[Ak1nza]

I began my subwoofer install today. I have purchased a Pioneer Premiere sub model TS-SW124D. It's a 12 inch shallow mount sub that only needs 4 inches of mounting depth.

Specs are here .

And here's a pic of the sub:

I'll be removing the stock Bose subwoofer and putting the new one in place. I'm going to be building my own fiberglass enclosure which will fit into the spare tire.

This is my first ever fiberglassing project! I've only got the base layer done so far today, takes quite a bit of time if I must say honestly. Here are some pics of my enclosure SO FAR:

Sorry for the horrible pics. IT's dark out already and I was just taking some quick pictures. That's just the base layer made out of grill cloth. Fiberglassing begins tomorrow! I have made a new cargo floor out of MDF in the exact same shape as the stock board. I'll be cutting a hole in the floor to expose the sub and there will be a piece of plexiglass over the sub for protection against any cargo I carry as well.

Right now the only problem I've encountered is where to place the amp. I have a JL 250/1 amp and it's really small but I still haven't found a stealthy place to install it yet. I'm thinking under the passenger seat.

Do you guys think that any heat coming from the vent down there will cause any harm to the amp? I'm not so sure so right now it's gonna go in the cargo area somewhere.

Anyways, questions, comments, complaints, etc welcome!

 

[SDGuy]

Andrew - it's a little hard to see what you are doing from the pics. Are you going to make the same size and volume enclosure as the original? Will that give you the needed .6 cu ft minimum for this sub? I'm probably too lazy to mess with my FX, but I was thinking of using that new Pioneer sub for my kid's RAV4. My problem was that I could only get about .4 cu ft internal volume in the box I had built last week- so I went with an 8" sub with 4" mounting depth instead- see ...

Good luck with your project and let us know how that new sub sounds. I could get it to fit in the RAV4 enclosure, but I just wonder if it would sound much better in a small box. May I ask where you sourced the sub? They are hard to find right now. Howard

 

[shajan]

Looks like you'r off to a good start....

Good Luck.

 

[Ak1nza]

Howard,
Check this link out.

I bought mine off Ebay. Amazingly one of the few places I could find it online. They are brand new, and the Ebay links are just some audio shops posting their products on Ebay. I got mine for 120 or 130 shipped, can't remember. This was about 2-3 weeks ago (there was only 1 seller on Ebay then, there are about 5-6 now.)

I like the install you did with the Rav 4. It looks really clean and you don't use up much cargo space. It looks like you could have extended the left of the box all the way to the back of the seats to create more volume. Maybe if you wanted to put the Pioneer sub in there you could do that?

As for the volume of the enclosure I'm building, I'm hoping I'll make it passed the .5cuFt mark. The recommended is .6CuFt, so i'm hoping I'll get as close to it as I can. There's quite a bit of space in the spare tire. I'll try my best to measure the volume (displacement test maybe?) The instruction sheet that came with the sub recommended against any smaller enclosures saying something like you don't get to maximize the subwoofer or something like that. I'll take it out tomorrow and write down what it says. It's in my car right now.

The sub fits in the spare tire without any problems. Since I'll be mounting the sub directly under the floorboard it will be slightly raised from the hump of the spare tire well. That should give a bit of extra volume as well.

I will snap some more pictures tomorrow. The resin reflected a lot of the flash which is why you can't clearly see what it looks like.

Keeping you all informed....

Andrew

 

[Ak1nza]

Some new pics. I'm working on the second layer. These pictures are clearer than the previous ones. I've taken it out of the spare tire to work on it now.

It's black because the initial layer was done with grill cloth for the flexibility. This isn't really necessary but I had some lying around. I'll be covering the outside of it in felt afterwards and I have some quiet-kote spray which I'll use on the inside once i've finished adding more layers. It's really stiff right now. I stood on it and it was fine. That's only with 3 layers so far, one layer of the grill cloth, one layer of fiberglass cloth, and one layer of fiberglass matting. I'll put on another layer of matting and then another layer of cloth before saying I'm done. Should be about 1/4" thick, I hope so anyways. I'm gonna resin up the exterior some more and sand it down smooth before I cover it up in felt as well.

Oh, and I bought a threaded rod that will tie down the spare wheel. I'll have to come up with some kind of washer or something that will cover up the hub hole of the spare, but that day will come.

I've also finished sanding down the edges of my new cargo floor and took out the stock guide hooks at the end and put them on the new floor. I'm gonna bring it to an auto interior shop to check how much it will be to cover it in the same or similar automotive carpeting as the oem one. I don't want to get charged an arm and a leg for that. But I'll have to do that after I cut out the circle for my subwoofer as well as make an MDF ring to mount my sub.

I was also wondering if someone could help tell me which wires to tap from the stock subwoofer harness for the audio and for my remote signal. Anyone know? Thanks in advance!

Whew. That's a lot to do actually now that I come to think of it.


-Andrew

 

[shajan]

Hey nice work!

For the sub inputs, I used the inputs going into the stock sub inputs. I don't remember the colors, but I think there are five wires at the sub input. Using a multimeter I found one was power, one ground, one remote power on and the other two were inputs. I just splited the remote start and the signals.

 

[SDGuy]

Yes, good going Andrew!

Shajan, any idea of the current carrying capacity of the 12v line going to the stock amp? Or did you run a new wire directly to the battery for your new amp?

 

[shajan]

I ran a new power wire using 10 guage cable. The stock power wire is not enough for a decent after market amp.

 

[Ak1nza]

SDGuy - Shajan is right, if you plan on installing an aftermarket amplifier you have to wire the amp directly up to the battery. I am going to use an 8 gauge wire to do so.

So here's my update for today. I didn't do any fiberglassing today. Felt like staying away from the resin fumes and the fiberglass for now. So instead I worked on my new cargo floor.

Here are the pics for the day:

So as you can see I've already cut out my hole where the sub fits. Right now it fits pretty much perfectly (tight squeeze) so I have to sand down some more to give a bit of space for the carpeting. The hole sits pretty much centered above the spare tire and with the cover on, the tire doesn't touch. So I still have plenty of space to make more volume if I need to. Although I don't think I will, I think i'll have the enclosure raised from the spare (reduces any chances of things rattling I think.)

I'll probably get back to working on my install after thursday. I have to drive down to NYC on wednesday and I have summer classes tomorrow and Thursday. So next update will be then.

I'm quite happy with how things are turning out so far.

-Andrew

 

[Ak1nza]

I didn't get any further but I emptied everything out of my trunk for tomorrow's drive down to NYC. So I laid out the sub under the cargo floor hole so I could snap some better pictures for you all.

As you can see the sub at the moment is a perfect fit for the hole. It sits perfectly flush too. Maybe too flush for me to put the piece of plexiglass on so I may have to lower it just a tad.

So anyways, just wanted to show you all the mock up in a clear photo since the rest haven't been clear.

-Andrew

 

[ujmot]

Looks great Andrew!!

 

[contaygious]

NICE!

 

[fxer]

superb
keep going 8)

 

[jimsbmw]

Nice job

Now I feel so bad in just mounting a bazzoka tube in the back of my fx.

I feel so lazy.

Jim

 

[Ak1nza]

I just filled up my fiberglass enclosure with water and it goes up to about 13 or 14 liters. That's about .5 cubic feet. I hope that doesn't greatly affect the quality. There's not much I can do about it anyways.

I will be mounting my amp over the rear right wheel hump. I've made a mount out of MDF and already covered it in black felt. I've also taken off the handle from the stock cargo floor and put it on my new one.

Tomorrow I guess I'll mount the fiberglass enclosure onto the new floor, seal it up, wire everything up and make sure everything works. Then on Monday the new floor along with the fiberglass enclosure is going to an audio shop to get covered in automotive carpeting, which I hope won't cost too much.

So i'm looking to get done by the beginning of the week. 8)

I'll try to get some more pictures up tomorrow.

 

[STRONGISLAND58]

On Pioneer's website its says that the recommended enclosure is .5 to 1.0 cubic feet....seems like your close enough.

Cant wait to see the final install.

 

[Ak1nza]

Hey all.

Good news! I'm about 90% complete now.

Pics are HERE

I decided to just put up a gallery for you all. You'll understand once you see how many pictures I took!

Right now the enclosure isn't perfectly sealed so I'm getting a bit of leakage around the lip where the enclosure is mounted to the new floor. Also I have to adjust the settings on my amp, the signal to the sub is much higher than the headunit so there's too much bass!

Sounds bad now since there's a leak but it DEFINITELY has more kick than the stock sub! I'm happy. Very.

Anyways here's some things to notice:

- The tire mounts on with a new threaded rod and a wingnut and I used the original metal piece from the old mounting rod thingy.
- I now have an extra storage bin right behind the amp.
- The storage bin doesn't block the rear seat from reclining all the way back and I still have access to both hooks behind the storage bin!
- I lowered the face of the sub from my previous post so it sits about 1/4 inch lower than before. This should be adequate for me to place my plexiglass.

I dunno, that's about it.

Questions, comments, concerns, etc please!

-Andrew

 

[Ak1nza]

Oh yea. One more thing for Shajan:

Did your remote line (pink wire) work? My amp turns on when I turn the car to acc or start the engine and it is on whether or not the head unit is turned on or not. I'm 100% sure I didn't tap the wrong wire.

I thought that the amp is only supposed to turn on when the head unit is switched on. I pulled the remote wire and now using the signal sensing on my amp. I'd rather use the remote wire though.

Thanks in advance!

Andrew

 

[shajan]

Andrew,

You are right about the remote wire. I checked it today and realized that the amp is on all the time (key in Acc or Car on) I had no idea till you mentioned it.

 

[cql]

Andrew,

I have a JL microsub and an alpine amp left over from my prev car and
thinking about putting it into my FX. Have a couple of question for you since you've just installed it.

Can you give me some detailed how did you exactly tapped into the line to get your audio signal (tell me the color index for the 5 wires). Also what LOC did you used? I've read somewhere before that the voltage form the HU to the Bose amp is prettry weak, did you notice this in SQ or clipping at high volume.

One more thing, the wire for the sub is a mono output....i have a 2 ch amp....will i need a splitter.

Thanks