If you have a Suzuki Jimny up to 2011 (or later) you probably noticed the very bad sound quality of the original sound system. The bad quality is not from the receiver/player but from the low-end Sanyo speakers included on the car and the absence of rear speakers. This tutorial will teach you how to install the rear speakers.
To preserve the original factory warranty this installation will not alter the electric cables, the car body or the holes for fixation.
Since we don't want to change the original characteristics of the vehicle, there are not many options available for the speakers. The original mount has a very limited short space and shares most of it with cables form other systems of the car.
The original player is a Clarion unit is limited to 14W RMS per channel (max 30W). If you want to install an auxiliary MP3 port on this radio, please check this article.
When choosing the new speakers I recommend to look for parts with the closest power rates from the CD player. If a lower power speaker is selected you'll notice a lot of distortion on higher volumes. If a speaker with high power (for example 100W RMS) is used the player will not have enough power to move the cone leading to a very low volume play.
On my Jimny I used a Bravox brand 5 inch 3-way speaker model B3X50. Each one of the speakers from the kit have 40W of RMS power, very close to the capacity of the Clarion player. A 0,75 mm² cable is OK for this rated power. The combination of the Selenium brand I had installed in the front of the car and the Bravox at the rear gave a good range of high and low frequencies.
The Bravox holes fit exactly the original Jimny body holes.
Materials and tools
14mm wrench
13mm wrench
Philips screwdriver
Welding iron
Electric tape
Solder
Pliers (for the terminals)
Small electric terminals (can fit inside the original Jimny rear sound plug). If you can't find these terminals you can insert the wires directly inside the connector.
4 metal sheet screws (3mm x 10mm)
1,5m of 0,75mm² sound cable.
0,5m of 0,75mm² sound cable.
Pair of 5" 4 Ohms speakers
Safety warning
This installation requires you to remove the screws that hold the safety belts.
DO NOT FORGET TO TIGHT THESE SCREWS AFTER THE INSTALLATION OF THE SPEAKERS! Double check that.
Step by step procedure
Jimny sound electrical diagram. The green wires are for the right rear speaker, the greys, for the left. IMPORTANT! Many Jimny owners reported that in their cars the positive wire is the one without the black stripe (opposite of this diagram). I recommend you to double check that.
Speaker and wires uses in the installation.
Weld the wires in the speaker terminals. After welding I recommend to protect the connections with electric tape. The part of the car where they will be installed is not very clean.
To remove the seat, lift the front of it. This part is held by a pressure clip. The back of the seat must be in the vertical position.
After releasing the front clip, slide the seat towards the front of the car. Notice how the back of the seat is being held. You'll need to fit the hoop back when re assembling the seat.
On the left bottom corner of the picture, the clip that holds the front part of the seat.
The seat belt trim is divided in two parts. To remove it, start pulling out the center piece. Don't use any tools.
Remove carefully the second part of the trim. The 4 screws hold the back of the seats. Remove them all with the 14mm wrench.
Fold down the back of the seats. On the bottom corner, under the mat, you'll find another screw. Before removing this screw, take a careful look at the pivot and pay attention in the way it holds the seat and the cover fabric. After removing these screws you'll be able to take the seats off.
Remove the pivot holding bolt (13mm hex). Loose the rear seat belt screw. NOTICE: Remember to tighten this screw after assembling the trims and before installing the seats.
Remove the front seat belt holding screw. NOTICE: Remember to tighten this at the end of the modification. That's a safety piece.
Remove the back trim. Release the clips as indicated in the next picture and pull this part out. Don't use any tools, be gentle. Before removing it completely, take a look in the way the rubber finish covers this part. You'll need to remember that when assembling it back.
To unlock this clip, push the center about 2 or 3mm and then lift the entire piece. Don't push more than 3mm otherwise you'll lose the center pin inside your car body. The clip from this picture can be seen after you remove the back trim.
Remove the lower trim from the floor. Just pull it out. Don't use tools and be gentle, the locking pin is fragile.
Remove the two philips screws from each corner of the side trim.
The side panel is fixed using pressure clips. To release it you'll need to pull out following the numbered order indicated in the photo. Be careful with the part that is close to the doorway. Don't use any tools, they can damage the panel. After the panel was removed, some clips may be stuck in the car body. Take them out and place in the trim.
Curiosity: view of the back of the car without the trims and the seats.
Curiosity: right side of the car. You can see the fuel tank port opening cable.Curiosity: the path of the rear window washer hose. Notice there is a connection that could be used to replace the hose if needed. If you drove a few hundred miles on a country road you'll notice this chamber is full of dust and sand.
Curiosity: The interior of the car body is dirt because of the ventilation holes located under the rear lights. These holes are covered by a rubber mat but it doesn't prevent the entrance of some dust. No matter what happens, don't block the ventilation holes with any kind of insulation or tape. If you do that your air conditioner as well as the air heater will lose their performance.
Details of the rear speakers original connector. This plug is located on the left side of the car over the wheel compartment. The green wires should be connected on the right speaker. The grey wires are for the left speaker. The wires with a black stripe are positive.
Metal sheet screws 3mm x 10mm. It's not necessary to use more than two screws per speaker.
Diameter of the box hole: 100mm.
Maximum depth of the box: 105mm.
Dimensions of the installed speaker. The holes that fitted the car were the inner ones, located about 10mm from external holes.
Details of the right speaker installation. The wire comes from the hole at the side of the speaker and follows the the fuel tank opening cable to the other side of the car.
Details of the installation of the left speaker. It's important to fix the wires to prevent noises on bumpy roads. To attach the wires to the existing connector I just coated them with solder tin and inserted inside the holes of the plug. After that I used some electric tape to prevent them from realeasing and from dust and water (if that's possible).
Final results. Before assembling the side panels be sure to test the sound system and check if the speaker opening on the trim is not blocked (my openings were blocked with some kind of rubber foam).
