Hello all. thank you for reading and responding. My girlfriend is a manager at a toyota/lexus/scion dealership and I finally decided after much debate to purchase a xb ( yeah! ) and my salsa red 5 speed will be on the 11th of feb. I have (all are brand new in box) a kenwood excelon xxv-01d head unit, a kenwood excelon kac-x541 ( 4ch.) amp. , a pair of kenwood kfc-1079ie 4" speakers for the dash holes, and a pair of kenwood excelon kfc-x130 5.25" speakers for the rear. and a kicker kx-600.1 sub amp. ( no subs yet or box ) ........ Now, here is the problem, all the different forums and bulletin boards say different things as to what will go into the front doors . I would like to install 6.5" excelon speakers ( kfc-x170 ) into the factory spot with out modifying the door panel at all. no problem hacking up what you can't see ! I under stand that scosche makes a kit ( scosche sat6 ) for the avalon that will work with some cutting. I do not know. I wanna order these speakers so I can have them here when the xb arrives. How is every body doing the 6.5" into the doors? I havent seen a door with the panel off so please tell me like I am blind. If you don't think these will fit is any body running the high end kenwood stuff , if so what model number? I need something strong because the amp puts out 120 watts per channel @ 2ohms or 60 watts per channel @ 4ohms. and yes I am partial to kenwood but not sworn to it. Just want the best sound possible. thanks again.

 

The fronts are 6.5 and most people have been fabricating a mounting plate from 3/4" MDF without trouble....


where'd you get your screen name from?? I work at a locomotive rebuilding plant which is why I ask..

 

actually the front holes are just under 6.5 inches...
but like SCI_TC_GUY said, make a mounting plate from MDF...

if you don't use the mounting plate, the speakers might be too deep and hit the window.

 

^^^is it your b-day today??? if so, feliz cumpleanos

 

my screen name comes from the fact that I am a conductor for c.s.x. starting monday I will attending engineer school. nope birthday is months away. but thanks in advance. I am still young but I had to go get glasses yesterday in order to pass the FRA vision test for my physical. with insurance they still raped me. i could have ordered glasses but the would be o.s.h.a. style and taken 10-14 days to arrive. but worst of all they caused me to dip into my scion modification money...I wanted to scream.

 

sorry the bitrhday message wasnt for me, ( he goes and puts on his new glasses now)

 

And just where will you be running trains???


Welcome to the club!

 

live in savannah, and after i spend six months training at basically half my conductors salary ( i will go hungry and get skinny again ! ) I will travel from savannah to any of the following places : augusta ga, columbia sc, florence sc, waycross ga, and jacksonville fla. which is the same territory I work now as a conductor.

 

^^ cool.... what locomotives do you guys run?? SD-40's?

 

we use any hunk of junk we get when the train rolls through town and we swap crews. everything from the sd-40 to the dash-8, sd-60, sd-70, sd-80 some of these as you probably know have different versions based on hosepower ( a, ac, ace, mac ) and the 4400 , 4400 ( awc or ace ? ) I cant rememeber all the acronyms, but I promise after a month of school I'll probably learn more than I ever care to know. I keep up with the model numbers somewhat , but to the crews, when we go to work we are usually only concerned if the air conditioner works on the wide bodies, and of course when an engine dies running 50 m.p.h. and a 4-5 hour trip turns into 12 hrs. it kinda ruins your day.

 

for real.... I've torn down a few of the GE 16cyl. turbo'd engines and let me tell ya... they're a pain in the butt.... and flippin HUGE!!! The dash 8's are some funny lookin loco's...

I mostly deal with international parts shipments/ contract shipments...I don't know a whole lot about each kind, but know enough about the parts to get me through the day...

 

Yeah, you gotta respect anything that can pull 14,000 tons of coal up a 1 or 2 % grade hill and still maintain any where from 1.7 m.p.h. ( yeah 1.7 ) to 10 m.p.h. ... I am not a train junkie by no means however that is alot of weight with a sh*t load of horsepower along with unparalelled torque. It just amazes my coworkers and me how many people take chances running through the gates. " tic-tic gets hit by large baseball bat" . it's usually nasty.

 

hey , how about the scosche sat6 brackets for the avalon/echo. I read somewhere ( i think) that they will help getting the front speakers to mount up... ? 6.5" ?

 

^^ I tried using those in my tC, I ended up junking them and making my own from 3/4" MDF and a jigsaw... They turned out a LOT more sturdy this way and I got better bass response because there is less movement in the basket and mount.... Those mounts are a little flimsy IMO, and may not fit your speakers....

 

thanks, kinda figured that they were going to be a bit of a problem. I will plan on fabbing my own. did you use the original speaker as a template or just kinda used a carboard template and scissors for a pattern. ??

 

I drilled the rivets for the OEM bracket out and made the template on MDF from the OEM mount.... then got the template ring for my sub out of the box the sub came in...

 

so I went to thedealership yesterday to sign all the papers to purchase my xb , ( I will be out of town when it comes in I think- depends on if i have a class saturday morning) well everything was goin o.k. but then i started readin the sales ticket for the salsa red. It was a freakin automatic !!! I was a little ____ed the sales man ordered a auto. I specifically asked for a stick. so , I will be getting the blue onyx pearl. I orginally was planning on b.o.p. but I saw the red and was taken ( very close to my 1999 jeep wrangler i once owned) the blue is kinda black to me but I have been lookin around at the wheel forum and some chrome might do it some good....... I have purchased my xb but do not have it. the wait is killing me more each day that I hang out on this site. oh well learning about these vehicles is great fun...!!!

 

This what the door looks like. I don't remember what the arrow was for. This is an old pic.



If you can, make your own plate. I don't suggest MDF only because it doesn't fair well with moisture. The inside of a door is a high moisture area when it rains. I used 1" plywood for mine because it doesn't expand like MDF. Either way make sure to paint it very well to make sure it's sealed from any moisture.

 

use OSB for moisture

 

OSB is so rough though.