[Tutorial] "System 10" 8 inch door woofer replacement

CorticalStack

New member
Hello everyone!

I've seen a lot of people talking about this, but I didn't find anyone posting a tutorial... so I thought I'd have a go of it. :D

The following is on my 1992 All Trac (ST185). I did driver's side and passenger's side door speakers (sub woofers / woofers). I managed to find a set of speakers with small enough magnets to nearly clear the hole in the door, and shallow enough to avoid the door's glass:

The Legacy LWF8X.
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These cheapies are (as of the time of this posting) available on Amazon for under $20 each with free shipping. They have several awesome benefits over other alternatives:
  • The stock amp is powerful enough to push them!
  • They actually sound pretty good! They're not going to give you the depth you'd expect from a real sub, but they're fantastic at mid bass.
  • You can't beat the price. Seriously. It's not possible.

Here's how to install these wonderfully cheap things.

Tools Needed:
  • Philips Screwdriver
  • Small Flat-head/Slot Screwdriver
  • Plastic Trim Removal Tool (or large flathead/slot screwdriver with tape on the end)
  • Rotary Cutting Tool (or some sort of cutting device that can handle thick ABS plastic)
  • Soldering Iron (or wire crimp tools and small female tab style connector ends)
  • 10mm Socket, extension and ratchet
  • Wire Stripper
  • Sound Deadening Material (Optional but suggested)

Step 1: Get the doors apart.
This is nicely straightforward! The BGB even gives a helpful diagram for how to go about doing this, though it's missing a few key details I had to work out myself.


First, you have to uncap all the screws. Some of these are a serious pain to pull off. So much so that I don't bother putting them back afterwards.


Following that, unscrew the screw in the door handle area, then use a plastic trim removal tool (or failing that, a large flathead screwdriver wrapped in tape to dull the edges) to pull these panels:


Behind them you will find screws that need removing! Brilliant. That's the next step- remove all the screws! Most of these are fairly obvious, but the ones that weren't immediately obvious for me were these:


Two in the door handle assembly.


Two under the speaker.

One I didn't get a shot of is in the bottom of the interior door handle.

Finally, pull the clips at the bottom free:


If the interior panel doesn't hang loosely off the top at this point, you've missed a screw or two. Remember to check under each panel, and look for capped screws and bolts.

Remember to disconnect the switches when you pull the panel free of the door. They can be tricky to get to, and sometimes difficult to disconnect-- it might be wise to have a friend hold the door panel while you work the connectors loose.



Step 2: Pull and Prep the Woofer Housing.

Once the door panel is off and out of the way, remove the three bolts holding in the "LIVESOUND" plastic woofer housing, and peel it out of the door. The backing kind of clings to the plastic, but it's not actually glued to it.

Once freed, peel back the paper ring around the speaker to find the screws for it hidden beneath. Unscrew and pull the speaker out, cutting the wires soldered to it as close to the solder as possible.


Once the old woofer is out of the way, remove the wiring harness you clipped off of it. This is useful!


strip the wires for the harness and wrap them through and around the terminals (and if you're smart, you might actually put them on the right terminals, unlike me!).


Solder them in place.


Next is the fun part. Get out your cutting tool and trim off the backing of the bracket. All of it.


You'll also need to shave some off the top and bottom edges. Don't worry about making nice neat smooth surfaces-- you and maaybe a stereo installer or future owners are the only people that will ever see this, anyway. The finished product should look something like this.


Install your new woofer into the housing in which it now fits! Rejoyce. As a note: The screw holes are barely visible, but with a little wiggling, all four should screw in without any additional work.



Step 3: Prep the door for its new payload.
There are three things to do here. First is to install sound deadening material in the door through the hole the woofer goes. You don't have to do this, but I highly recommend it-- these woofers make a lot more bass than the stock ones did, and that means vibrating door panels if you don't take this step. I'm using some RAAMmat BXT II I had left over from soundproofing my other car.


Once the soundproofing is installed, take your 10mm socket wrench and check all the bolts on the inside of the door. On both doors, the door handle mounting bolts and several other 10mm bolts were very loose in the door-- all of this will not only rattle, but quickly grow worse with the introduction of real bass. I just stuck the socket over the bolts and nuts through the plastic and tightenned them to GNT spec (Good 'N Tight).

Finally, we have to do a little grinding to get that magnet to fit. Not much! Just a shave off the top of the bottom lip.


Should look something like this afterwards.


Step 3: Put it back together!
The magnet might take a little wiggling and some gentle persuasion to get into that hole-- but once it's there, all you have to do is bolt it back together! Remember to connect the speaker cable, first! Don't bolt in the bolt at the top closest to the dash (as I did here); that bolt needs to go through the interior panel first.



That's it! I hope you guys find this as helpful as I would have. :D
 

soarer.jzz30

New member
I used smaller magnets and it was considerably easier, plus i used crimp female connectors just in case i may need to remove them one day lol. Ask I had to do was use a blade to cut a small amount out of the rear. I bet yours sound awesome!! Good work mate. Cheers


 

underscore

Well-known member
Nice write up! I'd give that edge you ground down a quick spray with some paint to ensure it doesn't rust though.
 

CorticalStack

New member
underscore":33qcyren said:
Nice write up! I'd give that edge you ground down a quick spray with some paint to ensure it doesn't rust though.

Ooh, good point. I'll hit it with some plasti-dip later. Here in CA it's easy to forget that rust is a thing!

soarer.jzz30":33qcyren said:
I used smaller magnets and it was considerably easier, plus i used crimp female connectors just in case i may need to remove them one day lol. Ask I had to do was use a blade to cut a small amount out of the rear.
I tried but couldn't find any other options at 4 ohms! :( I wanted to go with something readily available to help others like myself-- the thread listing 8" woofer substitutes listed a lot of near impossible to find speakers. These are on Amazon and all over the 'web at the moment, so I figure they'll be around for a while.
 

TheNubkins

New member
Nice write-up. I especially like the details on where all the panel screws are hiding. This will help me lots when it comes time for me to do mine!
 

soarer.jzz30

New member
I had looked at these on eBay for about a month and planned to pick up a set soon, came across these by chance and decided to save stove cash, i wish i could hear yours now that door insulation should improve sound quality and reduce road noise dramatically
 
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