Anybody know how hard it is to wire speaker wires straight to the door speakers in a F150? I've got an '06 Lariat SuperCab and have been told to wire this way for the best sound. Next option is to wire to the head unit instead but I'm unsure If I can do this with the wire I have. It's 14 gauge Streetwire.

Any help is appreciated. I'm attempting the install this weekend.

 

not sure what ur asking, doesnt make sense, could u rephrase, what are u doing exactly or if this is what u mean here is a link http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1207105...Harnesses.html

 

The harnesses on the link are what you use if you're adding new door speakers to the vehicle and subsequently using the factor speaker wire. I actually bought and used some of those when I replaced my door speakers.

When I install my amp, I'm being told to run brand new 14 gauge speaker wire from the amp directly to the speaker itself, thereby eliminating the use of any factory speaker wire or harnesses. In short, I'm mounting the amp underneath the back fold-up seat..in the middle of the truck. I need to figure out how to access the speaker wire conduit that runs from inside the truck to the inside of the doors, which is covered with vinyl paneling. Not sure how to remove the paneling without breaking it.

 

ok i see... well this is a process . the back doors are easy, remove the side panel, get a panel removal tool, take off seat belt bracket, remove door panel, fish wires through the rubber boots. the fronts if u have the molex connectors u have to drill.. this is alot to explain. arcuhtek has a very good detailed build log, he can type better than me here is a link http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/...w-install.html
here is a pic of my front door speaker wires
here is a link for the rear seat removal http://www.ford-trucks.com/article/i...2008_F150.html

 

Thanks for the response. I'll just try hardest to locate the holes by removing the paneling at each corner. If it becomes too hard, I've been told the easy way is to just run all the speaker wires to the harness on the back of the head unit. That's the easy way but I think I will lose some sound that way.

 

I went back and forth and decided to just tie into the factory speaker wiring at the head unit. I don't like the idea of drilling the hold in the body as pictured above and from what I read the driver side molex connector is too densely populated to drill out. Then I read a few threads on different CA forums and looked at a resistance calculator and determined that the difference is going to be minimal. As a side bonus, it meant I could install my speakers in the doors as a separate project from installing the amp.

 

Did you run all 4 speaker wires up to the front? What size wire did you use?

 

I ran all new wires from my amps to all my speakers. It's not that difficult. Then again, I didn't have to drill anything, I just ran the wires through the boot that's in JJDH picture above.

- NCSU

 

Was accessing the boot from inside the truck fairly easy?.....just popping off the panels at each corner? I sure don't want to drill anything; I know that.

 

Accessing the boot wasn't too hard. I used a bent clothes hanger and taped the wires to the hanger, then carefully ran them through the boot. Passenger side was more of a PITA because the fuse box is in the way. I wasn't going to drill anything either!

- NCSU

 

Thanks for the response. I'm going to try it as well. Hopefully, mine will go smoothly like yours did. I also have a SuperCab so it should be similar. Let me know if you have any advice for getting the paneling loose. I don't know what to do other than start pulling and hope it pops straight out off the clips

 

i had to drill the fronts, i have molex. DONT USE FACTORY WIRES WITH AN AMP. do it right or not at all. removing the panels are easy easy easy

 

Why couldn't you run the wires through the boots in the front vs. drilling a hole? Not enough room?

 

the molex are a big square connector with pins that the wires connect to, it only uses the boot as a bridge, look at what is in ur front door jams, u might not have em, if not u got it easy, the molex is drillable, it is very tough not to screw up the factory wiring, not worth it, the way i drilled my jams was simple, then poked through the rubber on bottom of boot on door, drilling a hole in the door jam is no diff than a factory hole with a grommet. the prollem with using factory speaker wires with an amp and aftermarket speakers is 1. wire too small for current.2 it reduces sound quality of ur nice new aftermarket speaker. it does i dont care what anyone says, it is plain fact there is a difference. read arcuhteks build log he has step by step instructions.......shoot him a pm, he easily lends advice.

 

Check your VIN. If your truck was built at the Kentucky plant in 04-05 then you shouldn't have the molex plug. I was lucky and just had the Generic boot like NCSU did. The Molex is a PITA and drilling new holes for the speaker wires is a good alternative.