Prius C One rear speaker install steps with photos!

Ok, I tried to be as through as possible with the photos so that anyone following this 'guide' can understand what I was getting at. I will say that it took a few hours to figure out a few things such as removing certain harnesses but when I did the passenger side it took all of 20 minutes from start to finish (not including panel removal of course) so be prepared for about 4 hours to be safe. I also didn't cut any factory wire and I have the photos to show how it was done safely.

I also included most of a sub woofer and amplifier installation as well and yes this is with a stock head unit. So with that in mind if your not looking for the amp install, just skip those parts.

Parts:
Speakers of course! - any 6.5" I used a set of pioneers mainly because they have nice crips mids and highs and with a sub being installed didn't need to worry about lows.
Speaker wire - 40 feet I used 12 gauge which may have been over kill but you want 40 feet, any shorter and you may have problems
Shrink wrap - I hate butt connectors
1 foot by 2 foot plywood (about 5 bucks at ace) cut this to make a speaker adapter, I'm cheap lol
Nuts and bolts - I'd recommend 14 sets, and honestly I didn't get the size I just took a speaker into ace and matched its diameter and got a half inch long. The reason for 14 is 3 for each adapter and then 4 for each speaker.
One Toyota 1987 Harness adapter - this is only if you don't want to splice your factory wires you'll see later
One speaker harness stock oem plug from the bone yard - make sure it has the dimmer wire as well as speaker wires!
(if you don't want to get it from the bone yard you can from here: Metra 71-1761 Toyota 1987-Up Into OEM Radio Harness 265-647 the whole point is to not cut and splice stock wires so this will be good if you can't find a working one at the yard)
fuse tap (mini) (not pictured) - advanced carries these however autozone is a little more but does as well, this is for the amp signal wire which taps the cig fuse
Amp Install kit(not pictured)
Amp and Sub (not pictured)
Line Output Converter (not pictured) also found this worked better then the initial high input on the amp which I didn't picture at all but should you do that route just swap the high input adapter below with the converter I personally recommend based on my setup.



Tools at the minimum:
Wire stripper and crimper
10 mm socket and wrench (extension is a big plus)
Phillips assorted sizes
Lighter for shrink wrap
Wood cutting tool, don't really care what kind.
multi tool and or needle nose pliers in case you drop a screw

Onto the install

Pull the trim around the headunit out, I used my fingers it's a little tight but can be done, watch for the hazard harness also.

You'll notice the harness plugged in the back as such is the factory one

Now , just let the radio sit in its place without screwing it back in, grab your bone yard harness and adapter and connect the dimmer lines and shrink wrap them

Following that, on the adapter you bought NOT THE BONE YARD one srhink wrap the speaker lines together if you don't want to cut them I did. You won't be using those off the store bought adapter.

Start running the speaker wire, I started on the driver side, the following pictures shows which panels I pulled (none of which need tools of course) so you can see where they went.

And behind the seat belt straps

Now before you can put it through to the door pull the door panel, theres a screw underneath the handle plastic and then the piece that has the window switch lifts as it's just snapped in however there's two screws once you remove it that have to be removed. after that I chose to unsap the door handle from the panel to make life easy as shown

Pull the plastic from were the speaker will go but do NOT throw away that plastic yet you'll need it shortly.

Ok on to the wire running into the door, this is probably the most frustrating part and be prepared to end up with a cut or two on your hands if your not careful, where the rubber goes between the door and piller theres a harness that I removed to push the wire in.


pull the rubber back toward the door to expose the harness, theres a clip on the top and bottom (the roof side and floor side) push those in and then pull the harness towards the door until it's exposed

Theres a big clip on the side, pull that away to be able to disconnect then pull the one back through the door to have that big opening to play with.


Once that happens put your hand in the hole where the speaker will go and find the other end of the rubber. Your now faced with two choices, either fight with it till the taped up end is open or be like me and put a small hole on the bottom side facing the floorboard to get the wire through. Which ever you choose do so and get it through it takes a few minutes but you'll get it through. If you begin at the speaker side for running the wire which I recommend for ease, lay it through the car where the panels are removed until you get to the driver footwell. Pull it up through the dash and out next to the headunit. The next few pictures are just showing how I ran it through, once it's all the way through go ahead and cut it at the head unit or speaker side which ever has the excess. Remember when I said 40 feet worth right?

Footwell

Next to seat

And through to the door. Now Snapping that harness in isn't easy but can be done. Again watch for those sharp edges they weren't much fun. I promise once you do the one side the other goes MUCH MUCH quicker you'll do it in about 1/4 of the time at least I did.

Go ahead and do the same thing on the Passenger side and once you have the two speaker wire sides run grab that harness contraption you put together and get ready to hook the lines up. If your installing an amp run two additional sets of speaker wires (and label them too!) along with the passenger side, chances are your going to put the amp under the front passenger or in the hatch I did mine in the passenger seat so thats what the wire measurement of40 feet is for so adjust if you need to. Make sure to not mix the left and right side up and heat shrink them onto the respectable sides of the harness that now plugs into the radio. The original factory one that came with the car now plugs into the adapter you bought therefore causing you to not cut wires which makes it easy to return to stock whenever you sell it or need warranty for some reason.

Boneyard end connected with adapter that you bought for the dimmer, you can see the boneyard harness has the speaker lines connected now. If your installing an amp your faced with two adtional options, either high input on the amp (which I later changed out) or a line output convertor. I recommend the second, as your connecting each set of speaker wire hook up those extra lines for either the convertor or the high input adapter. The reason your going to put the convetor close to the amp is so if you need to adjust it later I never understand why others put them behind the dash and make it hard to access them what a pain.


All harnesses connected you can now slide it back into the dash for the time being but don't close it up just yet. To make life easy if your installing an amp run the signal wire now so you don't have to mess with the head unit again. Your going to connect that remote signal wire to the t adapter as shown in the next photo, then run it up into the dash and to the passenger side and out along where the speaker wire is. This is saying your like me and installed the amp under the driver seat if not then run it however you please.

If you do run it on the passenger side, drop the wires (all, remote amp and speaker) behind the carpet, run it under till you get to the side where the trim goes and continue. This is a quick pic I took showing how I dropped it underneath the carpet at the passenger footwell.


Now, all the speaker lines that deal with the headunit and remote and amp lines are run the hardest part is now over. It's time to make the adapters for the speakers as I'm sure you noticed they don't fit that huge hole in the door. Take the plastic that you didn't throw away and use is to trace on the wood.



Cut it and then cut a smaller hole that the speaker can sit in. attach the wood to the door and bolt it on then attach the speaker lines to the speakers and either screw it into the wood or bolt it on your choice. I used a hand multi tool that does sanding cutting etc so it didn't cut precisely which was fine.


Once both sides are installed do a test run to make sure your connections work if so close up the doors and then the driver side panels. If your not doing an amp close up everything and have fun otherwise continue on. At this point there's only the power and ground wires for the amp and since mine is a powered sub that sits neatly under the passenger seat it was pretty easy. The next photo shows where I hooked the ground up to, however you can go directly to the battery if you wish. Also the battery is under the rear seat passenger side. Two plastic 'pins' hold it on, remove it and you have clear access go ahead and hook it up and tune it.



I hope this saves other people the headaches of running the wires I'm sure another person can make a more clear guide with photos and steps but I said a while back when asking about rear speakers if no one else does it I will and post how it was done. This is by no means the best way but what was best for me so if you find a way to make it better post it here and share!

So how has it changed the sound quality?
Crisp clean highs and mids from the speakers, and the powered woofer takes care of the lows, no crackling and does what I wanted. I'm sure if you do a higher powered woofer you could go thump thump all night but mine is 400rms and 800 max more then what I needed but found a good deal on it for 90 on amazon so can't complain. No I didn't change out the fronts to be honest this was a little out of my budget so it'll have to wait for another time but I like it as it is now.

 

Well if it hadn't been for the wood adapter I made the speaker would have been flush with the door so if you pull the panel and look on the inside you'll be able to measure pretty close I don't think it would be a problem but it's better to measure then order and find out they won't fit.

 

Yep, without an amp they just fill that dead void if you wires them to an amp I'm sure they'd be extra loud but they gave me a crisp full sound and since I put a slimline sub in they worked well.

One S ? 4 Beta

 

Sorry that I didn't get back to you, been gone for a while due to the army and their needs. Anyhow, the fusebox I used was on the driver side near the floorboard. If memory serves correct should just have a plastic cover if you get down and look for it, as in a fuse box cover not an interior cover. When I used that 'fuse splitter' so to speak, it was a little bulky so I couldn't put the cover back on. After this install I did add a arm rest so I left the cover in there for reference of each fuse. So far the setup is working great been nearly four months I do think in the future I'll swap the front and tweeters however I'm looking at a carputer via raspberry pi first for audio upgrades.

 

Also as for the wire harness from the junk yard:

Metra 71-1761 Toyota 1987-Up Into OEM Radio Harness 265-647

At 10 bucks it's not a bad price and saves a trip to a boneyard if there isn't one nearby. I'm going to add it to the original post as well.