honestly, you just have to remove the trim piece from each side and put the soundbar in. mines held in only by those pieces. the trim that holds them up is metal, so its very well capable of holding it up

 

how tight is it up against your headliner?

 

It's tight. I mean they had to remove mine when i had my headliner redone and told me they just drilled the rivets holding it in the light mounts out and didnt see a need for them after. Mines tight, no gap whatsoever.

 

As someone said, the 97+ hatch is steel, not that it matters because you would be mounting them inside the hatch not outside in the plastic trim. I plan on doing this when I pull my headliner, and just rerouting the sound bar wires to the hatch. I'd check under your headliner first, you may be prewired.

Also the hatch struts are easy to replace for <$30 at any autoparts stor and won't have any issue holding an extra few pounds of speakers. Use your old ones for good struts

 

yeah for sure, I already got the soundbar so id rather not cut up my hatch at this point, but if im not prewired then im just going to run some speaker wire back there, not a huge issue

 

is'nt the factory size 5.25? So you guys are fitting 6.5's in no problem?

 

I only know for sure on pre-97 XJs that yes, it works fine.

Now 6.5s in the door is another story! Mucho "massaging"

 

Haha alright. I've gotta decide what size to pick up on boxing day. I'll probably try my hand at your 6.5 in the soundbar write up.. Even though mines a 99 and the sound bar looks to be pretty snug under the headliner.
But what's say a decent size that'll fit in the door, my massages may not be the best lol.
(sorry to hijack)

 

I have been searching with not much luck on the sizes.
It looks like you have a 97+, as do I, I have heard some people say the door sizes are 5.25...some say its 6.5. I think they are 6.5s. Can anyone confirm this?

 

all the stock speakers are 5.25" - confirmed

 

even in the 97+?

 

ive put 6.5 in my buddys 00 and my 95. They will fit, may have to make new screw holes for the front at the most ( i just used self tapers) rears shove in. no problem there.

 

I have a 97, 6.5's fit fine in the rear, and take some coaxing to get in the doors.

 

so no cutting is involved?
Just new screw holes?

 

If you are going to re-do your headliner while you do the speaker bar, you can try this: Before removing the headliner, test fit your speaker bar. Mark the location you will want your attachment stud, transfer this to the roof behind the headliner, you can ues a punch or little drill bit etc.. After you pull the headliner out find the mark you made and use a rivet in the location without breaking off the "tail" you can use this as your attachment point.

With all that said, I think the dome light in the rear on the 97+ uses the same stud you need. Since you are going to remove the dome light to install on your soundbar the stud should work for all!

Did you manage to get the wiring with your bar? If so you may need to change the connectors out but it should work. My (Wife's) 97 actually came with the 91-96 sound bar in it! Hope this helps.