Tweeter mounting area

JL Audio SE-40T tweeter

Tweeter installation

JL Audio tweeters

The 2.5" front dash Infinity dash tweeters were replaced with the JL Audio SE-40T tweeters, which fit perfectly into the opening. The SE-40T tweeters originally came out in 1992 and are now considered a "budget" speaker. They can usually be found on Ebay for under $40.00/pair. There are much better tweeters on the market, but the SE-40T's are decent for the price.

The SE-40T speakers come with a plastic housing (for surface mounting), and for this project they were installed with their housing into the dash. A small slot was cut out on the top of each end of the housing, allowing the speakers to slide perfectly and tightly between the metal factory brackets, no screws needed. There is plenty of room underneath and to the side of the installed tweeter for the wiring, and for the small capacitor and resistor (bass/power blocking) that is required when the Infinity amp is upgraded. The distance between the factory mounting holes is 3-11/32" and the mounting depth is approximately 1-3/4".

NOTE - CAPCITOR/RESISTOR:
If you are installing the SE-40T tweeters in a system utilizing the factory Infinity amp, you do not need to install the capacitor or resistor shown in the above left photo. If the tweeters are too "bright" however, you can install the white resistor to bring them down a bit.

MB Quart tweeters

The MB Quart tweeters feature a threaded hole on the bottom which makes mounting very easy, as shown in the photo above. A head unit mounting strap was used in this installation by Jeeps Unlimited member Mike the Apeman. The MB Quart tweeters are among the best on the market. For mounting tweeters without a threaded hole on the bottom, a mounting plate can be easily made out of 1/8" fiberboard. A hole saw bit works best to drill out the hole for the tweeter.

TIP - TWEETER MOUNTING DEPTH:
Some owners have been able to slightly increase the 1-3/4" mounting depth by using a heat gun to soften the air duct which is just below the tweeter. For obvious reasons, great care must be taken when doing this so as to not damage the duct.

NOTE: It is absolutely vital that speaker frames fit into their mounting holes cleanly. This must be checked prior to tightening the screws. Do not force the frame into a hole that is too small! Do not tighten the speaker onto an uneven surface! This will damage your speakers. The speaker should also fit so that no air leaks around the mounting flange. Air leaks will cause a severe degradation in sound quality. Seal any air leaks with silicone, rope caulk or similar sealant material. Hand-tighten the screws evenly to avoid bending the speaker frame!

Front speaker opening	Template mounting holes
Driver side door	Passenger side door

The factory Infinity 6x9 speaker was removed and a custom backing template was made to install both the 6.5" and 1" tweeter into the same opening. Both speakers fit side-by-side very nicely, although with very little room to spare. The new 1/4" fiberboard speaker template was cut to a size of 10" x 7". All four factory holes were used to attach the plate to the door. To mark the screw locations, I simply took the factory Infinity speaker and turned it upside down onto the template, centered it exactly and then used a pencil to mark the holes for drilling. I then temporarily installed the wood plate onto the door to verify alignment and fit. While it was attached, I reached up inside the door and scribed a pencil line around the factory 6x9 opening onto the back of the wood plate. This defined the area that I had to work with to fit both of the speakers into. This step is not necessary if the templates below are used.

6x9 superimposed on board

Mounting hole dimensions

Speaker hole dimensions

The three photos above show the dimensions for the mounting holes and the woofer and tweeter placement in the factory opening. The 6x9 image is superimposed onto the fiberboard to show the working area available for the new speakers. Click on any of the above pictures for an exact-size enlargement which can then be printed and used for a template for cutting your board. You can even cut-out the speaker holes in the printed picture and overlay it onto your door to verify exact fit before you start cutting the actual board, which I would definitely recommend. Printing the template onto thicker card stock paper will give you a more rigid example to work with.

Since there's not a lot of room to work with, the speakers have to be mounted fairly close together. Because of this, the rim of the 6.5" woofer slightly overlaps two of the factory mounting holes. For these two holes, I used two wood screws which I countersunk so that they would be flush on the template, allowing the speaker to sit flush over them. I drilled the 4 plate mounting holes using a 3/16" bit.

With a compass, circular cut-out marks for the woofer and the the tweeter were drawn, spacing them as even as possible into the allowable opening area. A 1-3/4" holesaw blade was used to cut the tweeter opening, and a jigsaw used to cut the 5-1/2" hole required for the woofer. Both boards were lightly sanded, including the edges and around the speaker mount holes, and then cleaned with a damp rag. Lastly, a couple coats of black spray paint was applied so they would blend nicely into the doors and also to prevent fiber dust from coming off them. The finished boards were then attached to each door with the tweeters pre-installed, and then a thin band of rope caulk was added around the inside perimeter of the woofer housings before they went into the template. Four 1/8" holes were drilled to mount the woofers. Both the supplied screws and spring-clip nuts were used, allowing the speakers to be securely fastened.

Note: JL Audio recommends that their crossovers NOT be mounted inside of the vehicle doors. Doors often get wet on the inside, which can damage your crossover networks and could potentially damage your entire sound system.

I decided I would take a chance, being that the WJ is garaged and the doors are a very convenient place to mount them. On the door ledge above the crossovers I duct taped a small 8" wide sheet of clear plastic that hung over them, keeping them protected from any direct moisture. If you decide to install your crossovers in the doors, proceed at your own risk!

The component system crossovers were mounted inside the bottom of each door and attached with industrial strength Velcro. The entire backs of the crossover housings were covered with Velcro, using two strips each a couple inches wide. I cleaned the area of the door where they were to be mounted with rubbing alcohol and then very lightly sanded the same area so that theVelcro backing would stick firmly. Wiring was secured to the back of the window guide to keep it out of the path of the window. All other speaker wiring was attached where necessary to keep it out of the path of the windows and to prevent any rattling.

The new rear door speakers fit nicely into the 5-3/4" diameter factory openings, with about 1/8" of play all around. The mounting depth of the speaker was such that the back of the speaker came very close to the window glass. A 1/8" fiber board spacer ring was cut and installed around the speaker opening to bring it out another 1/8". The spacer was affixed directly to the door metal with a bead of rope caulk around it for cushioning. The waterdam cover was placed over the spacer and then the speaker was placed in the opening and centered. Centering is important as there is not a lot of extra room at the edges to reach the door metal. The waterdam material had to be cut a little to allow the thicker speaker to fit properly. Four 1/8" holes were drilled to mount the speakers. Both the supplied screws and spring-clip nuts were used, allowing the speakers to be securely fastened.

As in the front, the crossovers were mounted inside each door and attached with industrial strength Velcro. See note above under Front Crossovers per the warning about installing crossovers in doors.

The Infinity amp and bracket assembly were removed, as well as the jack tools located under the rear passenger seat. The two JL amps were then mounted underneath the rear seats. The 250/1 subwoofer amp was installed on the passenger side, and the 300/4 amp on the drivers side. In order to fit the amps in this location, the metal rear crossmember had to be notched out on each side. This allowed the amps to be recessed about 2-1/2" into the beam. The factory carpet neatly fit into and around the new opening. Each amp was attached to the thick carpet with just two short screws, one in each upper corner (they will actually stay nicely in place without any screws).

All of the wiring to and between the amps was run through the crossbeam. The fused 4 gauge wire feed from the battery was run to a fused junction block located between the amps. The block then fed a power line to both amplifiers. There is room for the amps to "breath" by way of the gap between the bottom of the seats and the top of the crossmember. There are also other openings around the seats where hot air can escape.

Shown here are views of the crossbeam opening cutouts. The top photo shows the drivers side (looking forward) where the 300/4 was installed. The installers implied that this was going to be cut cleanly, but as you can see they cut the top pretty crooked. If I had known this I would have done it myself. I added wireloom around the openings of the cutout area and secured it every 6 inches or so with hot glue, as seen in the second photo (passenger side, looking forward). This worked nicely to cover the rough edges of the opening and also allowed the bottom of the amps a smoother area to "rest" on than bare metal. In order to retain the original strength of the crossbeam, I plan on adding a piece of 1/4" sheet metal on each side, custom cut to fit in front of the entire opening, with a rectangular area cut out for the amps to slide into. They will then be bolted to the crossmember.

'99-'01 Stealthbox

'02 Stealthbox

Mounting bolt

Cargo net removal

The Stealthbox 10" subwoofer fits nicely and takes up very little cargo room. It is installed with with just one bolt, drilled into the wheel well. This is a very important and worthwhile addition to the sound system. Chris Henry was right when he said "...the sealed enclosure holding the 10W3 pounded out bass notes with tightness and authority...and can handle anything you throw at it." It will indeed vibrate the entire vehicle if so desired (and the people inside), but even at reasonable listening levels the impact and clarity is stunning.

The Stealthbox has recently undergone a slight modification in order for it to fit properly in 2002 models. For some unknown reason, Jeep moved the recess mounting slot for the cargo shade 1-1/4" further towards the rear. The previous model Stealthboxes covered over this area on the 2002 WJ's preventing the mounting of the cargo shade. All Stealthboxes manufactured after June 1, 2002 are now recessed back further along the top right side to allow room for the cargo shade. The part number remains the same (even though I suggested otherwise to avoid confusion) and the new model will now fit all WJ's from 1999-2002. If you have a 2002 or later WJ, make sure that the dealer is ordering factory direct rather than from some distributor who may still have the earlier versions in stock, and that your model year is specified on the order form.

I found the supplied 3/8" x 1-1/2" bolt much too short to mount the subwoofer to the wheelwell (this has now been addressed with a new bolt design). The directions tell you to drill the hole in the wheelwell, place the subwoofer into position, and then feed the bolt up through the fender. After a failed effort of trying to line up the bolt to the subwoofer, I gave up and went to the hardware store and bought a longer 2-1/2" bolt. I also picked up a rubber 3/8" grommet to place in the new fenderwell hole. The longer bolt was still a little difficult to line up, as just being off slightly allowed the bolt to easily crossthread. I finally ended up cutting off the head of the bolt. I threaded it a few turns into the subwoofer enclosure, and then placed the subwoofer on the fenderwell to align the bolt through the grommet and hole. Once in place, from underneath I put two nuts at the end of the bolt so that I could thread it deeper into the subwoofer. Once that was done, I removed the two nuts, added some sealant around the hole, added the washer, and bolted one nut and lockwasher back on to tighten it up.

NOTE: 2001 and later model WJ's have a net attached to the side pocket storage recess, right where the subwoofer mounts. The net assembly has a plastic oval frame molding that when in place protrudes out from the side trim piece. For a better subwoofer fit, this storage net can be removed, but you must remove the entire side trim piece to get to the back to remove it. That involves removing the rear headliner trim cover, one screw in the left rearward cargo floor molding, the rear upper left corner trim piece, and the main left side rear trim piece. In order to remove the main trim piece, you must first remove the two black metal cargo hooks. The cargo net is installed with plastic rivets which must be drilled out in order to free the net frame. I used a 3/8" drill bit and drilled just slightly deep enough to free the rivets and remove the frame assembly.