I've got a 95 fleet Cherokee 4WD that was once used as a sheriff's vehicle locally. This thing is bare bones with the only options being AC and Cruise. I'm getting ready to do an audio upgrade and would like to add some speakers to the tailgate. The tailgate trim panel has the speaker "grill" slots cut into it on each side, but doesn't currently have any speakers underneath. I broke half the factory clips getting the panel off, so I assume I'm the first one to remove it. As far as the wiring loom in the tailgate, there are only two wires not in use. They are factory taped to the loom and are purple/yellow stripe and black. Each one of these has a black plastic female connector clip on them. From what I can tell, there are no actual speaker wires in the tailgate. Am I correct in thinking this? Videos I've seen on the Tube channel mention yellow/brown stripe and blue/brown stripe for d.s. with blue/white stripe and blue/red stripe for p.s. I definitely do not have these anywhere visible.

So, is there a junction somewhere in the body to connect the wires to in order to run them to the tailgate, or am I needing to run new wire all the way from the stereo itself?

I am working with a factory AM/FM setup, not even a tape deck (!) and am down to one door speaker on the passenger side. The plan is a new head unit/install kit from Quadratec, and 4 new 5.25s...possibly a sub in the future, but not at this time; 4 speaker sound will be a drastic improvement. I miss jamming to some Clutch when Jeeping and figured it's time to upgrade my tunes!

 

I found this in a related topic after creating this thread, I guess this is where I need to look next. Any other insight is helpful though!

 

I had a speaker wire in the tailgate that wasn't working. I traced the bad connection to a connector behind the aft most trim panel. If the unused connector is there, it will have the color codes you're looking for. Mine is a RENIX era XJ, but the connector is on the driver's side. If present, it would be on the side that the wire bundle exits the hatch to the body. Does the connector coming from the original radio have all the wiring for 6 speakers?

 

Short of it, I don't know just yet. I pulled the panel off the gate to check it out, but haven't yanked the factory radio yet. I just put my order in to Crutchfield yesterday and won't see my stereo and speakers until next week. I can only assume it does from everything I have read on here thus far.

 

If you have access to a 3-D printer, or know someone who does, these will replace broken "Christmas tree" holders on your hatch trim panel. They work quite well if you first rough up the attachment point and then epoxy them into place, note that there are two sizes. The Christmas trees themselves are fairly easy to find:

Jeep Cherokee XJ Boot/Tailgate clip fix by boxburn - Thingiverse

 

Nice link, thank you. Unfortunately I don't know anyone with a 3d printer, though was just talking about them about 20 mins ago with someone. I do have a buddy in the body shop industry who is sourcing the Christmas tree clips though.

 

After talking with my buddy, I came to realize that we do know someone with a 3D printer. Another buddy of ours had Santa bring one to his girls for Christmas. So, thank you again, I'll be sending that link his way!

After diving in over the weekend, I managed to find the speaker wires in the rear of the Jeep. For me in my 95, they are located on the DS in the body where the fuel filler neck comes in. From there I will still need to run the wires up the D-pillar, and into the tailgate. The problem now is that there is no way I am going to get 4 more wires through the factory grommets and loom running from the body to the tailgate without destroying them in the process. It looks as if a drill and more grommets will be needed for this task. I am curious what others may have done when running wires into their tailgate from the body. If anyone has any pics, that would be a great help too.

(This base 95 didn't have any speaker placements in the headliner, and I want to leave it stock without any major hacking, which is why I'm going through all this trouble of getting wires into the tailgate)

 

When one of my speakers wasn't working, I did a resistance check from the connector at the radio to the connectors at the speaker. Once I found one of the wires had a fault, I figured it was in the loom near the grommet. I too did not think it possible to squeeze another wirer into the loom. My plan was to repurpose an existing unused wire that was already in the harness. Fortunately, I found the bad connection to be at that first connector inside the cab. If your XJ is strictly a base model, perhaps you can find four unused wires and repurpose them. I was going to use the black single wire that has an unplugged connector that you NEVER plug into the other connector next to it that looks like they belong together (causes a nasty short). Perhaps you have wires run for power locks or rear wiper (and that black wire) that aren't being used.

 

I did think about doing as you had mentioned, but that was going to leave me 2 wires short, as I only had two that weren't in use (it does have a rear wiper). I ended up drilling two small holes and used a grommet kit from O'Reilly along with some speaker wire I had to solve the problem. I used heat shrink where the wire was exposed between the gate and body, and zip-tied it to the existing sheath that was there. Fishing the speaker wires through the hatch with a piece of stiff wire we had laying around was challenging, but after about 90 mins of messing with it, I finally got them through. From there, it just went to the unused speaker connector located in the body by the filler neck. Once all buttoned back up, only the trained eye will be able to tell the difference when the gate is open.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction in finding that speaker connector in the body! My question now is...that black wire you mention has a purple/yellow wire also with a connector with it...what would these be used for on a higher end model? Possibly the auto lock? I don't need them, just curious at this point.

 

On the early models it seems the consensus is that black wire was intended for the third brake light, which was not included for several more years. Other wires could be for any of the fancy features, but I'd just be guessing. Good to hear you have this figured out. Good luck with your XJ.

 

Thank you. Got the stereo all finished up the other day and I've gotta say, what an improvement! With 4 channels of sound coming out of new Kickers (KS series in the front, DS rear), this thing sounds great. I'm surprised at the amount of response and clarity that comes out of these little 5.25s! The factory AM/FM radio had a junction harness to the main harness with both the front and rear channels going to the front channels (which I only had 1 of to begin with, just blown, no broken wire) on the main. It took me a minute to realize this as the other connector end was buried underneath the heater harness in the dash. Once removed, I had 4 channels of shred. And though I haven't heard a newer model with the rear speakers in the headliner, I think I prefer the speakers in the tailgate, as it puts some good sound out with the gate open. Perfect for cold snacks on the trail!

I did end up ordering everything through Crutchfield including the wiring harness, as the install kit was a bit cheaper than through Quadratec. Everything went into place with no modifications. Very simple plug and play. A lot different than when I used to play with stereos as a kid 20+ years ago.