NJTman

Just wanted to tip my hat to the man in the white dodge.

I saw what you did with your doors, and I loved the idea of having my doors feel like a truck door, vs a whishy washy floppy noodle.

Today, since I was upgrading my speakers, I figured... what the hay ! What a great idea, and a "Must have" repair to anyone with our trucks.


Can't thank you enough, as my doors feel solid like bull. Here's an imaginary beer heading your way...




I used a smaller tubing and it worked fine. If I went with a 5/8" tubing, my speakers wouldn't fit through the hole anymore.





Again ..... thanks a bunch... You made my day.

wheelieking71

AWSOME!!!! makes a rediculously huge difference in the perception of the door doesnt it!!! and its actually pretty easy if you have a welder. i agree on the "must do" comment. now that i have killed my electrical gremlin dead, i am going to get back to work on the lower hinge area and see if i can come up with something good there. unfortunately, i dont think there will be anything easy about that one.

NJTman

Do you have electric windows ?


After the "upgrade" fix, my windows work much faster.

I think that the inner door panel was flexing in and out during the window motion, which in turn slowed it down. The window movement wasn't consistent, meaning that it moved quickly, then slow, then quickly again. Now it's consistent as it travels either up or down. It must have been binding in the tracks.

What a great idea. The doors perception of stout is amazing, as you have said.

wheelieking71

yea, my doors are power. as of now they are still gutted because i want to paint them before i install all my new weatherstripping. i cant wait to feel how nice they are after they are all put back together!

1972RedNeck

Is there a writeup about this? I am going to have to pull my door panels to fix my window motors. Might as well do this too.

wheelieking71

not really a "writeup", but you can check my thread here: https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...t301470p5.html for some more text, pics, and a short video of me banging on the door afterwards to demonstrate the newfound stiffness. (its towards the bottom of pg.5)

NJTman

For the hour or so it takes, depending on how good you are at welding, it's a no brainer. You will not believe how much different the door feels after it's all put back together.

gyman98

looks real good but what did you do with the speaker water shield?

NJTman

I put it back in.

The new speaker was just slightly larger than the OE (in diameter). I traced the new speaker onto the speaker shield, removed the front plastic mesh (it distorts the music) and fit the new "hood" to the speaker. The OE bolt holes remained on the top, but the lower ones were removed due to size constraints. The speaker, front grille trim and mesh, and the speaker hood were all bolted together to the door. I then traced the speaker front trim onto my door, using the bolt holes as a guide, so that the trim fits exactly through the door panel. This allows me to remove the door panel without physically touching the speakers. I also used a line of electrician's dope on the hood to seal between the door and the hood, so that water couldn't get into the front of the hood.

Worked out great.... and the speakers are un-freaking real. 700w units off Amazon, and they're crystal clear..... I think they cost around $30 for the set.

gyman98

I modified the hood on mine to take the bigger speakers and left the mesh on. Now I have to play them to make sure it doesn't distort. If it does I will need to do like you said before put the panel on

wheelieking71

you will be fine with the mesh on.

NJTman

Yes, he will.

I just found that the speakers sounded so much clearer without the OE plastic mesh in place. I was listening to smooth jazz while I was working on the doors, and it just sounded a little more muffled with the mesh on.... to I cut it out.

I'm sure it wouldn't be noticeable if my engine was running.....

wheelieking71

yea, car audio is one of the things i actually gave up when i bought Big-whitey. it was a hobby of mine for over 20yrs! but, this truck is really the worst possible place to install high-end audio LOL. selling off all my gear is actually how i paid for Big-whitey!

NJTman

After my new speakers went into their respective new homes, I blasted my neighbors for about an hour (truck turned off, of course). That will teach them. Now when they hear smooth jazz, they'll think of the neighbor across the street, and go right back to their crap spoken word junk. I'm so ashamed

wheelieking71

LOL! thats funny. i have spent my fair share of time rocking the driveway. my rule is: anything goes between noon and 8:00pm. i try and keep it quiet otherwise. i have a guy right now accross the street who just bought a brand new chevy truck. took it someplace and had a stereo put in. and for some reason he likes to wash that stupid truck every other night about 9:30!! dont ask me why he washes his truck after dark? i have already told him once that blasting 12" subs with the local hip-hop station at 9:30-10:30 at night is pretty rude. he has done it one time since. if he does it again, i am prepared to make sure its the last time LOL. the local noise ordinance fine is rediculously expensive.