Adding Sound Bar to 2-Speaker TJ

[inline6aficionado]

Hey All,
First time/long time. I'm adding a sound bar to my '99 TJ. According to the build sheet it came from the factory with only the 2-speaker setup, so no sound bar. I sourced a salvaged OEM sound bar from ebay for my install.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to get the bar cleanly integrated with the rear sport bar padding. I'm not sure if TJ's with the sound bar came with shorter rear sport bar padding, but mine look to overlap by about 4 inches (see the pictures below, the sound bar cover is off so I can repaint it back to black).

Right now I can only think of 3 options:
1. Roll bar over padding, screw through the padding (which might look janky and lead to a weird fit with the sound bar);
2. Roll bar under padding (which would not allow the padding to zip up all the way, which I think would look even MORE janky, or:
3. Cut the padding.

I've decided I want to keep the padding on, as I want to have the rudimentary head-bonk protection for my son who rides in the rear sometimes.

I'm leaning towards option 1, but wanted to see if anyone on the forum had another idea?
Thanks!

 

[KennethS]

Mine has the sound bar over the padding. The hard top is on so I can’t lift the sound bar end wrap-around fabric to see how the bolts are installed.

 

[inline6aficionado]

Mine has the sound bar over the padding. The hard top is on so I can’t lift the sound bar end wrap-around fabric to see how the bolts are installed.

Gotcha, thanks for the reply. I guess they must have stuck the sheet metal screw right through the padding, unless maybe there's an additional hole there on the ones that came with the sound bar from the factory.

 

[dla]

Factory padding is shorter when paired with the soundbar.

 

[inline6aficionado]

Thanks, that's what I was afraid of.

I think what I'm going to do is cut out the foam from the last 4" of the sport bar padding (but not the outer fabric). That way hopefully the soundbar doesn't look too wacky.

I'll post a picture here when its done.

 

[KennethS]

Gotcha, thanks for the reply. I guess they must have stuck the sheet metal screw right through the padding, unless maybe there's an additional hole there on the ones that came with the sound bar from the factory.

Sheet metal screw? My roll bar has threaded bosses with 7/16” or 3/8” bolts holding the sound bar.

 

[inline6aficionado]

Mine has no bosses and is not tapped. I could tap it, but I'm not sure there's enough meat there for much thread engagement after its tapped. I think I read somewhere else on the forum that others have used M6 or M7 self-tapping Torx screws, that certainly seems like what would fit mine.

Mine is a '99, maybe the bosses were a later update or something that was added when the 4-speaker radio was optioned?

 

[KennethS]

OK, my memory was wrong about the bosses - it’s been 20 years. What I do remember is the holes were not tapped when I bought the TJ from the original owner - there were regular hex head bolts cranked into the holes. The bolt threads were mashed and just a friction fit in the holes; they were all loose which caused the sound bar to rattle. I tapped the holes and used new bolts (1/4” maybe? I know they were SAE and not metric) and things have been good for 20 years of bouncing around Arizona trails, so apparently there’s enough metal around the holes.

 

[inline6aficionado]

OK, my memory was wrong about the bosses - it’s been 20 years. What I do remember is the holes were not tapped when I bought the TJ from the original owner - there were regular hex head bolts cranked into the holes. The bolt threads were mashed and just a friction fit in the holes; they were all loose which caused the sound bar to rattle. I tapped the holes and used new bolts (1/4” maybe? I know they were SAE and not metric) and things have been good for 20 years of bouncing around Arizona trails, so apparently there’s enough metal around the holes.

That's great info, thanks. I'd rather tap them then use self-tapping screws. Thinking I'll use some blue Locktite instead of torquing them for some vibration resistance, just to lessen the chance of ripping the threads out.

 

[ChasUGC]

Mine has a cover that goes completely around the sound bar and covers it. It don't understand why yours is completely open on the top. I guess another option is to have it completely wrapped in leather or vinyl at an upholstery shop. They may even have the original material type as an option. You also have color options that way. If it is a stretch issue, you might leave it out in the sun, so that it is more stretchable. Maybe, I'm missing something in your query. Are there two different types of sound bars, maybe one without the speaker setup?

 

[macleanflood]

I replaced my sheet metal screws with flange bolts and nutserts.

-Mac

 

[inline6aficionado]

Mine has a cover that goes completely around the sound bar and covers it. It don't understand why yours is completely open on the top. I guess another option is to have it completely wrapped in leather or vinyl at an upholstery shop. They may even have the original material type as an option. You also have color options that way. If it is a stretch issue, you might leave it out in the sun, so that it is more stretchable. Maybe, I'm missing something in your query. Are there two different types of sound bars, maybe one without the speaker setup?

I just took the cover off the sound bar to repaint it. It was pretty faded from the sun so I'm putting duplicolor on it to get it back to black. Doing all of the roll bar padding at the same time.

 

[inline6aficionado]

I replaced my sheet metal screws with flange bolts and nutserts.

-Mac

Love this idea, especially as an excuse to buy a nutsert tool.

 

[ChasUGC]

I just took the cover off the sound bar to repaint it. It was pretty faded from the sun so I'm putting duplicolor on it to get it back to black. Doing all of the roll bar padding at the same time.

I don't believe the original color of the roll bar padding and the sound bar was black. The faded look was actually Chrysler Agate. It is a more subtle grayish black.

 

[inline6aficionado]

Well, it's black now!

 

[HawkeyeTJ]

Hey All,
First time/long time. I'm adding a sound bar to my '99 TJ. According to the build sheet it came from the factory with only the 2-speaker setup, so no sound bar. I sourced a salvaged OEM sound bar from ebay for my install.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to get the bar cleanly integrated with the rear sport bar padding. I'm not sure if TJ's with the sound bar came with shorter rear sport bar padding, but mine look to overlap by about 4 inches (see the pictures below, the sound bar cover is off so I can repaint it back to black).

Right now I can only think of 3 options:
1. Roll bar over padding, screw through the padding (which might look janky and lead to a weird fit with the sound bar);
2. Roll bar under padding (which would not allow the padding to zip up all the way, which I think would look even MORE janky, or:
3. Cut the padding.

I've decided I want to keep the padding on, as I want to have the rudimentary head-bonk protection for my son who rides in the rear sometimes.

I'm leaning towards option 1, but wanted to see if anyone on the forum had another idea?
Thanks!

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View attachment 597323

How did this end up going? I'm in a similar situation - 1999 TJ, I was able to get ahold of speaker pods (04') hoping the holes would fit but so far it does not look like they do, but I dont mind tapping the roll bar - I was curious what you ended up doing about the padding? I dont feel like I can cut anything because of the zippers - also, were you able to wire the dome light in? Thanks!

 

[inline6aficionado]

So I bought a salvaged pre-'03 sound bar rather than the '03+ pods, so I can't really speak to the hole patterns there.

I wound up nutserting the roll bar which I didn't do a great job of but it was also my first time nutserting something. Those worked fine. I also think tapping it would probably work, the bars feel thick enough after having done my project.

The roll bar padding is two parts, an exterior fabric and the interior foam. I did not cut the roll bar padding exterior fabric. I cut the foam out from underneath and the put it under the sound bar. I am not a fan of how this turned out because the velcro straps around the sound bar did not reach and the sound bar was a PITA to mount over even just the cloth. If I did it again I would just cut the end off the roll bar padding, fabric and foam. I wound up extending the velcro with some double sided velcro strips. It looks fine when finished I guess.

I wired the speakers directly into my new head unit using speaker wire. My jeep did not come with the wiring harness for the overhead speakers, so I didn't have a connector for the dome light so mine is not wired. I think you could buy the wiring harness, but since you have a 99 with '04 pods I don't think that would work. I believe the wiring for both speakers comes up through the driver's side if you use a '99 harness. If you knew where the dome lights were supposed to wire into it would probably be easy enough to make/buy a connector if you really wanted to. My jeep usually has no top or doors so no reason to have it wired for me!

Hope this helps.

 

[HawkeyeTJ]

So I bought a salvaged pre-'03 sound bar rather than the '03+ pods, so I can't really speak to the hole patterns there.

I wound up nutserting the roll bar which I didn't do a great job of but it was also my first time nutserting something. Those worked fine. I also think tapping it would probably work, the bars feel thick enough after having done my project.

The roll bar padding is two parts, an exterior fabric and the interior foam. I did not cut the roll bar padding exterior fabric. I cut the foam out from underneath and the put it under the sound bar. I am not a fan of how this turned out because the velcro straps around the sound bar did not reach and the sound bar was a PITA to mount over even just the cloth. If I did it again I would just cut the end off the roll bar padding, fabric and foam. I wound up extending the velcro with some double sided velcro strips. It looks fine when finished I guess.

I wired the speakers directly into my new head unit using speaker wire. My jeep did not come with the wiring harness for the overhead speakers, so I didn't have a connector for the dome light so mine is not wired. I think you could buy the wiring harness, but since you have a 99 with '04 pods I don't think that would work. I believe the wiring for both speakers comes up through the driver's side if you use a '99 harness. If you knew where the dome lights were supposed to wire into it would probably be easy enough to make/buy a connector if you really wanted to. My jeep usually has no top or doors so no reason to have it wired for me!

Hope this helps.


View attachment 635542
View attachment 635543

Hey thanks. Yeah, looking back I should have gotten the regular sound bar for the 99' but was told they were fairly interchangeable. I haven't had to do much audio wiring in about 20 years so I'm rusty with a ton of it. I ended up mounting 6.5" speakers in the pods with some changes. I have a marine grade JVC head unit that I bought the wiring harness for but for the pods I'll be running it along the floor boards with 16 gauge speaker wire and directly hooking it into the harness. I'm not wild about tapping the roll bars but just uncertain because the pods are fully plastic they themselves have no external material around them. I'll see what I can do and update.

I also need to figure out how to get this bolt that sticks out inserted as well: