Radio-speaker set up. 1st generation, short cab

[Rick W]

Sooo, I wasn’t happy with just my 97 Road Ranger being dented, so I bent the passenger door on the 87 short cab yesterday, short bed Missing Linc. Not too bad, I’ll just fix it myself. Oh, and the bottom of the door panel vinyl is curling up, but the backing panel and the door in general are in very good shape. I was thinking of cutting a custom piece of diamond plate and putting it on the bottom 6 inches like a kick panel, or just cutting a piece of masonite with thin padding and a vinyl cover, and placing that on the bottom like you see in a lot of new cars.

If you haven’t been following, I’ve been running around in circles with the factory radio, and the factory speakers & locations. I still have the all new driver front speaker with all new wiring but no sound. There is no problem with the output from the four channels in the radio on the bench. And, in the rear, with the seats all the way back, you can’t hear either one of the new speakers in the OEM boxes the second you turn the ignition.

Our personal problem (me and Lincoln) is that with only the passenger front speaker working, I blow Lincoln’s ears out trying to hear the radio when I’m riding down the road, especially with the windows open. So I’ve been thinking of putting the circuits for the rear speakers into the doors with new speakers in the front/middle/rear of the door(s).

Considering all of this, I figure it’s time to fix the door, fix the door panel, locate some new speakers, and get it 100% in general. I’m looking for success stories and suggestions from all you guys on what I could do and what works well. Very important, three points I want to emphasize, in random order:

1. Cheap
2. Budget
3. Cheap

While in random order, items number one and three are the most important.

More facts: I bought two inexpensive speakers that fit in the dashboard, that had high ratings, but they turned out to be crap. So I need new dashboard speakers. But, I’m not sure I’m going to put them in the dashboard. A wedge on top of the dashboard might be an option if they’re small enough. What are the options for the dashboard? What options for front speakers if I don’t want to keep speakers in or on the dash, what are the options to move them somewhere besides the dashboard?

I’m thinking I will put speakers in my doors. My instinct is put them near the front of the doors, but I would like to know the options. Front, middle, rear? Should I move them halfway up the door? Or???

What about putting speakers in the cab behind the doors, behind the seats, above the seats, on the back wall, on the roof, where ever?

I am completely happy with the OEM AM/FM/cassette radio in the dash. I don’t want to put in a new radio. If I were to change the radio, I would want something that looks period correct with green backlights, like original to the 1987 truck. I hate glossy red/blue video screen neon radios in classic vehicles. Actually, let me correct that. The vehicle doesn’t matter, I pretty much hate those radios in all cases.

Also, I have a new, never used, 100 amp per channel (4 speaker) Sony Explode amplifier that’s about 12 x 15”, maybe 2 inches thick. It’s even red, which goes with the truck. I’m thinking of mounting that right in the middle of the roof. Let me offer that I don’t listen to the radio that loud, but I have found using a decent amp greatly improves the quality of the sound and music coming out of the system.

My first thinking is quality speakers in the dashboard, or wedge speakers on top of the dashboard for the front. Then speakers in the doors, or down low behind the doors on the cab frame, but high enough that they are not muffled by the seats. The third option being putting them under the seats, or high enough on the back wall that I could then balance them with speakers in the doors and eliminate the speakers in the dash, or use the dash and the back wall or a combination there of.

I’ve also had the thought of putting speakers in some kind of center console thing on top of the 6040 seat, but considering that armrest is Lincoln’s perch (or ivory pedestal, if you prefer), I’m pretty sure I won’t do that.

I don’t know if I mentioned it, but I’m cheap, but I drive this thing enough that I might spend a few bucks. It’s not getting any $300 or $500 stereo system. So who has done what? What has worked? What has not worked? What would you like to try if you had the option?

Final question, when providing radio/speaker advice, for fixing the door, please indicate whether you think your suggestion will work better with 50 pounds of Bondo in the door or with 20 pounds of fiberglass in the door.

Thanks in advance…

 

[RobbieD]

Oh, and the bottom of the door panel vinyl is curling up, but the backing panel and the door in general are in very good shape.

Sounds like you can pull, wrap and re-glue the vinyl to the back of the card. That would be the cheapest, too.

Another nice repair for worse damage is to find some light carpet (think bath mat) that is close to, or matches the existing carpet), wrap it on a luan wood panel cut to fit, and then screwing to the bottom of the door (the carpet knap will hide the screw heads).

What options for front speakers

5 1/4" inch speakers mounted in the door, towards the front, will give the best "basic" sound in a first-gen cab. In the factory dash locations, you can do 3" or 4" on adapter plates, but anything in the dash won't sound near as good as door speakers.

"Back in the day" full-range 5 1/4"s in the doors, and smaller speakers blocked with caps, or tweeters, in the dash would make a good base system. A radio with a 4-way fade (balance and fader) let's you balance the two sets, and the windshield will decently reflect the higher frequencies back toward you.

Fun fact: when the '83 Rangers first came out, there was only a central mono speaker location. We put door speakers in the early ones to pre-install stereos at the dealership. Soon after, the three speaker location dash panel came out, then later on the central mono location was eliminated.

Rear speakers are a can of worms. They really won't do much for a basic sound system, and they eat up what little behind-the-seat room a standard cab has. If you wanted a louder system, you're then looking at boxes or tubes for rears.

I actually prefer stock head units in my old trucks now, even though I worked as an installer back when these trucks were new, and I did a lot of high-end systems back then (think 8-track, cassette and early CD days). I wish that there were more options, for replacement basic head units that closer mimic the original radios' form and function.

I think that you (and poor Lincoln) would be happy with a pair of door speakers and two dash speakers (limited to mid and high frequencies) with the stock unit.


Rick, post a pic or two of your door needing repair, outside and inside, to give us a better idea of what you're dealing with.

 

[Ranger850]

1. Cheap
2. Budget
3. Cheap

( I wish I had a dog to ride with me ).
I don't have AC in my lil' D21, so the windows are almost always down. Its a single cab. My dash is sun cooked and any speakers on or in the dash would suffer the same fate. All I have is a 4.25" speaker in each door and one of these for $60.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GKDH3J8S?tag=959media-20

A Bluetooth head unit supplying sound. It's not Crystal clear audio, by any means, BUT it improved the overall sound and it doesn't take up a lot of room. Mine is mounted behind the Passenger seat. It came with everything I needed for a complete install.

 

[Rick W]

Sounds like you can pull, wrap and re-glue the vinyl to the back of the card. That would be the cheapest, too.

Another nice repair for worse damage is to find some light carpet (think bath mat) that is close to, or matches the existing carpet), wrap it on a luan wood panel cut to fit, and then screwing to the bottom of the door (the carpet knap will hide the screw heads).



5 1/4" inch speakers mounted in the door, towards the front, will give the best "basic" sound in a first-gen cab. In the factory dash locations, you can do 3" or 4" on adapter plates, but anything in the dash won't sound near as good as door speakers.

"Back in the day" full-range 5 1/4"s in the doors, and smaller speakers blocked with caps, or tweeters, in the dash would make a good base system. A radio with a 4-way fade (balance and fader) let's you balance the two sets, and the windshield will decently reflect the higher frequencies back toward you.

Fun fact: when the '83 Rangers first came out, there was only a central mono speaker location. We put door speakers in the early ones to pre-install stereos at the dealership. Soon after, the three speaker location dash panel came out, then later on the central mono location was eliminated.

Rear speakers are a can of worms. They really won't do much for a basic sound system, and they eat up what little behind-the-seat room a standard cab has. If you wanted a louder system, you're then looking at boxes or tubes for rears.

I actually prefer stock head units in my old trucks now, even though I worked as an installer back when these trucks were new, and I did a lot of high-end systems back then (think 8-track, cassette and early CD days). I wish that there were more options, for replacement basic head units that closer mimic the original radios' form and function.

I think that you (and poor Lincoln) would be happy with a pair of door speakers and two dash speakers (limited to mid and high frequencies) with the stock unit.


Rick, post a pic or two of your door needing repair, outside and inside, to give us a better idea of what you're dealing with.

Another nice repair for worse damage is to find some light carpet (think bath mat) that is close to, or matches the existing carpet), wrap it on a luan wood panel cut to fit, and then screwing to the bottom of the door (the carpet knap will hide the screw heads).

Brilliant, I don’t know why I didn’t think of that one. Thanks. And I’ll get some more pictures up.