I'm trying to swap in speakers on my 4th gen and the dam thing is designed like crap!
in order for me to swap out the rear speakers, I need to pull the rear seat out along with the parcel shelf.
the front door panels have a stupid cup around the door handle that does not want to come off easily.
My 3rd gen was SO much easier to do this stuff on.
the rear speakers mounted from underneath, the door panels came apart fairly easily.
the radio install was easier too.
maybe I'll find a sucker to trade my 4th gen for a VE A/T

 

Hah, Active speaker system 3rd gens you had to take out the rear seat too, but at least then you got the satisfaction of looking at your pretty IRS.

 

What are you doing with a 4th gen in the first place?

 

He probably got it for $40 and a can of Dr. Pepper. I am sure it was some insanely low price.

 

$600 and i rode out with him and followed him back in the subie. i had a hard time driving the subie tho. not enough pedals and the shifter only moved forward and back... i nicknamed it Purple Haze b/c its a greyish purplish metallicish color.

 

The IRS is under the car, if you are seeing when you take out your rear seat
Cheap maxima w/no timing belt was my goal
it was $700
and the colors actual name is Granite Pearl.
so far all it needed was the anti-freeze we put in. I fixed the alarm on it so it works, and now I'm working on replacing the speakers. they are in worse shape than any of my VEs were in

 

Maybe you've learned your lesson...

And changing a timing belt sucks, but there are worse jobs...Besides, you don't have to do it all that often.

 

but he'd have to do it every time he bought yet another VG 3rd gen. as peace of mind.

 

1) oh
2) yea but naming it after a Jimi Hendrix song is eleventybillion times cooler
3) stupid intake thingy blocking access to the radiator hose...
4) didn't know the alarm was broken....
5) i still haven't replaced my speakers

 

Rears and HU are definitely EASY.. the HU is the easiest ive EVER worked with..

but idk, i dont agree with the door panels. LOL.. i had a b%6tch of a time with mine

 

how? there's like 3 screws or so, and a couple of harnesses. then they slide right off. I can get one of my door pannels off in a matter of minutes. less if I have a screw gun.

 

yup
I'm still looking for a VE for the reson above
4)it wasn't, the remote had a dead battery, and button 1 was broken. solved both issues so I now have the alarm functional and remote start
meh, the doors were easy IMO on the 3rd gen.

 

Never said I did it correctly the first time lmao.. I semi caved in the trim part thats the same color as the seats, if you know what trim piece i mean, then i had to refix it all.. so it made my first door panel experience a bitter one i guess.

 

Found 1 thing the 4th gen has better than the 3rd gen.
the back seats come out WAY easier.
The seat bottom has tabs/loops you pull to release it to take it out.
I wonder if they had it planned because they expected more fuel pump failure under warranty

 

I have the active system so I had a heck of a time replacing the deck speakers with some polk 6.5s. I agree on the head unit business though - easiest install ever.

 

The seat bottom on the 3rd gen has two tabs that you just pull up on. How is the 4th gen easier than that?

 

the third gen required muscle to "pop" the seat out of the clips.
The fourth gen has a pull loop on each one that you tug and lift the seat out on. MUCH easier.

 

+1, I HATED taking out the seat in my GXE with Active. Getting the tabs out of the top of the seat were a complete ***** too, they had those stupid plastic cases around the metal hooks and it made me crazy.

4th Gen Knock sensor is WAY easier than a VE too. Damn it.

 

i started to remove the seatback one time and i got one corner loose, got scared, tried to push it back in, but i failed at that, and now it's just kinda hanging on by the right-side clips and whatever is in the middle. wish someone around here could demonstrate it to me so i don't end up doing something i can't figure out how to undo... i think nc90gxe took his rear bench out..

 

i never had this probelm with either of my 3rd gen.
one was bose and the other was active speaker.
now the active speaker is gone and now fitted with a full bose system.

i wanna see some pics!

 

Just going from memory I believe you lower the armrest and unbolt the two behind there. Then Squish the Seat down really far in the corners of the seat near the doors and get a ratchet with an extension and undo the bolt on each side of the seat. Then pull the bottom of the top seat out some and put your knee's on the bench, pull upward like you're curling on each side/ center of the seat and try to get those stupid tabs at the top of the seat to come out, once they are, that can be removed. Then The bottom seat is just held in the same way the top was. With tabs, so just yank it out. Getting everything back together is the easy part.

 

oh... i think that sounds doable. maybe i can finally replace my blown speakers without destroying the speaker covers up on the shelf there.

 

Yeah, it's pretty easy... Or I suppose you can do the lower seat portion first like Craig.

http://www.geocities.com/craigbraceg...t_removal.html

 

It isn't hard at all once you know what you are doing. I tried to get the covers off a million times after being told by an ex-stereo installer that they come off. Once I figured out that you just have to get the top of the seats loose and pull the carpet up I could probably replace a 3rd gen's speakers in 15 minutes with the right tools (my screwdrivers don't like to fit under the rear window).

 

how bout a small ratchet with a 1/4" socket with phillips head bit in it... will that work better to fit under the window?

 

Yeah should do better, come to think about it I have all of those and didn't use any of them XD

I had one of those itty bitty fat screw drivers with like no metal length to it.

 

yea my car has the active speakers it sucked so bad trying to rplace them, I was trying every way to get avoid pulling the saet out that i broke the active cover. Made my speakers visiibl with out the tint.I was so upset, but now i guess i learned the hard way

 

Ahhh.