Truthunter's 2015 Toyota Camry XLE V6

[Truthunter]

I was thinking of using Tacotune's baffles as they have ones that would work with 6.5" drivers that I could of enlarged the cutout but I need something that provided more depth. Tacotunes only provide 3/4" and I need 1-3/8".

I decided to just build baffles from scratch out of some 1" and 3/8" HDPE that I would stack to get the depth I need.

I do not have a circle jig so I took the grill ring that came with the JLs and use it as a template. Problem is the ID of the grill ring is 1/4" larger than the required mounting cutout for the driver. So I bought a Whiteside bearing set that fit the Freud 1/2" trim bit that I had so I could offset the cuts.




Rough cut the 3/8" HDPE on the scroll saw. I found that a skip tooth blade (not pictured) worked best for this (out of the blades I have). Wish I would have experimented with different blades, and found this out, before I started cutting the dash baffles.




Grill ring temp screwed to the baffle to hold in place while routing:




Because the grill ring had a slight bevel on OD I had to use 5/8" bearing to get the OD I was after. At this point I also learned about using a pilot pin and built my own out of a scrap piece of 3/4" PVC pipe I had laying around. Definitely felt like it added an extra measure of control and safety.




Used the 3/4" bearing to cut out the ID of the baffle to give me the extra 1/4" I needed. Ended up with two perfectly round mounting rings:

[Notloudenuf]

The factory magnet looks like a stack of about 5 quarters. I have to assume its not neo?

[Truthunter]

The factory magnet looks like a stack of about 5 quarters. I have to assume its not neo?

Yep, that about the size of it. As far as if it being neodymium

[Truthunter]

Originally planned to use the stock speaker basket/baffle as a template to cut out a new mounting baffle. Problem is the mounting tab profile I need is in the middle not on an end I could just lay on a flat surface and I didn't want to destroy them. The other problem is that the stock baffle only overlaps the steel door mounting surface only by about 1/4" and I felt I needed more surface than that for a gasket.

So after measuring the stock baffle with a set of 18" calipers, I drafted a larger baffle layout in ACAD. Printed it full scale, cut it out and traced it onto 1" HDPE. Rough cut the baffle with the scroll saw. Then I used a combination of a straight edge, the 3/8" mounting ring I just fabbed, and the bell end of a piece of 1" PVC conduit to use as templates to flush trim the baffle out.








For the ID cut I used the 3\8" mounting ring and the 3/4" bearing on the router. I figured the extra meat would provide additional rigidity and the 3/8" spacer allowed for the extra clearance to do so.



Why am I using Red HDPE? Well I found a seller on Amazon was liquidating his stock and it was half the price of any other color at the time.

[Truthunter]

I used the grill ring to locate and drill the driver mounting holes in both mounting ring and baffle. Used a drill press to ensure all the holes were straight through and not skewed.

Here is the hardware I plan on using to mount everything up. All stainless steel: M6x40 flanged button head cap screws, Nylock nuts and washers to mount the baffle to the door. And M4x35 button head cap screws, washer, and M4 press fit threaded hex inserts to mount the driver, mounting ring and baffle together

[Truthunter]

Counter bored the back of the baffle with a 15/64" bit and hammered in the threaded inserts:

[Truthunter]

Baffle test fitted to door:




Now with spacer ring and driver:

[chithead]

Jealous! Those are some excellent mounting baffles. Definitely be proud of the craftsmanship you did with them!

[Truthunter]

Well it clears the window but will it clear the door panel? From my calculations it's going to be close and I will likely need to shave off the gasket contact ring on the back of the door panel but I won't know for sure until I'm ready to put the door panel back on. But for now, I'm going to focus on reinforcing those molded plugs that cover up the large holes in the door skin and lining the door with MLV/CCF...

[Truthunter]

Jealous! Those are some excellent mounting baffles. Definitely be proud of the craftsmanship you did with them!

Thanks for the encouragement On previous vehicles I used rough cut painted mdf baffles and whatever hardware I had laying around to mount door speakers. I learned from those experiences and from reading on these forums how to do it better. And with this new car and better equipment I decided I was going to go all out and take my time to get these baffles exactly how I thought they needed to be.