced in with the wire and connectors that came with the speakers since at the time of install, I did not know there were wiring harnesses available to make install so much easier and quicker. They are linked below and I do advice them as splicing your dash speakers will be a royal pita!

OEM Wiring Harness

Also, the speakers installed are Kicker KS35's in the dash and Kicker KS693's in all four doors.

Tools needed:

jewelers flat top screw driver
small flat tip screw driver
medium and large phillips screw drivers
pliers
if splicing, dikes and the splicer pliers (whatever they're call)
2 small sockets...sorry I don't know the size as I forgot to check when I pulled the cover of the dash speaker and the rear door shell to take pictures of the speakers. But I think they might be 1/4" or 5/16"

Speaker sizes:

- The dash takes 3.5" speakers, depth is not an issue because there is nothing below those suckers for a good little bit.

- Depending on the speakers you go with, you can fit 6x9's all around but your front doors might need spacers as you have a little less than 3" of depth to work with because of the window brace going down the middle of the opening. The kicker KS693's for example are 3 3/16" deep and without spacers the magnet rests on the window brace with approx a 1/4" gap between the speaker and the mount. The rear doors can pretty much take any 6x9 out there as I'm going to say you have about 5" of depth to work with, no I didn't measure it, I'm guessing since I didn't think to do that when I had the door shell off.

Speaker Wire Color's:

The dash and front door wire's are the same colors

Left Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): Gray/Violet
Left Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): Gray/Yellow
Right Front Speaker Positive Wire (+): Dark Green/Violet
Right Front Speaker Negative Wire (-): Dark Green/Yellow
Left Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): Gray/Dark Green
Left Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Gray/Light Green
Right Rear Speaker Positive Wire (+): Dark Green/Gray
Right Rear Speaker Negative Wire (-): Dark Green/Light Green

First, the Dash speakers:

They are really easy to get to as all you need to do is lift the back of the grille up with a screw driver then grab it, lift, and pull. Then the speaker is exposed and it's held in by two small bolts. Remove the bolts, lift speaker, disconnect connector, then either splice on the new wires or if you buy those harness connectors, connect them, plug into new speaker, drop it in, install bolts, and replace the cover putting the front in first then pressing the back down.

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Next, Front doors:

This is one area where there might be differences mainly between the reg cab and the crew/quad cabs. I say this because a regular cab was able to install the KS693's without spacers or any modification.

Start by pulling this cover off, all you need to do is get a good grip and pull straight out
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then using a small jewelers flat tip screw driver, pry the little circle cover behind the door handle open from the forward side to revel a large phillips screw. Remove the screw then using either a small flat tip or jewelers screw driver, pry the forward part of the door handle cover out then while holding the door handle out some, pull the cover out from behind the handle.

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Yes this is from the rear door but same thing with the fronts, I just felt like I should show the pry spot and since I didn't take on of the front, this will do.
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Now for the window/door lock control panel

The only difference on this step between driver and passenger besides the number of switches you have to play with is the drivers switchboard has 2 connectors and the passengers has 1.

I had to use a combination of a jewelers flat tip screw driver and my finger nail to lift the panel up and hold it in place while I swapped over to a small flat tip screw driver. But however you get it to lift up enough to fit a flat tip under it, once you get one under it just push it straight up and pull it out. Once you have it out, remove the connector/s and set it aside.

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When it comes to the large connector on the drivers switch panel, I did need to use a flat tip in order to pry the connector out of the plug, that thing did not want to disconnect by hand at all. where the screw driver is, is a prefect pry spot if you need to do it as well, just set the tip in that gap and rotate it, the plug should pop right off.
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now the only thing left is to remove 6 each (12 pieces total) of these plugs and pins.
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There are 2 located at the front, back, and bottom sides of the door. To pop these guys out I just used my thumb nails to get under the pin's cap and pull them out. Once all the pins are removed, I used a small pair of pliers to grab the plugs and pull them out. You can see the pins around the outer parts of the shell in these pictures.

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Once you have all 12 pins/plugs removed, all you need to do is lift the door straight up I'd say maybe 3-4", enough to clear the lock/unlock pin and pull away. you have now removed the door shell, yay.

And this is your speaker once the shell is off...well actually it's my kicker but ya, you get the point
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The oem speakers are held in but 4 bolts, size might be a 1/4" I'm not sure as I neglected to check the size when I had the cover off. But pull those four bolts and disconnect the plug on the speaker and it it'll looks something like this. Mine has had plastic removed as my buddy, my "audio expert", decided some needed to be removed in order for the speaker to have some space. However, some people did not need to do any trimming of the plastic with the same speakers I have so double check, test fit, before you do any trimming. Also make sure the speakers mount hole line up with the stock mount holes, depending on the speaker, you may need to drill some new ones. If you do need to do any trimming to the plastic, dikes work very well on that plastic if you do not have a dremel or, in my buddies case, one dremel takes a ****, and the other cuts through plastic like a butter knife through wood.

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Also including these pictures with a tape measure showing you the depth of the front doors that you have to work with. As you can see, it's just short of 3".
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Once you are done test fitting and have removed any material that needs to be removed or drilled any new holes that need to be drilled, now is the time to either plug in those connectors you bought from crutchfield or splice the connecters that came with your speakers. Once you are done with that go ahead and connect your speaker up and throw that bad boy in. Once your speaker is installed, go ahead and do a test run real quick to make sure it works. You don't want to wait until you are completely done with the whole install to test because if it doesn't work, you just wasted a ton of time. once your test is done, go ahead and reassemble the door in reverse order.
 
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2K10HemiRam

2K10HemiRam

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And finally, the rear doors:

All the steps are pretty much the same as the front doors, the only differences are 5 pins/plugs (total of 10) instead of 6 and 12, and you have a pillar on the rear of the door instead of the little cover in the front.

First, start by pulling the pillar straight off

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Then, just like the front doors, open the little circle cover with a jewelers flat tip, pull ou the big screw, pop off the forward part of the handle cover, and pull it off.

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Now again, use the jewelers flat tip and a finger nail to pry up and hold the switch board, and slide a small screw driver under it and pry it up and unplug it.

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Once that is off, remove all 10 of the pins and plugs then lift the door shell straight up a couple inches and make sure to clear that lock/unlock post before pulling it away.

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And here is your speaker
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As you can see, since mounting depth is not an issue with the rear speaker, I was able to reuse the stock mounting bolts and whether or not new mount holes were needed I'm not sure because my buddy was the one that installed the rear speakers and I was either putting the other doors back together or his roommate had me off to the side showing me his audio setup in his car.

So now of course, test fit, splice or plug in connectors, and then do a test and make sure they work. There were to pieces of plastic behind the speakers that we removed just because, whether or not they were actually in the way or going to touch I don't know, we just looked at them and were like "ugh, snap". I don't have pictures of them but I can tell you that one was a cylindrical post that might have just been excess for the molding process and the other was actually the bracket for the speaker wires to get connected to. There's no harm in removing them and they snap off really easy by hand, so it's your truck, you make the call whether you need to or want to remove them.

Once your speakers are installed, kick it in reverse and put your door back together and you are done! Now enjoy your new speakers!

It's all relatively easy, the hardest part, if need be, i would say is the trimming of the plastic. Could also be the splicing of the dash wires if you didn't know about the oem wire harness connectors. And if I can say it's pretty easy, it is, as this was the first and only audio system I've ever touched in my life.

If you do go with the same speakers as I have or with another type that are about the same depth as the KS693's, here a few pictures and a brief description of the 1/3" spacers I cut and installed on the front doors to make them fit. And be advised that depending on how far the face of the speaker sticks out, they might rub on the speaker grille on the door and push it out some. You might even want to try 1/4" spacers, i didn't so I don't know if they'll work but it's always worth a shot.

I bought the 1/2" spacers from home depot, about 89 cents a pack which comes with 2, then measured and marked the 1/3" line on them. Took a dremel with a cutting wheel and cut them down to size.
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And here's a top view of the speaker with spacers installed
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Now I know some audio expert people are probably going to chime in and say that there's a problem with my setup and that is that there's a gap between the speaker and mount. Yes for proper channeling of the speakers bass, this is a bad thing. I have yet come up with a way to enclose the area as there are no 1/3" thick ring spacers available that I know of and I haven't gotten around to making my own yet. I tried out a baffle today made by Boom Mat and was really unhappy with it and the baffle completely encloses the speaker and when I did a test run on the first speaker I installed one to, I lost almost all bass to that speaker. So I advise against anything that completely encloses the back of the speaker.

Alright, this concludes my DIY for now. I hope these helps everyone that is looking into doing up their own speaker system and answers a lot of questions you may have.

Please if you have any questions about anything dealing with the installs, feel free to ask me or post in or make a new thread in the audio section and everyone that has done a swap will do their best to answer your questions.

Also, for those of you with regular cabs and/or alpine systems, if you would like to add to this DIY please contact me and give me all the needed info/ pictures. I'd like to make this DIY as helpful as possible and I cannot do that without your help since there are different cabs and oem setups. Things I'd really like to add are center dash speaker, headliner speakers (if anyone has done them), and the rear speakers in a regular cab.

So please enjoy, I hope this helps, and let me know if theres any corrections I need to make and what I need to add.

Also, if you are also wanting to swap in a new head unit, I'd like to refer you to a DIY by 0212353 (JJ)...Click here
 

quietpeen

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awesome write up man....thanks!!!

for making your own spacer....if you glued a piece of 1/8" luan(sp?) and 1/4" plywood together giving you 3/8" (.375) would that thickness work? Then you could cut out the shape with a jig saw.
 

Miami Son

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For one, all hardware on our Rams is metric. The speaker bolts have a 6mm head, not 1/4". Second, I used 3/8" thick 6X9 plastic spacers that I got from a local stereo shop. Alternately, it is easy to cut some spacers out MDF with a jigsaw. Use the speaker as a template. I would do this before I resorted to the spacers you used. Other than that, nice write up.
 

blackout11

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I just dont get it lol i put 6x9's in my rear and my door with no issues and yes i should of did a write up but it was 1am and i was doing it fast but the reg cab rear speakers are simple. Just remove the storage tray and the seat belt bolt and the panel that covers the rear speakers just unclips no screws or bolts. And ya as far as that gap once you seal it up it will hit alot harder




and for any installing the dash speakers get the kit cause its a PITA with out it and good write up man
 
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BlueRamMan

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Awesome write up...glad that panel removal has been made easier by Dodge, smart with the dash speaker panel.
 

ram-head

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I fit a pair of Alpine SPS-609 6x9s in my front doors. Now I have to find another pair to use in the back. I was expecting them to be 5.25s like in my 2007.
 

unclemark

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Seal the gaps like quietpeen said with luan or plane down a piece of board or just use...... metal tape or duct tape will work as well. Its not like they are woofers and are in an enclosure.
 

cableguy_hd

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glad I found this. I was a little worried about taking the dash cover off. Now I can go ahead and install my them in my truck Sunday..... I got Polks all around
 

BlownGP

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Great write up. I installed the dash speakers a few weeks ago. Couldn't be easier with the adapters.

I have the alpine system and poping off the middle speakers is just as easy as the side ones. Just pop it off and dis connect he auto ligh sensor. That's it.


See, I was worried about 6x9s in the front doors becasue Crutchfield said they wouldn't fit. So I just ordered the JBLs for the rear and was going to try them in the front first. Looking at this is looks like they might have fit since the JBLs are under 3"s . Damn o well. Guess I will order the other set tonight.
 

Ocelot

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Very nice write up! One bit of info I would add is that there are Mopar 6x9 custom Kicker speakers. I used them instead and they are direct fit plug-n-play. They already have the factory wire connector on them and the speaker basket has been custom modified by Kicker to fit the depth perfect without any spacers needed.

Ray
 

PX8

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Super Glue this to a STICKY!!!!!
 

electricme

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how about the sound? does the sound change? what are you thoughts on how it sounds???

Thanks
 

kkreit01

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I'm so glad the door panels in the Ram are so easy to remove. I've had mine off 3x+ already, and I'm for sure not done. The fronts can be removed in about 2 min. You don't have to remove the switch panel, nor handle insert to remove the panel, but it's much easier to put back on if they are both removed.
 

Signal90Six

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Thanks for the post. Just replaced by Dash speakers with Kickers and they sound great!
 
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