I just tore out a blown factory door 6.5" speaker from my xfire and was about to install my new Rockford Fosgate P1653. However, it doesn't fit because the stock doors speakers have some special mounting bracket thats fused with their speaker. Can I assume that I need to have a custom in order to install an after-market door speaker in my xfire?

What kills me is that I spent a lot of time searching various sites for speakers that would fit my car. I even tried a universal speaker adapter, but the holes didn't line up and didn't have the slope to accommodate the door frame.

The original speaker and case - http://ploader.net/files/17440e96cfe...b0fc71f484.jpg
The original speaker and case (top view) - http://ploader.net/files/549479c0835...33214422bb.jpg
Original and new speaker - http://ploader.net/files/0193f28f2e2...64bda88230.jpg

 

There are plastic "noses" at the inner ring of the plastic speaker mounting.
Remove them completely with a sharp knife.
Than any aftermarket 6.5" speaker should fit without any problems.

 

I don't see anything that looks like your image. I just uploaded some of my own for reference.

 

You can pry the mounting rings away from the speaker. Takes a bit of force but they will separate.

 

Thanks for the advice. I started trying to pry it out earlier but I gave up since it seemed impossible. I really had to work my way around the ring a few times but eventually I was able to pry it apart. Unfortunately, now the "bevel" on the rim creates a bit of air space because the new speakers have a little frame of their own. Now I need to decide whether to accept that or find some cloth or foam filler.

 

O.k. So what is the exact problem?
To get the original speaker out of the mounting bracket?
Or to get the new ones into the mounting bracket?

To get the original speaker out of the mounting bracket, put them in an oven for 10 minutes at about 70 degrees celsius (approx 160 degree fahrenheit). Than the silicon adhesive will be soft, and you can pry them easliy of the mounting bracket. Than you'll also see the noses, as soon as you have pryed the original speakers out of the mounting bracket.

The new ones seem to have a bigger diameter than the mounting diameter because of a plastic trim. I don't know these speakers. Is this plastic trim removable? Or is it fixed? If it's not fixed, remove it. If it's fixed you'll have to remove it, which will cause a warranty problem.

It also seems that you have bought coax speakers. I wouldn't recommend that in general for the speaker position.

Regards
Markus

 

The current problem is that the new Rockford Fosgate speakers have trim that make them a little too big.
Photo - Rockford Fosgate® - P1653

I started prying the "FlexFit" trim off but the cone was coming with it. I'm thinking about just buying some spray foam sealant or some foam stripping.

Is there are reason not to use coax speakers in that location? The speakers are next to my legs so I figured the wide spectrum would better the chance of the frequencies cutting through (instead of simply being muffled). I already have subs for the big booms, so I just wanted tight bass response and clear highs.

 

I think it's not a good idea to remove the trim if it's glued to the Rockford speakers.
Even if you use the oven method to weaken the glue of the trim, there is the possibility the the cone will also come off. And this will damage the speaker, because the cone has to absolutely centric and assembled without any tension. I think it would be better to sell them and to buy another pair of speakers without a trim. In germany this is called euro norm speaker.

There are some reasons why it's better not to use a coax/triax:
1. The staging will be much to low.
2. If you use the stock tweeters in the doors and the coax/triax this will cause a high impedance in high frequencies, which will cause that the high tones are too quiet.
3. You also can have problems to use the top part of the speaker bracket back, which will cause that the low end of bass will be killed because there is a gap between the door board and the speaker bracket. In other words it's not sealed, which will cause interferences and a loss of bass from the doors.

Better solution:
Use a two way system system with an euro norm 6.5 chassis and a good crossover. Position the tweeters in the a pillow. Make shure that the crossover has a -6dB (or more) lowering for the tweeters, because the tweeters could be too loud if you position them in the a pillow.

This is an example where a SLK a pillow was modified this way:



Regards
Markus