I started to play with patterns, etc.. for my door panels, and came up with this drawing.. i want to keep them stock looking and add just a little bit of texture, so this is what i came up with.

im using black suede to recover the upper trim panel, then im going to build a pod for my components and mount it where the stock speakers are. im also going to place my mid's right below them, where the stock door pocket is.

ignore my crappy drawing, its not to scale! just wanted to get my idea down on paper.. or i mean, computer! what do you guys think?

 

not bad, not bad atall. i say use some bedliner on the bar below the handle.

 

bar below the handle? i think i know what you mean, but just wanted to make sure. do you mean that pull handle part, the thing that's built into the arm rest? (its hard to come up with a name right now for it, lol.)

 

^^^exactly, i think im thinkin of what youre thinkin. lol. yea, that pull that makes closing the door easier then using the opening handle, also doubles as an armrest type deal.

the bed liner will add texture and kinda redo that rubber coating if it is peeling. on second thought, you might wanna go rubberized undercoating. its cheaper and would feel a little better.

 

i dunno if i'd use bedliner or rubberized undercoating. those are both arent really designed with interior comfort in mind, although i guess theyd provide some ruggedness. if you want to build the speakers into the door like that, id say theres no way to avoid some fiberglass work. as far as what to cover the upper and lower panels in. i'd say go with something like a fabric of some sort.

 

Those are some nice drawings! Do you think that you can use fiberglass w/ the door panels, like where the new speakers would be & kind of 3D them a little bit?

Brenton

 

How do the pods mount to the door?

 

looks good

 

Nice concept, and good drawings Sean. The only problem I can think of is that you have suede on the kick panels. They get dirty pretty easily, most definitely will with suede and it might possibly get damaged from being kicked enough...?

 

wow, forgot about my own thread. anyways tho, thanks guys, and to clear a few things up- yes i know it'll require some fiberglassing to accomplish that design; yes they will be built out (3D, lol) and angled towards the driver as best as possible; and yeah, i've been thinking about the wear and tear on the doors, so i might do flat black to match the other black trim in the truck for that lower cover peice around the speaker pods, and then do the suede up above where it would be somewhat less beat up.

and oh yeah, i've decided to go with black velvet instead of black suede. after looking at the two in a fabric store, i decided the velvet would be better to work with (also felt nicer too!). along with the door panels i plan on wrapping the glove box, passenger airbag panel, headliner, and parts of the center console and sub box (once i design and build them how i want them).

i barely got started today, here's a couple pics of my glove box.. took like 20 mins to complete

 

looks nice man! get a good deal on the fabric price?

 

a yard of it was something like 12 bucks i think it was... (can't remember exactly.. i bought it 2 weeks ago and have forgotten already, lol). i got half a yard for about 6 if i remember correctly.. used it to wrap a sub box i built for someone, then had some left over, and decided that i actually liked it better than suede.. plus the thickness to it seems like itll be a durable and will last a little longer than i hope anyways.