Just curious how many people have removed and blocked off the cab vents in the rear wall of their truck when doing stereo upgrades and why?

I have done a bunch of research and the popular consensus is they should not be blocked off as they are there to
1: equalize pressure when the doors are shut making it easier to close the doors and not make your ears pop. There is the leave a window down a bit but I am not into windows open at -30 or so assuming you can even get them open.
2: Make life easier for the A/C and heater blower motor because without the vents the fan would pressurize the interior and have difficulty moving air.
3: Safety, to prevent an issue with your ear drums should the air bags deploy.

So what are your thoughts on this? I am going to come up with a way to keep mine useable when I install my amps and JL AUdio Cleansweep and SSI units and the new sub enclosure.

 

I covered mine completly. Pretty much had to with the box
that I had to stuff behind the seat. Mine is a crew cab.

 

The main reason these get covered up is for the installation of a subwoofer box behind the seat because they stick out from the wall of the truck to where the sub box doesn't fit. Usually depending on the configuration of the sub box only one gets covered. Your concerns about covering them are valid, however I've never heard the one about the air bags. If you do decide to add a sub I suggest getting one that leaves one of the vents open.

 

I have seen sub boxes being the primary reason to remove. Seems pretty irresponsible of the box makers and installers to tell people it's ok to remove both of these vents.
I have read about this with every brand of truck out there and one would assume that if these were not needed the manufacturers would eliminate them in a heartbeat to save some $$ like they get rid of other stuff like the courtesy lights in doors.
I am hoping I can fit the .9cf sub enclosure I bought in without too much difficulty as it fits in the space the original sub enclosure was sitting and as a worse case having to remove the passenger side one. I will work around the driver side one when I make the component mounting board.

I have to say though I have not removed the rear wall cover yet to see just what I am up against.

 

I removed one of the vents, and did not cover it, so I cold install a sub box. No problems that I know of.