Chewie4299

Hey there everyone. I was going to ask my question over on Jeepforum and still may but through all my searching on various cherokee related topics since I picked up mine a few weeks back I've found Google sending me here more often than anywhere else. This leads me to believe this would be the best place to ask

So I owned a 2006 Wrangler that I had a lot of fun with for about 6 years. Earlier this year I traded it in towards a 2013 Scion FR-S. I missed having something that was fun on the road and that thing handles like a Porsche. My goal was then to pick up a used Wrangler or Cherokee for the winter and wheeling when possible. I never was able to do it as often as I liked but I do spend a lot of my time traveling for work so this arrangement made more sense for me.

I've got a nice audio system in my car. Nothing crazy but very clean. Perfect for someone that loves music like myself.

The vehicle I purchased is a 1998 Cherokee Limited with 140k miles. It runs great and is in great shape aside from a rather worn driver's seat. My problem is that it had a piece of crap Clarion headunit that was picking up an insane amount of noise from the electrical system. I ripped it out in through in a high quality Pioneer unit I had in my old Wrangler. This helped a lot but my speakers still suck and the one in the driver's door doesn't work at all. I know that's a common problem with a simple fix. I'll be addressing that when replacing my speakers.

As for replacing my speakers I'm just looking for some quality coaxials in the front and the back. I may amplify them in the future but I think my headunit will do the job fine. Everything I've read, and even Crutchfield's database agrees, says I can put 6.5" speakers up front in the doors but I have to use 5.25's in the back. I can't quite figure out what the limitation would be that keeps me from using 6.5s in the back so I was hoping someone could explain.

More importantly I'm looking specifically at Pioneer's D Series 6.5" Coax speaker for the front. Crutchfield says it won't fit but its mounting depth is less than 2.5 inches which is where I thought the limitations were. Can anyone that's put 6.5 inch speakers up front tell me what the potential restrictions may be?

Thanks in advance for any help.

DirtRoadXJ

here is some discussion about it...https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/speaker-size-5723/

i have a 98 and im pretty sure i have 6.5s all the way around. i didnt do any modification to mine. its easy to look, the covers on the speakers in the back just pop off.

xj_maniac_newb

6.5's will fit in the back sound bar, just use some drywall screws to put them in, it'll pull the speaker right into the hole if you tighten them a little all the way around until its in. Doesnt take much effort at all, however you'll have to use aftermarket speaker grills if that bothers you.

canada_man

I just installed a set of 6.5" TR600 CXI JL's up front with no problems at all. The pioneers that your looking at only have an additional 1/16 mounting depth so I don't see this causing a problem. Only modification I had to make was to drill new holes for the screws that hold the speaker in. Have you tried contacting crutchfield?

JJCIII

Just get 5.25 to 6.5 spacing adapters.

93XJLI

my 6.5" polks fit with the factory grills in the soundbar no problem.

xj_maniac_newb

hmm, thats interesting. Never installed polks in any of my vehicles, but my kickers and rockford fosgate's were either too big around ( not the actual speaker that is, but the "mounting ring" i guess you would call it.) for the stock covers to go back on. Wasn't able to get them nowhere near on in my buddies 00' with the new style covers (white plastic ones, not the metal kinda used in the earlier models) when we installed some pioneers either. Must just be some fit and others dont i guess.

Gauge

Yeah, I just threw some Kicker 6's in my speaker bar, and they filled in the gap quite snug.

greendohn

yep, i also have 6.5" all the way around in my 98 xj. gotta set of polks in the doors and replacing the pioneers out back with a set of polks i just got for christmas. no mods, different screws,,stainless self tappers.

macgyver35

I have Polk db651's in the front doors of my 98. Much better than stock. The tweeter will push slightly against the inside of the door panel when it's reinstalled, but not too much. All the plastic clips will still pop back into their holes and nothing rattles.

While those same Polks would have fit in the rear if I used their grills, I wanted to keep the factory grills, so I used the db521's.

I live in the Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth Metroplex and there are some thieving *** bastards here. Keeping things looking stock and hidden away helps.

Even with 6.5" speakers all around, bass will be a weak spot. I added a 6.5" Kicker CompVT subwoofer to the rear cubby in a custom enclosure I built. I wanted it to look factory installed, so I made the whole thing fit into the cubby recess and not take up any rear cargo area, and I used the carpet cover off of the factory donut spare tire to cover the box so it would all match. The addition of the sub made a HUGE improvement in sound quality. I'm not a bass-head that listens to rap, but I like a full, rich sound to my music. I didn't have that till I added the sub.

KevMez

I have 6.5" Infinity's in the sound bar with factory covers. And 6.5" MB Quarts in the front doors. Don't forget about the sub, gotta pick up one of these boxes sounds great.

Chewie4299

I have three JL 8" w3s in a custom fiberglass enclosure from my TJ that may use in the XJ if I feel I need a little more bass.

I'm going to remove a door panel and rear speaker then go to a local mobile electronics shop that sells the Pioneer 6.5s I'm interested in and ask to tests fit them before buying them.

kennyWA

As a sound quality guy and overall car audio fanatic, I approve this enclosure. Very clean install. I really dig OEM-looking installs. Little bit of gap there, but who cares. Still looks great, and very low-key.

macgyver35

Thanks! The gap was actually intentional, even though it worked out to be a tad larger than I wanted. The main box is made from 1/2" MDF, and since it wouldn't be seen, it's rough. I used 1/8" Masonite as a combo overlay and trim piece, and I didn't want the edges of the Masonite that hang over the edges of the main box to touch the plastic panel and rattle. While it's not shown in the pic, as it's from when I first did it, I closed up the gap by laying on a second layer of carpet. Looks better and still no rattles.

I'm an old car stereo guy from 20+ years ago. Working in IT now. I think I've forgotten more than I ever knew, but some of it still sticks with me. I have numerous other posts explaining the raw physics of sound and car audio electrical on these forums.

Here is my original write-up on the sub:

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/re...nstall-133158/