Hey guys, picking up a new(er) ranger in a few days, and along with doing a v8 conversion, I'm looking at ditching the stock audio setup. I'm going to be picking up all the audio equipment before I grab the truck itself to give myself something to work on while I await the 302, tranny, and all the other parts needed for this job, which is why I'm looking early. I already have a Kenwood KDC-MP4028, as well as a pair of 6x9" speakers (Decent quality Pioneers, not sure of exact model). The regular cab ranger doesnt seem to have anywhere to mount my 6x9" speakers so I'm looking to put them behind the bench seat in the truck if possible. I'm a tall person and will need the seat as far back as possible to fit in the driver seat. Is it possible to mount the speakers without losing more than an inch or two of legroom from moving the seat to accomidate them? I'm also looking for suggestions for speakers to place in the doors as I dont even know what size speakers to grab (Best guess would be 5-1/4"). I dont care for looks, as I will be hiding them behind the panels anyways to make it look as stock as possible.

Final question is about amps. I have no plans for a sub in my truck, but I have had problems with the amp in my deck overheating and losing power after only 30 minutes of the volume raised, as well as some heavy distortion. What kind of amp would be recommended to power atleast the 2 6x9's? I'm not looking for anything huge, maybe 100w to each speaker compared to the 50w supplied by the deck. How many channels do I need? Crossover? Would it be difficult to have the amp power both the 6x9's as well as the door speakers? I'm looking to have the speakers mounted behind the seats used mainly for the bass, and having the door speakers handle mainly the treble. Sorry if this post is somewhat confusing, but thanks to anyone who can understand this and give me some input as to what door speakers and amp to buy.

EDIT: Forgot to ask, is it possible wire my 30GB Ipod video to my deck? I dont want to use an FM modulator (correct name?) if I dont have to, or I could look into grabbing a 10 or 12 disc MP3 changer, if this is a better option, any suggestions? Preferably something cheaper, the engine conversion is hitting my wallet pretty hard. Again, thanks for any input.

 

Hey I have an older Kenwood Excellon KDSx817 Mask Face that I put in my Excursion after some thieves smashed and grabbed my Clarion monitor. That silly thing would do the same deal as yours. It would play great then all of a sudden it would just drop the highs kind of and sound like crap. Now for some reason it has gone away but for awhile there it would do it all the time.

For your doors I would recommend a nice 5x7 component set. Since your ranger has a nice spot up by the mirror to mount the tweeter this would be a nice setup. I will take some pics of the DB Drive Speed Series 5x7 components. I stuck some in my Excursion so I could demo them to the Ford dealers. They run great off of the radio but an amp is always nice. Your 6x9s would be fine in the back. I will post some pictures of the DB 5x7 components for you today after some installs.

For alot of systems I have done a DB Drive Speed Series SPA80.4 (80x4) or the SPA120.4 (120x4). These amps are great units. One cool thing about them that I use all the time is that the rear channels can be bridged to run all four of your mids and highs while the front two channels can be used to run a subwoofer. The amp has a remote gain **** that you can mount on the dash to control the subwoofer. One amp to do everything.

As for the ipod...you need to see if your radio has an input. Alot of kenwoods have the ability to turn an output into an input through programming. If this is the case you can use a rca input lead connected to your ipod to feed into the radio. Also I believe Kenwood has a piece that attaches to the CD Changer input to allow the ipod.

 

KC covered basically everything. Anything behind the seats in a Ranger is rather useless unless it gets more power than the front speakers. I'd also reccommend putting some sort of padding between the acutal speakers and the door when you mount them, I did that in my Ranger and it made a world of difference, no more rattles when you cranked the speakers.

 

The 89 regularcab ranger has room to mount 5x7 speakers? Is that what goes in the doors?

EDIT: And for padding between the speakers and the door, what would you recommend? My first thought was to grab some thin sheets of rubber and cut it to fit around the outside of the speaker between the speaker, and the door itself.

 

I agree...the days of real metal with thickness has died.

Thursday night I put an alarm/remote start and door lock actuators in a guys 99 ranger. He was commenting on how thin his doors looked. I just tapped on the inner metal and they rang like a tin can. We also noticed that it was a different door off of a newer ranger. They just made their own screw holes where it mounted different and only painted the part you see white. I pulled the panel off and under it the door was brown...lol must be a story behind his new/old truck. He just bought it a couple months ago.

Anyways next week when he gets back from his trip he wants to do a new head unit and some decent speakers. When we do the doors we are most likely going to put some sound deadning on them. Probaby some Hushmat since its made right here in Kansas City. Also whoever worked on his door before never put the plastic sheeting back on his door. This helps seal the door for enclosure purposes better.

 

I used double sided tape, but anything that has a little give but stays solid should work. I also filled the door up with poly-fill, and insulated with Dynamat. All around pretty good, anything individually helps.
5"x7"s should fit, I have 6"x8"s in mine (they are essentially the same) and that's what was stock. I have two in the door and one in each rear quarter panel.