chowardsmith

Hey guys,

I'm new here. My father recently passed away and left me his 1994 Ford F150. I would like to put in a fairly decent sound system. I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to do this or point me in the correct direction? I want to buy a nice head unit and possibly improve the speaker system somehow! Also there are a few rust spots and I want to have the car painted. Any idea how much a factory type paint job will set me back?

mustangGT90210

Well if you can figure out which wires behind the dash lead to which speakers, you're set. You probably only have 2 to worry about in there. You'll know when you pull the old stereo, there will be the antenna, 2 power wires and then the speaker leads plugged into the back of the HU. Unlucky me had to find wires because the PO didn't have door speakers so nothing was hooked up.

Anyways, get some decent 6.5in door speakers, some 6x9s, and a small sub and you'll have a nice balanced system. Or you could start rednecking it... And putting a Home Theater center channel speaker (basically a box of tweeters) on the tranny hump, running off a front speaker lead, along with a door speaker on the same lead, then marine speakers sharing a lead with 6x9s behind your seat... and a sub. 7 speakers, 480 watts, sounds nice

benbailey84

there are harnesses that are made for your vehicle you can buy at walmart that take out all the guessing out of installing a head unit.

chowardsmith

Hmm that sounds interesting. Any idea how much that system your describing will cost me? How would I upgrade the existing speakers? Like is their room in that space on the door for something larger and if so how do I access it?

benbailey84

i have a set of 6.5" 3 way pioneers from walmart in my door, then on the bottom of the door the previous owner installed some 6x9's and made a nice carpeted plate to take place of that lower panel.

benbailey84

gotta love it, 16 speakers running off of a 4 channel system, lol, i remember those days of 16 and wanting more sound. in reality the only way it sounds good is if you had 16 separate channels.

chowardsmith

lol, I'm a complete noob. I have no idea what you guys are talking about... Could you possibly elaborate? Like are they modifying the doors to fit different speakers? I don't understand?

Therealblinky

Just go buy some aftermarket speakers that are the same size of speakers that came in your truck, Their super easy to replace, AS mentioned you can get an easy wiring kit for an aftermarket head unit and it will sound good enough, add a sub and your golden. Usually if you buy all the Speakers and the Head unit from the same place they will install it for free, in my experience

darkly96

No for what you are looking for you aren't modifying the door, as someone already chimed in. You just are literally replacings what would fit factory with nicer. I believe crutchfield lists sizes, bestbuy has them on a database in store, or you can just look it up online as I cant remember offhand. For the front I popped off the door panels by unscrewing the screws that held it in and pulling up. The back theres like two screws and to pull out and then the speaker itself. Even as a noob when you see it you will realize it is pretty self explanatory.
As far as cost, that is completely up to what you deem satisfactory.

chowardsmith

awesome, thanks I get it!. Oh and where could I put the sub?