replacing rear door speaker grills

[Ruben Andrade]

Hey everyone. I drilled out the holes on the rear speaker panels and I get a little bit of sound from the rear speakers but have to fade almost all the way to the back to get any more sound. Anyone else run into this issue? The front speakers sound fine. I can't afford to switch to an aftermarket sound system at this point.

Thanks!

 

[ElectronFlow]

If getting the best sound from the rears on a budget is the goal,
making the 28 small holes won't cut it.

Opening the entire hole (6.25" - 6.5") and then covering that panel
with the speaker cloth would allow the most sound out.

There are other sources for the stock Explorer rear door speaker cover panels.

 

[KayGee]

If getting the best sound from the rears on a budget is the goal,
making the 28 small holes won't cut it.

Opening the entire hole (6.25" - 6.5") and then covering that panel
with the speaker cloth would allow the most sound out.

There are other sources for the stock Explorer rear door speaker cover panels.

Just to be clear, are you referring to the entire trim panel or just the speaker cover panels outlined in red in the below pic?

If you have a source for just the stock speaker cover panels, please share.

 

[ElectronFlow]

Just the speaker panel.
Only the area of the speaker.

My source is local to me and is wrecking/salvage yards that cater
to Explorer parts on ebay.
If the part isn't listed I ask them to make a listing for what I want.

I would try to find units that were hit in that area and if the speaker panel is salvageable.
Usually wrecking/salvage yards want to part out the entire door panel.

 

[ElectronFlow]

You can take it with a grain of salt KayGee.
I had MECP Certification working for Best Buy in the
Mobile Electronics Installation Bay (4 vehicle bay) from 2000-2001.
We did do more than just head unit and speaker swaps, remote start, alarms
and amp/sub box installs. Holidays were 14hr days sometimes.

Also did some custom work and flip down overhead DVD players.
I did do some side work out of my garage at home.

 

[KayGee]

Just the speaker panel.
Only the area of the speaker.

My source is local to me and is wrecking/salvage yards that cater
to Explorer parts on ebay.
If the part isn't listed I ask them to make a listing for what I want.

I would try to find units that were hit in that area and if the speaker panel is salvageable.
Usually wrecking/salvage yards want to part out the entire door panel.

That speaker panel area is "plastic welded" into the door panel. It's not a standard r&r procedure. I'm not saying those doing custom work wouldn't go that far, but in my experience that is not typical and some might even say it's highly unusual for a salvage yard to disassemble door trim panels for resale/repair.

You have local yards that are actually disassembling factory door panels to sell them as component parts?

 

[ElectronFlow]

Biggest help on getting a specific part request like a speaker panel is having ordered hundreds of dollars worth of items from that specific ebay parts yard seller already.
Goes a long way when making a special request on an already damaged part they can't sell as a whole piece.

 

[ElectronFlow]

Isn't as if one is going to find a matching set of damaged panels TODAY.

It may take weeks or months to find a "cheaper" set your salvage yard is willing to dissect and mail just the speaker panel part of.

Otherwise, sneaker net to a local pick-a-part and hope someone hasn't beat a path to the exact speaker panels one may be looking for on the cheap.
Many people today just stick their hand out and expect it to happen these days.

 

[KayGee]

Sounds like a solid and easy plan for the vast majority of folks here to follow.

 

[ElectronFlow]

Just said there were other sources.
Go pay the over $300 for a new panel + shipping from a Ford parts dealer
and get a whole new door panel with the speaker cover today.

How bad do you want it?
How bad do you need it?

 

[KayGee]

Look, that's great and all. I have gotten a lot of stuff for low cost or free over the years that others wouldn't be able to replicate easily because they'd actually have to do some leg work or they may never replicate because of contacts I had that they didn't or just because of pure luck.

I've also been able to salvage components of a damaged assembly to repair another assembly, rather than buying said assembly new - some were lower difficulty level and some were higher difficulty level.

I think this falls into the great story, but not likely for many, if any to replicate easily. Not to mention the extra work involved with removing the blocked speaker panel and replacing it with a regular speaker panel within the door panel. It's not the same difficulty level as changing oil or a wiper blade. If you think it is, your welcome to post up more details on it so everyone that wants to do it can have clear and easy instructions on how to proceed.

 

[Eric Z]

Customizing, part of the joy of ownership of a PIU Good to see/hear what others are doing, so keep the ideas flowing.

 

[mjc4502]

The online catalog shows the same part number for 15 thru 18 front door panels.

The lower speaker grill appears to be molded (looking at my 17 base model) into the panel (#1 on the diagram) while the upper is part of the handle trim (#10 on the diagram).

Interior Trim - Front Door for 2017 Ford Police Interceptor Utility | QuickParts

I picked up 2 door panels for a civilian explorer off of eBay. Panels are molded differently. You might get away with drilling holes but I thought it would look tacky.
I picked up a OEM subwoofer for the right rear. Found the right rear quarterpanel at the local junk yard.

 

[ElectronFlow]

Instead of melting those 34 ultrasonic speaker panel welds in that pic you posted,
just mount a clothes hanger bar behind the driver's seat and hang these:
Making custom speaker pods, out of the question.

 

[KayGee]

They sell similar speaker pods for marine applications for mounting to wake board towers and such. I think they would look horrendous inside a vehicle and would likely be slightly problematic in an accident if not mounted very securely.

 

[ElectronFlow]

Thank goodness ppl mount their sub boxes to something sturdy.