Over the past week or so I decided to put in a set of Pioneer speakers in the truck. The front got 6 1/2" components (TS-A1606C), the rear got 6"x8" 4-ways (TS-A6886R), and I also replaced the center channel speaker with 3 1/2" 2-way (TS-A878). At the same time I also put on a pair of Powerscope Tow mirrors. I have a different thread on that. I posted this up another Forum. I'll just sum it up here with pics:
I finally got around to putting the door speakers in the truck. I'll be putting the Tweeters in today. Depends on how my back feels. Started with the front drivers side first. Door panel was easy to get off. Pulled out the factory speaker. I was gonna install sound deadening, but decided against it for the moment. Just too much for me to do at one time (back issues). I had to modify the Scosch adapter to fit the Pioneer 6 1/2" speaker because they are designed for a 5 1/4" speaker. I then made a seal from the sound deadening material to sandwich between the speaker and the adapter (about a 1/4" wide). The speaker mounting screws from the adapter were not matching up with the speaker hole. So I had to drill two larger holes for the screws from the adapter plate to pass thru the door metal frame (You can see the two holes are caddy-corner in the photo). I then made another 1/4" wide gasket to put around the speaker hole on the door, then mounted the speaker. Fit perfect. I put it all back together then went to the other side and did the same. Buttoned it all up then tried them out. Just putting those two front speakers in made a nice difference. They have deeper, tighter bass, and at a lower volume level. Of course the highs are suffering because I haven't changed out the Tweeters yet. I then moved to the back doors and put the new Pioneer 6x8's in. They're 4-ways. Stock are the 2-way coaxials. Took less than a half hour to do both doors. So today I hope to get the Tweeters in. I'll probably just use the existing Tweeter wire from the amp. I plan to cut out the factory CAP, then wire in the Pioneer crossover and put it behind the dash thru the side panel. Really don't know what to expect, given how the truck is EQ'd from the factory DSP. The new Pioneer components crossover at 6400Hz. So don't know how that will do? The stock system is OK, for Mud, Lol...But this has GOT to be better? right?...........

 

Got the Tweeters put in yesterday. Was really easy. Most of the time was spent on making the hole in the A pillar for the Tweeter large enough to accept the Pioneer adapter. Used a half moon shaped file to slowly widen the inside of the hole. Then I put a little crazy glue around the lip of the adapter and pressed it into the Tweeter hole. I let it set for about 5 mins., then placed the Tweeter into the adapter. Looks good. Instead of taking apart the floor kick panel to look for the door speaker wire, I decided just to use the Tweeter wire from the amp. I accessed it thru the dash side panels. The plug was right there. I unplugged the stock Tweeter, then I cut off the shrink wrap from the Tweeter wire up to the in-line CAP and cut the wire there. That left about 4" of wire from the plug. I spliced in the Pioneer crossover. Then All I had to do was plug the Tweeter into the harness, leave the crossover behind the dash and button it all up. I was only able to do a little test "Listening". I had to come in to rest my back. After I've had a chance to listen to the speakers for a few days I'll give my impressions of how it sounds. I can immediately say thou that the Bass is Tighter, and at a lower volume. The highs are better but can't really tell just how much yet.

 

I'll be starting a different post that will go into more detail of what these new speakers sound like. But briefly, After listening for a few days, overall it's much better. But the staging was terrible. There was a "Hole" in it, and fading front to back made no difference. Originally I had planned to replace the Center channel speaker, so I got Pioneer 3 1/2" 2ways. I know some guys have said that you can't hear the center speaker any way, so why replace it? I can cover it with my hat and here the difference. So yesterday I pulled out the center speaker and replaced it with the Pioneer. Wow! What a difference it made. It filled the staging right in. After a few days I'll post up in detail just what this all sounds like. But so far it's a huge improvement.
EDIT: The more I think about it, I do believe I will be installing a Pioneer Subwoofer. Gonna go with the 8" Pre-Loaded Shallow mount. Now to order one.....

 

I ordered the Pioneer Sub and it's on the way now. Expect to have it by this weekend. I got the Pioneer 8" shallow mount in an enclosure (TS-SWX2002). I'll be using the stock Sony Amp. I know there are four wires for the stock Sub because it has dual voice coils. The Pioneer has the spring clips for the wires. I'm sure it wouldn't matter which pair of the four wires I use to hook up the Pioneer Sub. But would that diminish the power going to the Sub? Or could I hook the two positive and negative wires together to make one each, then attach them to the Pioneer Sub? Anyone do this?....I've already installed my other Pioneer speakers in the truck and I'm anxious to get this Subwoofer in....

 

Been doing some more research on trying to decided if I want to use one pair of wires coming from the Sony Sub Amp, or both together. Still not sure how to wire the Sub up. I believe the Sony Amp is a single channel Amp? but has four wires going to the stock Sub. The Pioneer pre loaded enclosure I got is rated at 4 Ohm with one set of push terminals on the side for hooking it up. It uses the TS-SW2002D2 Subwoofer which is a DVC, with each coil at 2 Ohm each. But I don't know how it's wired internally, or how to safely hook it up to the Amp. If I damage the Amp or Sub I won't be able to replace it, at least for a while....

 

You can use a DMM to figure this out quite easily without risk of damage.

One of the first things I learned when doing a lot of car audio installs is use a GOOD quality multi function DMM.

I remember doing some high end JL installs, and I always tested (especially impedance matching) BEFORE hooking up. I didn't want to have to pay for a set of busted subs or amps that cost $2k or more, that was totally my fault for not testing in the first place. Or let alone look like a complete moron. I always had a little notebook that I would note my wiring layouts -- ALL my wiring door speakers, power, subs, amps, etc...

I seen it happen too many times.

 

I've been checking out various F150 sites, and doing searches on the net. There isn't much info, per se, on the Sub Amp because everyone removes it in favor of an aftermarket Amp. From what I can see the stock Sub Amp is suppose to be a 2 Ohm stable single channel Amp. But nothing states if that's per set of leads for each Voice Coil to the Sub, or if that's cumulative. The Pioneer pre loaded enclosure has a DVC Sub with each coil at 2 Ohm. The specs on the enclosure says 4 Ohm, so I guess that's what I'll go by. Now I gotta get the multimeter and see what I see.