6x9's in cargo area of L series

[El_Freddo]

Has anyone done this?

I've got two pioneer 6x9 4 ways to fit into my L. Ive got a set of 6 inch 3 ways in the front doors (going to be swapped with the rears) and a set of 6 inch 4 ways in the rear doors.

Places i've been looking at for the 6x9's have been in the rear tail gate - problems here are when cargo area full i might squash the speakers.
The little storage compartments would be good but i've fallen in love with them...

I've looked at wrecks and was considering mounting them below the window sill just about the storage compartments at the back of the cargo area, but this would require removing some body work to fit them in - something i really don't want to do (cops have given a red sticker to cars over here for speaker holes that havn't been engineered - there's a few cases i know of with mates who have had this happen to them).

Any other ideas? Its rather hard to do as i want to keep as much of my rear area free - if i had a touring wagon i'd consider mouting them in the ceiling but in the standard L there just doesn't seem to be enough room (might have to check it out without the headlining in).

Cheers

[theclick]

If you want to mount them in the ceiling you could get some spacers, though it would impact head room, rear visibility and look a wee goofy.

There are a few people who have mounted them in the tail gate. You can get some hard speaker grill for this if you are worried about squashing them. It also means you can pull the cover over and hide them from potential thieves.

I've always wondered if I could make a box that sticks up from the centre holes in the top of the back seats that pointed forward...sorta like a speaker headrest . Cover it in a mesh and some semi spongy noise conductive materials...that would be sweet.

Unfortunately, there arent alot of places to put them without impacting on something or other. You could do floating speaker boxes, but not a good solution i spose

I'd probably do up some nice floating boxes that way if you need the space, you can just detach them and take them out for the trip. You could put a little slide on connector behind the c pillar and face them 45 degrees upwards. This will probably give you the best soundstage possible, but results in visibility issues

[El_Freddo]

If you want to mount them in the ceiling you could get some spacers, though it would impact head room, rear visibility and look a wee goofy.

The place i'd be putting these is just near the tailgate in the ceiling facing back into the cabin, if there's enough room above the head lining i'd be inclinded to "mod" my head lining (that sounds strange) and fit a one piece speaker box or something like that to mount the two speakers in place. I don't think this would look goofy unless a really bad job was done on it, and rear visibility wouldn't be much of a problem i don't think.

Nice idea of the speaker head-rests but i'd hate to be a passenger in one of those seats especially for an interstate trip...

Cheers for the idea though

[theclick]

yeah, come to think of it that would be alright.. bit of a job to sort it all out but the outcome would be worth it

[daveosubi]

I was thinking of hinging a board on the rear tail gate on mine so it could be let down to have the speakers facing outwards with the tailgate up for camping. I gave up because it would be too much effort to seal it properly and I would need some sort of box for the rear of the speakers when folded down.

You could also flush mount them to an mdf board in the tailgate to avoid more damage, either by glueing 2 sheets together or using a router on a thicker board.

I also like the idea of building little boxes for them and having them strapped down to the sides in the rear, you could have those pinch connectors like on home speakers to make them quickly dissconectable. And have a bit more wire so you could bring them out of the car a bit and face them where you want for camping too.

[timmo]

Put them in the storage pockets on the sides - still leaves you with the underfloor storage. Ive seen heaps of tailgate mounted ones fall out with the force of shutting the tailgate & screw up the lining.

timmo

[subalex]

I liked the idea of mounting some 6x9's in the tailgate flush with the trim and I was just about to do it until I decided to keep things simpler for wiring. I bought two boxes ready made for the 6x9's with foam inserts and I keep them strapped to the cargo barrier facing to the back - this actually means a much better bass response since it takes a good few metres to reflect off the tailgate and develop properly. if I need the boot space that badly then I can easily disconnect the wires using the spring-loaded clips and away they go. This way they also face outward for when I'm at the drive-in with the wife with our camp table and chairs, take-away food and wine. Having them able to be moved is more versatile. Having any speakers facing each other across the boot will only ever create lots of frequency cancellation or distortion anyway unless you have some luggage between them.

[Chris_Rogers]

freddo,

look at a mitsi wagon. they dropped the roof on those and fitted 6x9s up the back. there is a steel frame that you need to grab to make it all work. you need to find a verada around 97+.

rear gate is a bad idea unless you wish to remake that panel in a solid bit of wood. it will rattle way too much.

[subalex]

Interesting option, going for the ceiling mounted speakers. That said, used to have a Carolla 4WD wagon that had speakers (pissy 4" but with a well tuned and ported enclosure) and a first aid kit/"magazine holder" mounted in the roof too. It was a fabulous feature as it could be locked up and accessed from both the tailgate or the interior as it hinged both ways. It was a 1988-1994 shape. Didn't see a lot with them with it fitted. That too would work well if you wanted to mount a sub woofer in the middle section facing down as well as some decent 4" facing forward as it did standard for good mid to high end directionality. Only concern is that it's got to be secure since they can be a huge safety issue in a collision.

[El_Freddo]

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the input, thought this was a dead thread now... The other week i ripped out the head lining in another L at a pick a part to check it out - don't think its going to work as there's a pillar above there for strength that i didn't think about. So its back to the drawing board for now + i've got other things to sort out, like some oil leaks i don't want and some dodgy lifters...

Bennie

[schultzie]

i have my 6x9's in boxes and mounted on a pivition bracket to the roof at one of the braces.. can still see out in between them but rear vision is still poor... but definatly better then my pannevan

[L-BJ]

Farkn spammers.... I've got a a slightly different solution i picked up at the wreckers, 6x9 45degree angled wooden speaker box with bloody strong velcro glued the bottom of the box to hold it to the floor (assuming you've got the carpet and not vinyl lining - this works a treat) i've got them hard up against the back seats and plastic wheel arch in boot facing the tail gate. They don;t move a bit unless i want them too. Didn;t have to wire through the tailgate, just through centre console and under the seats and robert's your fathers brother. Will post pics if i have time / are requested to.

[Gannon]

I put some 6x9s in my rear passenger doors

I had some 6x9 boxes and cut the back off them, then screwed them to the doors

Sounds great and doesnt intrude on passenger room much