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2016 Ex Interceptor Police Lighting

Accarguy

Well-Known Member
Joined
September 25, 2014
Messages
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City, State
Chicago, IL
Year, Model & Trim Level
2000 Explorer 5.0 AWD
We are currently adding a bunch of emergency lighting on a 2016 Interceptor. All lighting is manufactured by Whelen Engineering and all made in the USA. I figured Id share a few pics during the build. It will be at the IACP in Chicago on the 25th.

IMG_7012.jpg


IMG_5986.jpg
 



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We are currently adding a bunch of emergency lighting on a 2016 Interceptor. All lighting is manufactured by Whelen Engineering and all made in the USA. I figured Id share a few pics during the build. It will be at the IACP in Chicago on the 25th.

IMG_7012.jpg


IMG_5986.jpg

Are you sure you want to mount the siren behind the plastic? Heard from many people that it really muffles the siren. Other than that, looks good so far! Good to see the bumper design is basically the same. I wonder if I could put my push bar from my Ford Explorer on the new car.
 






I have always mounted siren speakers behind the bumper covers. The difference in output is not noticeable.
 






I have always mounted siren speakers behind the bumper covers. The difference in output is not noticeable.

I think a lot of people would beg to differ but it is what it is. That is the factory mounting location if ordered with it from the factory unless that has changed.

Behind the grill is most effective however Ford officially says you should not do this as it restricts air flow to the radiator.
 






I think a lot of people would beg to differ but it is what it is. That is the factory mounting location if ordered with it from the factory unless that has changed.

Behind the grill is most effective however Ford officially says you should not do this as it restricts air flow to the radiator.

Yeah. Many police agencies mount it on the push bumper instead. I am assuming from the pics that is an Ecoboost engine?
 






Yes this one does have an ecoboost engine.
I have not noticed a difference with mounting the speaker behind the bumper or not. Being the fact that it is a Whelen Speaker housing, It is a really high quality speaker. Also Ford's police lighting line at the factory mounts the speaker there too.

This one is also getting a gps missile launcher on the front. Yes i said a missile launcher. That will get mounted on the push bumper and can shoot gps missiles at the vehicle being chased in a chase so the officers can back off the chase and find the vehicle later.
 






Yes this one does have an ecoboost engine.
I have not noticed a difference with mounting the speaker behind the bumper or not. Being the fact that it is a Whelen Speaker housing, It is a really high quality speaker. Also Ford's police lighting line at the factory mounts the speaker there too.

This one is also getting a gps missile launcher on the front. Yes i said a missile launcher. That will get mounted on the push bumper and can shoot gps missiles at the vehicle being chased in a chase so the officers can back off the chase and find the vehicle later.

Sweet! I've heard about those. Glad to hear they are coming to service.

 






That's exactly it, except our is getting mounted on the push bumper because of the intercooler for the turbos.
 






I have always mounted siren speakers behind the bumper covers. The difference in output is not noticeable.

Wanna bet?

There is a HUGE difference in DB output.

Sound is significantly reduced and in some cases forced back into the interior of the vehicle.

I've done lots of testing and best spot is out on the pushbar with dual 100W drivers.

Agency's like CHP do very extensive testing.
 






Whelen the manufacturer has also done very expensive testing and they would not engineer a bracket to mount it there if it was much of an issue. Theirs is also a 100w driver and most departments do not use a push bumper.
 






the bracket where your siren speaker is mounted, is that a standard piece of steel in all explorers? or a special piece for the Interceptor?
 






www.fordparts.com

Select 2016 Ford Explorer and use keyword search "alarm" (seriously)
 

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Whelen the manufacturer has also done very expensive testing and they would not engineer a bracket to mount it there if it was much of an issue. Theirs is also a 100w driver and most departments do not use a push bumper.

Whelen didnt have anything to do with that location, the engineers on the Police program decided it would go there.

Primary to them was crash and body integrity, ease of install by Chicago Mod Center, sound output was secondary.

The engineers said their threshold was meeting (not exceeding) California Title 13 Siren regulations. Which many use as a bench mark.

That's just a standard, not the best mounting location.

I stood there when this discussion was going on, this isnt hearsay.

Dual speakers on the forward pushbar are noticeably louder there is no comparison.

Make sure the siren unit is capable of pushing 200W, so 100W to each driver, then you will see the difference. Also a common mistake is wire the two 100W siren speakers in parallel. You need positive and a negative to each siren speaker from the siren amp. That's 100W per speaker. Some siren amps are only 100W rated.

We cut the wire off and run 4 new wires out to the pushbar where we have dual 100W Federal Signal AS124 speakers.
 






I actually had plans to add a second speaker behind the bumper on mine due to piss poor output and the fact running code on the freeway was pointless to use the siren. Behind the bumper is absolutely terrible with a single 100w speaker. When I had my old Ridgeline, I had 2 of the same Whelen SA315s behind the grill exposed, running dual sirens, and plenty of times I had people covering their ears when I passed them on the side of the road.
 






Also a common mistake is wire the two 100W siren speakers in parallel. You need positive and a negative to each siren speaker from the siren amp. That's 100W per speaker. Some siren amps are only 100W rated.

Don't you mean "Also a common mistake is write the two 100W siren speakers in SERIAL." If you're talking about each siren speaker wired individually to the siren amp, that would be parallel right? Serial means if you connected the positive to one speaker, and have the negative go to the other speaker as its positive and then the negative off the second speaker go to the amp.
 






Don't you mean "Also a common mistake is write the two 100W siren speakers in SERIAL." If you're talking about each siren speaker wired individually to the siren amp, that would be parallel right? Serial means if you connected the positive to one speaker, and have the negative go to the other speaker as its positive and then the negative off the second speaker go to the amp.



Yes, most of the 200w capable amps are meant for parallel use with one speaker output (some have 2 dedicated speaker outputs). AFAIK, amps like the Cencom are setup for parallel use. Wiring in series maintains the same impedance but drops each speaker to 50 watts, where as parallel maintains the output but works the amp 4x as hard with half the impedance.
 






Don't you mean "Also a common mistake is write the two 100W siren speakers in SERIAL." If you're talking about each siren speaker wired individually to the siren amp, that would be parallel right? Serial means if you connected the positive to one speaker, and have the negative go to the other speaker as its positive and then the negative off the second speaker go to the amp.

Yes you're absolutely correct. I got my wires crossed! LOL!
 






While im sure its most definitely louder on the outside, I had a 100w on my 05 in that same position under the bumper and it was plenty loud. Not all vehicles are capable of having them on the outside.....unmarked units, take home cars, etc. Thanks for the pic and link!
 






I wonder how the retrofit looks now. The GPS gun sounds so cool.
 



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I wonder how the retrofit looks now. The GPS gun sounds so cool.


Its a great idea but when several agencies tested it the GPS probes were not holding on the badguys car. Im not sure if they updated this or not. They need to be non removable so badguy does not pull into an underground lot and throw it away.
 






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