DIY Subwoofer Grill

[APExpo]

I’m planning to add the oem subwoofer and D pillar speakers to my XLT, but I needed a custom grill to cover the storage cubby opening.

I couldn’t find any perforated plastic sheets for a reasonable cost, so I ended up buying a universal subwoofer grill. I cut it down to size and sandwiched it behind the cubby trim with some m6 u nuts and machine screws. It’s not perfect, but I think it turned out ok. Hopefully it doesn’t rattle once the sub is installed.

 

[SyndicateZ]

I’m planning to add the oem subwoofer and D pillar speakers to my XLT, but I needed a custom grill to cover the storage cubby opening.

I couldn’t find any perforated plastic sheets for a reasonable cost, so I ended up buying a universal subwoofer grill. I cut it down to size and sandwiched it behind the cubby trim with some m6 u nuts and machine screws. It’s not perfect, but I think it turned out ok. Hopefully it doesn’t rattle once the sub is installed.

View attachment 75990View attachment 75991

Nice Work - Has an oe look

 

[BlackBetty]

I think it turned out VERY WELL!!! Good job!!!

 

[NASCAR Mike]

Great job. Looks factory. Use rubber washers between the metal clip and metal grille if it rattles.

 

[APExpo]

Here’s an update with the sub installed. Sounds great and no rattling!

 

[GlennSullivan]

Very Nice! Def looks OE

 

[BrianA]

How did you were sub into radio? Did you intercept signal from driver rear speaker and where is amp at?

 

[APExpo]

How did you were sub into radio? Did you intercept signal from driver rear speaker and where is amp at?

I have a 5 channel amp under the rear storage area. The subwoofer signal is fed by the front speakers. The rears have low frequencies filtered out, from what I’ve read on the interwebs. (I tried it both ways and the front signal definitely seemed to give deeper bass)

I added D pillar speakers as well running in parallel with the doors.

 

[Coop7379]

I have a 5 channel amp under the rear storage area. The subwoofer signal is fed by the front speakers. The rears have low frequencies filtered out, from what I’ve read on the interwebs. (I tried it both ways and the front signal definitely seemed to give deeper bass)

I added D pillar speakers as well running in parallel with the doors.

So did you use the factory sub box? If so is there not a factory speaker connection Back there? I ask because From what I can tell, while doing my own research to do this, there is only one version of the speaker wireing harness. This should mean that for all factory speaker options the wire is run just no speaker is installed and a different plastic panel is installed.

 

[APExpo]

So did you use the factory sub box? If so is there not a factory speaker connection Back there? I ask because From what I can tell, while doing my own research to do this, there is only one version of the speaker wireing harness. This should mean that for all factory speaker options the wire is run just no speaker is installed and a different plastic panel is installed.

I got the oem sub box and d-pillars from a wrecked expy and had a shop do the installation.

Can’t say if there’s any wiring behind there, but it would still need to be hooked up to an amp even if there is.

 

[Coop7379]

Does anyone know if the wireing is run for the speakers that are not installed on our expy's. When you look up the wiring harness I can only fined one option and it's with all speakers. I know the facotry amp will need upgraded to handle installation of the rest of the speakers including the factory sub. But is the wiring already there?

 

[gkeen19]

I’m interested in doing this in my XLT max. Are the d pillar and subwoofer wires already there?

 

[zeecarr]

What size speaker will fit in that cubby?

I’m interested in doing this in my XLT max. Are the d pillar and subwoofer wires already there?

Can anyone please answer this question?

 

[Left Coast Geek]

the wiring is considerably different between the 6 speaker base version and the 12 speaker version, at least according to my 2019 wiring diagram tome... the B&O sub on the 12 speaker version is driven off a DSP module which isn't even present in the 6 speaker version, and that DSP module gets its input over a digital pair, not analog.

 

[5280tunage]

What size speaker will fit in that cubby?



Can anyone please answer this question?

Sorry, I do not know as i have the B&O system, all wires were there. Also, not sure you mean by cubby. The factory sub is a 10", I replaced mine with a much better 10". Works great, there are a couple WuTang songs that cause the excursion to go too much, so it claps against in the inside of the trim. Not many options in there, the seats won't allow for a grill that extends much more than half an inch, didn't want to tear apart the side panel again and try to replace it, as I also cannot find any rectangular grille that might work well.

 

[5280tunage]

I just undertook a bit of a similar task. During certain kinds of music, my subs excursion was actually hitting the factory grill stubs. Not a good thing to say the least. So I decided I would make my own grille and try my best to make sure the sub would have ample room in the front. It was certainly a bit of a hair-raising process as I really didn't want to mess up the quarter panel trim. I actually just found out those are end of sale and getting replacement trim would be expensive as heck!

I'll include some pictures of the process below. The big thing for me was I didn't want to remove the whole panel for several reasons. It would require me to remove so much of the trunk, my amp, and more. Not to mention that every time I take these trim panels off, I feel like something is on the verge of breaking!

I also would have preferred not to have any visible fasteners, but again I didn't want to remove the panel and frankly I think it turned out pretty good regardless. I tried using metal screw caps to hide them a bit but it actually made it worse, and there isn't enough clearance between the seat and the new grille. you can see in the first two photos the plastic welding tabs were coming in contact with the sub surround. the other thing that made this a little tricky was the fact that the factory grill isn't square and the top and bottom of the quarter panel trim isn't even distance, so to make it look more factory, i needed it to be the same odd shape as the factory.

 

[5280tunage]

So far so good, went through multiple low frequency tests and no clipping, no excursion issues, and sounds great. I do wish it was a tad more aesthetically pleasing but i think it's pretty good.