subwoofer build log

[MotorCityFats13]

I started my build and I have the rough box complete for my 12" DC audio level 3 that has a 21 day build time to delivery... 1.25 cuft 33hz tune ported... the sub goes on the right and the left will hide all the wiring and the amp rack will be on top of the left, 4 channel to the doors and mono for the sub... the box will be able to be moved to the place behind the 2nd row and the 3rd row so I keep the function of the rear seats and the jack/spare winch door, so far I want to wrap the whole enclosure in tan vinyl

 

[alex_2008]

That looks pretty sweet. I want to add a sub in my '08, just need to decide what I want and start saving

 

[MotorCityFats13]

Today I took the router and flush trim bit to the edges of my box and sealed it, got my speaker adapters trimmed and installed my 6.5 mids in the rears and 6.5 components in the fronts and located the tweets in the shark fins.... finished up with working on my 2 amp mounts. I will cut the steel bars at work tomorrow and I need 4 more L brackets, 2 per amp did not feel strong enough after I mocked it up.

 

[MotorCityFats13]

got the bars all cut up and mocked up how the amps will be mounted.... its all working out as planned.. I will need to start running the wires before my DC Audio level 3 12" arrives in the mail. All the wires will be hidden inside the space under the amps

 

[MotorCityFats13]

I did the carpet on the amp rack and ran all the wiring for the amps today... now I need to start pulling interior parts and running the wires to the front... was looking around today and it is not looking like it will be fun passing a 4awg wire through the firewall... looks like I will have to blindly blow a hole around the column and hope for the best! still no word on when my sub will show up in the mail so just keeping this build moving at a decent pace....

 

[HvNd4Speed]

Looking to start a system soon, got a hek of a deal on some audio gear yesterday from a coworker.

Where is the best place to get some 0gauge through the firewall?

 

[MotorCityFats13]

Only option i am finding is through one of the body plugs in the floor... There are no points on the firewall with out blindly blowing a hole with a drill.... Its the one thing holding me back from having my power wire hooked up... I havent looked hard yet but there is one right under your left foot while you are driving

 

[HvNd4Speed]

hmmmm....I will have to check mine....i did see a hump there but will have to pull carpet back to see. I dont like the idea of a floor plug, too many what if scenarios come to mind

 

[MotorCityFats13]

Floor plugs are the preferred way over drilling... Depending on what quality cable you bought and weather running a cable under the truck has only one down side... Its longer..... The ground path of leist resistance is only equal to 4 gage so anything bigger on the power side you would have to run a matching ground path... Jl audio did a scientific test on this but i cant find it online anymore... The new unibody cars with the new silent metal are less than 4 gage so they almost always need a new ground path

 

[MotorCityFats13]

An order you recently placed on our website has had its status changed.
The status of order is now Shipped.
It says delivery Thursday!... I got the power wire, ground and 4 ch amp set up on the doors.... everything is right on schedule!

I had to fish the power wire down through the large plug under the carpet in front of drivers seat the angle is weird but the wire dropped right down under the truck so no problem of drilling holes... had to remove part of the 2nd row to run the cables under the carpet... got the doors really singing just need some bass to back it all up now... should have the holes for the sub and port cut next weekend set everything up give it a test bump pull it back out that finish the box and reinstall....

 

[MotorCityFats13]

My sub showed up today.... time to get it all together and break this thing in...

 

[MotorCityFats13]

cut it all out, finished the wiring, sealed it all up and glued in the port.... could not really tune it up at midnight but did give it a test bump and pretty happy... just have to tune it in and let it break in before I really see what its got!!!....

 

[MotorCityFats13]

https://youtu.be/PkPS_scJNtY

did a short video

another

https://youtu.be/8zEL_iDMwWQ

 

[MotorCityFats13]

I pushed the enclosure back to location 2 to check out the fit... having 2 locations to place it makes storage options vs passengers pretty sweet

 

[MotorCityFats13]

Adding back rap to a 4th gen explorer with aftermarket headunit
remove the stock power wire from radio run a new wire from radio down and around to the fuse box under the dash add a 15amp fuse to the new wire, remove the large metal fuse in location CB1 with a multi meter find the contact that has power with the key in acc mode get a fuse tap and install it on to the corresponding tab on the fuse, replace CB1 fuse.... you now have RAP on the aftermarket headunit and saved $50+ on the metra kit that does this same exact thing .... I found if you leave the stock power wire connected the radio will turn on and never turn off so replace the power wire with the new wire... I also tapped a wire from the passenger side " light purple white stripe" but found it works but the radio will turn off if you hit the window lock switch so this was a no go... here is a video showing that this works....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_86bKqjod4

 

[MotorCityFats13]

Found time to mock up this project.... no more bass knob just flopping around inside the console

 

[BrianDye]

Nice build! Love these custom setups, wish I had the tools (and patience!) to do something like that. I have an 18" Fi BTL and a Hifonics Brutus 2400w amp going in the back of my 06. Also have a Pioneer AVH-4200BT headunit.

Do we really not have the delayed accessory feature? Im gonna have to find a way to add that to my stereo as well.

 

[MotorCityFats13]

Nice build! Love these custom setups, wish I had the tools (and patience!) to do something like that. I have an 18" Fi BTL and a Hifonics Brutus 2400w amp going in the back of my 06. Also have a Pioneer AVH-4200BT headunit.

Do we really not have the delayed accessory feature? Im gonna have to find a way to add that to my stereo as well.

you do but they want you to buy the $70 pac box.... my way costs like $2 and 20 minutes of your time.... im going to redo the box in the next few weeks now that I have ironed out all the kinks and carpet it so the build will be done

 

[MotorCityFats13]

ordered my lightbar and it came in the mail... little more fabrication than I was expecting but got it mounted.... this is pretty bright during the day with bright sun ill take another pic at night... looks much better than the 80's style KC's I had on there

The switch I ordered had a faulty red led so had to wait for a new one to arrive in the mail

 

[MotorCityFats13]

So I finally started the rebuild on my box.... making it better
rusty from dc audio said to try a box that is 1.75cuft @ 33hz so I should gain quite a bit of output over the recommended 1.25cufu @ 33hz... was able to get everything done except for hooking the wires back up.... about 12 hours of work from sunday to monday night.... should not take me but 2 more hours tuesday after work to have it all back up and running

This is how it looked im my head when I designed it 4 months ago... nice to see that it is all coming together