I'm going to pull the factory speakers out of my 09 XL and replace them with 5x7 Alpines I picked up on a trade. I have two quick questions before I start digging around. First, is there a wiring harness adapter from the Ford wiring to the speakers? Are the factory speakers soldered to the wires? Next, I've seen the XLT's and they have a grill that just covers the speakers. On the XL the grill is much bigger. Can I still pull that grill off to replace the speakers, or do I need to pull the door panel. I don't want to force it if it's not supposed to come off.

Thanks...

 

There is a speaker harness for those trucks...I dont have the metra part number in front of me right now but I can post it from work later. The speaker wire solders onto the factory speaker, then 3-4 inches later there is the plug.

As for the grills, I havent had the pleasure of doing speakers on one of these yet, so I cant say forsure.

 

You cannot just pull the grills off the door panels - this is the last thing you want to do. You will have to take the door panel off to access the speakers. I just replaced all my speakers - the door panels are pretty simple to get off.

The rear doors (if you have a S/C) are easy. The fronts are not bad, considering I replaced the tweeter and speaker with a new crossover. It was a pain to get the new speaker wire through the door boot, but with a little patience and luck, it'll be easy for you.

And the difference is awesome. I went with Infinity Kappa 682.7 (6X8) for the rear doors and Infinity Reference 6810cs for the fronts. I bought these two sets about two years ago, but never installed them in my 06 KR, so they have been sitting in the boxes collecting dust. I am so glad I decided to install them. Next is the sub and amp. Going with the Alpine PDX-5!

Good luck!

 

If you have to solder the adapters for the speakers, you'd might as well just hard-wire the wires to the new speakers and ditch the adapters. I did it that way and it works fine.
You have to remove the panel, completely, though in the XLT (I imagine it's the same with all of them.

I put Eclipse 6.5 inch component speakers in - drilled a hole in the sail panel and mounted the cross-over inside the door panel with some velcro and tape. No vibration from that stuff and the speakers sound awesome - much better than stock.

 

Anyone have any photos on how to take the door off? I am a little concerned about how to take the window roller off. Other than the two screws in the bottom of the door, I don't see any other connectors. Did I miss something?

 

If you pull the window crank away from the door panel and look down into the gap, you should see a metal clip. its shaped like a C but with two small extensions going at a 90* off the tips of the C. There is a special tool you can buy to pop it off...I just use a panel popper or a screw driver.

 

I found that the '09's don't have the C clip, you can just pop off the cover, and there is a #20 torq screw in there. However, I still can't get the panel off the door. I removed the bottom two screws, the one behind the handle, and the window crank. I have a rubberized 'jimmy' tool I've used before to pop off panels, and I can tell this one is still locked on with something. I can't find any more hidden panels where screws might be, but it seems there is something holding the door panel on down in the storage 'wells' at the bottom, inside of the dividers.

Has anyone sucessfully removed a base XL door panel? Can anyone give me some advice, or even better a picture of what is going on back there?

 

Are you sure its not just clips in the bottom?

 

Clips? There were two screws on the bottom that I pulled. What I'm feeling is about 4" up inside the panel.

 

yeah...we call them clips. If you can pry the panel out just enough to get a light up there, you should be able to see them...they are probablly white or black plastic pressure clips. If you cant see any more screws showing the storage pocket, they there arent any in there.

 

Do you have power locks? There may be a screw underneath that panel as well.

I just had an epiphany (kinda) Are you trying to pull out, or up? Ford trucks have kind of a L shaped bracket that comes out from the panel, then bends down into openings in the door. You have to lift up on the panel, then out to get it to release. I bet that is what you are feeling up in the door.

 

I don't have power anything.

I started at the top and pulled along the window line. That got me started. I pulled the panel off from the top and popped several of the clips. I am still stuck in the same spot. Now I can see in the door, and it looks like the bottom is held in with two clips, but these clips look like they have a metal sleve on them. I've tried everything, including a rubber mallet but I can't seem to get the to pop up. Is there some other trick I am missing?

There also feels like there is one next to the door handle (yes I took out the bolts) but I can't get to it until I get the bottom free.

 

Eureka!!! I decided to concentrate on the clip by the handle and found it wasn't a clip. In the handle well there was a panel. I gouged the plastic a little, but as soon as I pulled the screw, the panel actually fell off. What a stupid mistake.

The driver door speaker is now replaced. I'll tackle the passenger side tomorrow. I have to say, after pulling the factory speaker, it is even cheaper than I imagined. Basically a paper cone. Definitly not going to last a long time. The new Alpines are a quantum leap forward in qualty.