The EASY way to run new speaker wires into your doors! *DIY*
05-15-2008, 12:20 AM
#1
Staggered 1st Gen
Thread Starter
The EASY way to run new speaker wires into your doors! *DIY*
Ok, so I accidentally stumbled upon a foolproof and extremely easy method to run speaker wires from the cabin and into your door panels for speaker upgrades/installs. Figured I'd share for those that are interested or thought that drilling was necessary...when in fact it is not. This method also bypasses the hasstle of using a coathanger to run wires up and through the factory rubber boot, which is tedious and not necessary.
I'll bypass the customary instructions on removing your door panels, as there are plenty of threads already outlining this.
1) Once your doorpanels are off, remove the plastic speaker baffles holding in the speakers held on by the (4) phillips screws. Then of course detach the speaker from the stock wiring.
2) Now that the speaker is out, you have ample room to look up and through the speaker hole opening. What you're going to need to do is crouch down with a good flashlight and locate the back of the plastic wiring harness plug (that connects to the rubber boot on the outside of the door). Pictured below is the harness on the driver's side (you'll follow the exact same method on the passenger side) All you have to do is simply feed the speaker wire through the empty hole on the top left corner of the plastic harness clip, as pictured. It's a completely empty hole and allows the wire to feed all the way through and outside of the door.
3) Now unplug the plastic rubber boot on the other side. Take the end of the wire you fed through and pull it through until you have ample wire to work with. This may take awhile, as that hole is just 'barely' big enough to fit 14 gauge wire (plenty enough for any speaker application)...but it will definitely fit. Next you want to unplug the top of the rubber boot that feeds into the cabin, so that the rubber boot is unplugged on both ends.
4) The next step involes using a razor or exacto knife. What you want to do is CAREFULLY 'slit' an opening on the bottom of the rubber boot. You want to make an incision just large enough to run the speaker wire through. Once you make the slit, run the wire through the bottom of the boot and up and out through the slit you made. Next, you will want to make the same size incision up at the top of the boot, and take the wire and feed it through the incision and 'into' the boot. This method is a TON easier than trying to fish the entire wire up and through the length of the boot, trust me. And afterwards, all you have to do is wrap the boot incisions and exposed wire with electrical tape for a completely oem look.
5) Ok, so now run the wire that came out the top of the boot into the cabin. I'm not going to go into details here, but basically you want to feed as much of the wire in through the hole and then crouch down under the dashboard with a flashlight and look to find the wire ends to pull them all the way into the cabin. The drivers side is cake, but the passenger side is a bit cramped by wires and obstacles...but definitely do-able. Just take your time. On the passenger side you'll want to remove the plastic 'sail' piece (simply just pull it outwards and it will snap out) as pictured below to catch the wire and run it down and towards the trunk:
And wallah...now all you have to do is install your new speakers, replace the doorpanels, and re-plug in the rubber boots in the door panels. Hope this helps.
I'll bypass the customary instructions on removing your door panels, as there are plenty of threads already outlining this.
1) Once your doorpanels are off, remove the plastic speaker baffles holding in the speakers held on by the (4) phillips screws. Then of course detach the speaker from the stock wiring.
2) Now that the speaker is out, you have ample room to look up and through the speaker hole opening. What you're going to need to do is crouch down with a good flashlight and locate the back of the plastic wiring harness plug (that connects to the rubber boot on the outside of the door). Pictured below is the harness on the driver's side (you'll follow the exact same method on the passenger side) All you have to do is simply feed the speaker wire through the empty hole on the top left corner of the plastic harness clip, as pictured. It's a completely empty hole and allows the wire to feed all the way through and outside of the door.
3) Now unplug the plastic rubber boot on the other side. Take the end of the wire you fed through and pull it through until you have ample wire to work with. This may take awhile, as that hole is just 'barely' big enough to fit 14 gauge wire (plenty enough for any speaker application)...but it will definitely fit. Next you want to unplug the top of the rubber boot that feeds into the cabin, so that the rubber boot is unplugged on both ends.
4) The next step involes using a razor or exacto knife. What you want to do is CAREFULLY 'slit' an opening on the bottom of the rubber boot. You want to make an incision just large enough to run the speaker wire through. Once you make the slit, run the wire through the bottom of the boot and up and out through the slit you made. Next, you will want to make the same size incision up at the top of the boot, and take the wire and feed it through the incision and 'into' the boot. This method is a TON easier than trying to fish the entire wire up and through the length of the boot, trust me. And afterwards, all you have to do is wrap the boot incisions and exposed wire with electrical tape for a completely oem look.
5) Ok, so now run the wire that came out the top of the boot into the cabin. I'm not going to go into details here, but basically you want to feed as much of the wire in through the hole and then crouch down under the dashboard with a flashlight and look to find the wire ends to pull them all the way into the cabin. The drivers side is cake, but the passenger side is a bit cramped by wires and obstacles...but definitely do-able. Just take your time. On the passenger side you'll want to remove the plastic 'sail' piece (simply just pull it outwards and it will snap out) as pictured below to catch the wire and run it down and towards the trunk:
And wallah...now all you have to do is install your new speakers, replace the doorpanels, and re-plug in the rubber boots in the door panels. Hope this helps.
05-15-2008, 08:33 AM
#2
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(Mid-Atlantic)
Regional Coordinator
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I somehow knew that you were going to run them on the outside of the rubber tubes, nice diy man, moved to diy forum. I think I'll use your method for the doors but use some braded wire sleeve to make it look more oem. Nice work flip
07-08-2008, 11:13 PM
#4
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Regional Coordinator
(Mid-Atlantic)
Regional Coordinator
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So mcajka and I just got done running my 12 guage wires through the doors, well mcajka did all the work, I just held the lights and such, was weird having someone else work on my car, since no one else even helps me work on my car ever. After a lot of trying on mcajka's part since he's a professional installer, we refered to the helms with no luck, and then to this thread since we knew it was out here. The 2 holes proved very useful to run each of the 2 wires through, he ran positive through one and neg through the other. mcajka did a great job fishing them through, and then fishing them through the inner dash with a hanger. Great write up though, missing a few details, but it saved the day for us. Next task, my tweeters and crossovers need wired 
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