DIY 3.5" JL Audio dash speaker upgrade - Wow!

Literally any 3.5" speaker you want. I am running the JBL GTO series 3.5 which sounds great. Same is going in my 2019 Highlander.

 

Yes, it's fatpat xxx sound deadening. You'll need about 150 square feet to do the whole floor, inner and outer skin of all 4 doors, inner and outer skin of the tailgate, and the roof, inner and outer quarter panels, basically every piece of sheet metal you can get to. You want as much coverage as possible. Gut the interior and have at it. Make sure you have a roller. You have to contour it to all the ripples in the sheet metal otherwise it's pretty much useless.

 

Chris. Did you have to trim the collar on the speaker? I know you have to trim the dashboard grill, but someone indicated that the JBL require some trimming. Thanks.

 

Yes I did. Did the same for my 2019 Highlander. Worth the effort IMO, they are much better than the lower end JBL speakers. Club series are a drop in, I tired them in my Highlander, stock sounded better lol. Don't waste your $ on the cheaper stuff.

 

Figured. I’m looking at the JL and JBL. Also did you buy capacitors or did they come with the speakers. If you bought them, were they the same as Eric used?

 

JBL provides the required cap with the speakers. They are 150 UF for reference. The Clue series came with a 250 UF which was way too high. Overall they sounded terrible.

 

Great. I was going JBL because I was looking at the gTO629s for the front doors (there is a 6x9 speaker that also fits I guess). Anyway I just was worried about cutting off the collar.... do you cut it so that it’s below the rubber?

 

I have the JBL GTO629 in the rear doors and tailgate and the GTO939 in the front doors. I cut 75% of it off the 3.5, not below the rubber.

 

Just not posting pictures!

 

On the GTO939, did you turn on the +3db?

 

No, there was no need. With the 3.5 in the dash it's all you need.

 

Well. I got the dash speakers replaced with JBL GTO329. I realized my soldering needs improvements. The drivers side was “easy”. The passenger side... tough. I hope my soldered connects hold out over time.

 

What do you think of them so far?

 

Hmmm. I’m still in test mode. The first song was a Beatles song with a lot of treble. I’m not sure if it was the song or the installation//speakers. I think it sounds better. Once the door speakers are in I will be happy.

 

Did you need any speaker adapter to mount the GtO 629 in the tailgate?

 

Yes, you need speaker adaptors for all the doors, front rear and tailgate. The rear doors and tailgate use the same adaptors so buy 4 if you're replacing all 4 speakers.

 

Why was the passenger side harder?

 

There is a duct in the way.

 

One more question on the JBL939. There’s a plastic ring around the speaker. It’s pretty loose. I guess you remove if you use the JBL grill. Did you leave this on when you mounted them in the door?

 

I don't remember a ring. That ring is likely supplied for bottom mount in the rear deck of some older cars that way it spaces it down and the surround doesn't touch the metal deck. I mounted the speakers in the aftermarket adaptors and put the door panel back on. There is no reason to use the supplied JBL grill at all.

 

Cool. Thanks. FYI. Here is my installed speaker and that ring. I’m going without until I hear issues.

 

Yes, remove that ring. The ring is to be used if you were mounting the speaker from behind or under a panel. It just acts as a spacer and is not needed for our application.

 

Thanks for the help. New speakers from front to tailgate. Still more sound from the dash speakers than the door speakers. Would love to control them separate from the front door speakers. But I’ll live with it. Still sounds great.

As I mention in another post, if you replace the rear door speakers, getting the door panels back on is a bear!!! The front doors were difficult but I did it in one push. The rear door I had to walk away and calm down. Patience is needed.

 

I am basically mimicking you and I ordered the same speakers. Mine didnt come with any type of capacitor. Should they have? If I need them, can you recommend which one? I'm fairly speaker illiterate. Thanks!

 

You need this one. It should be able to handle 1.21 Gigawatts or so.

 

They came with them. Look in the styrofoam packing the speakers are shipped in. There are pockets, they are stuffed inside one of those pockets.

 

Yup. If the speakers are new, the caps are there. If not, or they were lost, they were 150s I believe.

 

Ah you are right. My friend that opened the speakers set the caps to the side and didn't tell me/ thanks!

 

thanks to the OP and other contributors for this 'how to", I just completed front dash and doors with Infinity Ref 3.5 and 6x9. Sounds way better!