I am now working on cleaning up the rear cargo area on TWFH and would like to use some spare side covers I have, but was wondering about the speaker cutouts in these. Are these openings factory, hacked out the way the speaker holes are? I know that my tailgate, which was originally a manual window gate, has a clearance hole for the crank assembly cut out in it with a nibbler, not cleanly stamped, so these may be correct. But if so, ewwww. Just trying to get some input. Also, as I don't have the correct speaker grilles, what are people using for speakers/grilles for this curved area? Thank for your input, Tom
The don't look factory to me, but I won't claim to be an authority. My panels are roughly 1/4" PVC formed to shape and covered in vinyl, and I worked out a way to mount speakers, but I do need to make a few revisions. Before having the panels reupholstered, I cut a hole to match the face of the speaker. The speaker was mounted from the under-side. Between the speaker and the panel, I inserted a screen and used polished stainless screws to mount the speaker. The edge was finished using chrome door edging. Here is a (rough) picture. It is a first go at it to see if I could make it work. In the final version, I will slip bolts under the vinyl and use nuts from the backside to draw it up. The screen will be a much tighter mesh and color-matched. The edging will be color matched as well. This should diminish its presence, minimize its profile and keep it low-key. I didn't want to get into grilles, and I wanted as close to a flush-mount as possible, so I think will give me nice results. Not perfect, but pretty decent. Good luck with your install!
