onebadmonte

Oh no, a big thanks goes to fellow member Crunkjuice1 for pointing me in this direction. I just did the labor. It's just a small deterrent, but hopefully just enough to make anybody thinking about breaking in, scratch their heads and move on.

My Suburban has what Chevy calls a remote actuated key-less entry system. Nothing fancy when you first think about it, but when you really study it, there are some real benefits to be had. The system employs keyed tumblers in only the drivers side door handle and the rear barn door handle. As my first step towards theft deterrent, I'll be converting my SUV to a true key-less entry system. To do this, I'll be replacing the broken, drivers side door handle with a rear drivers side door handle, which does not have a key tumbler. I'll also be replacing the rear barn door handle with a similar handle without a key tumbler. Here are the handles. One drivers side handle and one passenger side handle for the rear barn door. A quick comparison shot of the original drivers side door handle with the replacement door handle with no key tumbler. Here I compare the original drivers side handle, top, with the replacement handle. As you can see the mechanism that triggers the latch mechanism is different between the two handles. I'll be swapping the original mechanism over to the new handle. A keen eye will also see the handle mounting provision nearest to the latch mechanism is different. Looking at the sheet metal on the door a notch will be required to clear the stud. The flanged nut that mounts the handle will still have enough bite to secure the handle properly. Here is a close up of the original latch mechanism transplanted on to the new replacement handle. A couple of flat washers and one lock washer were used as spacers in between the standoffs on one side. Here is the new, key-less handle installed. Now all four entry doors are key-less entry doors. Only way to unlock the door without the remote now is to break a window. Now on to the rear barn door. I originally imagined using a key-less passenger side door handle for the rear barn door. Upon dis-assembly I discovered that the rear barn door handle is of a completely unique design that would require significant customization to obtain the look of the other four handles. Eff that, time for plan B. I completely removed the key tumbler from the handle. I replaced the tumbler with a modified carriage bolt. By modified I mean I faced the dome flat on the carriage bolt. Here is a pic. Like all carriage bolts, I secured this one with a nut, lock washer, and a flat washer. The bolt was cut down after the pic was taken. In the end I painted the carriage bolt head. Here is a pic of the final install of the rear barn door handle.

That's right brother. Gotta comeback swinging. It's a nice headunit, bummer I have to use it here. Thanks. Ha, ha. Thanks. I know, I know. I appreciate that. Thanks. Yup it sux. No alarm. I had a really bad experience with one. No excuse though, I should've had one. Man I'm SO sorry. I'm also rolling around without a nice alarm due to a very bad experience. Sadly it is the only thing that I don't feel comfortable doing myself. The equipment being stolen sucks but seeing the holes in your seat makes my blood boil.....WHY! Keep up the great work, this is in my top 10 have to hear systems. Alarms, as much as I hate them, they get the job done. They're not 100%, but obviously better than nothing. : Thanks for the kind words. How about some day we meet half way in El Paso and I give you a demo.

Looking good. Congrats on the new step forward.

Thanks for all the kind words and support fellas. I really appreciate it. With that said, time to move on. I was lucky enough to save the single din install kit the suburban came with. The 9887 was/is for a future project. All I needed to buy was the chime adapter, which came with an adapter harness. Here is the harness ready for install. I took out the pins that wouldn't be used, just to keep things simple and clean. Another thing I did was keep track of the connector pin out in their respective manuals. This is just in case I need it for reference or is the items are later sold. This is the area of the dash face trim piece that got booger-ed up. :\ With a little head gun action I was able to massage the plastic getting it close to it's original shape. :\ Here is a shot of everything the geniuses left behind when taking the sat/nav unit. Idiots. Good luck to who ever thinks they're getting an Alpine Sat/Nav unit on the cheap. Since the RCAs got torn up I opted just to replace them. This required the front seats to come out. With a little time to burn I decided to shorten the new RCAs, since they are about 10ft too long. Here is a comparison shot of how long the cables are versus how long they need to be. These are the cables I'm using. Also pictured is the amount of cable on the original set that was coiled up underneath the front seat carpet. Measure twice cut once. A quick measurement to make sure I've got enough wire to feed through the wire pants. To pull the wires through the pants I soldered some extra wire already in the pants. With a little patients and a little persuasion I got the wires through. The ends soldered on waiting for a little shrink tubing for added protection. With the RCAs run, I got the harness in place. A couple of zip ties keeping things together. New radio installed. Woot, woot. A little action shot of the head unit powering up. Sanzzy. A little over kill since I'm running the MS-8 but as the ol' saying goes, "Use what cha got." More to come.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner. Congrats. Can't wait for a face melting demo.

So what did you go with?

I vote sundown. I've seen those dd amps in action. At low impedance they are very sensitive to low voltage situations. I haven't seen the sundown NS-1 in action, but I did see how your 4500 performed, and itfthat's any indicator of how the NS-1 will perform, I'd stick with the sundown.

It does suck. Just got to figure out how to shake this feeling and start rebuilding. Not much to say regarding those dirtbags. Thanks though. They wouldn't have stood a chance trying to take the sub box or the amp off the box. I don't even want to think of what things would have been like if I had caught them in the act. Definitely gonna be doing some sort of alarm, or at least train a black widow to handle security duties inside the suburban while I'm out.

Yup it sux. No alarm. I had a really bad experience with one. No excuse though, I should've had one.

For now I'll get back to up and running. At least for Austin Heat Wave.

I know. The warhorse and SMDs are still in tact. I make it a point to park in reverse up against a wall or something. They did think about it because one the barn doors was open. They wouldn't have stood a chance though. The whole box assembly weighs just under 500lbs.

With the ups come the downs. Today was a bad day for me. I left work early because of a migraine. My girls are at home for the summer and I felt bad having them cooped up all day. I decided to take them out to the movies. This is what I came back to. A-holes jacked my POS Alpine Sat/Nav They made a mess of the dash face trim Fhawking amateurs left the Sat/Nav antenna and made a mess of the headrest monitor wiring. Luckily they left the factory radio connector intact. Idiots acting like if the knew what they were doing. They also took the headrest monitors. Jerks also poked some holes in the drivers seat. :\ This was probably the most heart breaking. This hurt my girls more than anything because they were the ones asking to me to take them in the suburban. The radio is hardly up when they ride with me, they just like riding in it since they always see me working on it. I tried cheering them up by not getting all bent out of shape about it and making a scene. My words are a little lacking right now. I did show them this to let my girls know, and to all my friend here, that everything is gonna be all right.

Reminds me of an avocado I bought a while back. Good looking stuff.

Either/or, congrats on the 160. After everything thing you've been through, it's well earned. Congrats.

If you don't already have the subs go with a pair of tens. If you already have the subs, then it is what it is. All you can do then is build the box and tell us how you like it. Good luck.

Happy birthday Nick. Still modeling?

Looking good. Makes me wanna try some out. Wait, don't tell the wife I said that. On a side note, I just want to say what you are doing here Jacob, showing and sharing the developement of a product is a great move. This is about the best way of being accessable for a company with such a large following.

I'm glad I was able to make it in time. Shush girl. Don't be telling everyone about my secret Indian shoes. What you are doing with what you have is very impressive. I'd like to say I'd give you a run for your money with my little Olds and my no box setup, but to me honest with you, I'm running 4 times the power than you are. Not fair at all. : Maybe it's time I build a box for the Olds.

Awe shucks. Thanks Loudizzzle. I'm glad to share what I know to help elevate the standard of excellence. Thanks bro. I'm glad it does what it can in the space I have. Any by golly I have a lot of space. I hope soon I can demo the setup for you. Clarity and output is what this setup is all about. One would think that the subs are overkill for SQ. In my eyes and from what I've seen it takes some serious motor force and tons of power to get the bass where it needs to be for SQ. Especially at the low listening levels. The subs are great. Under everyday driving conditions they blend well with all types of music. They are everything I could ever hope for and then some.

Hell yeah. Team SSA representing in TEXAS! Congrats BigJon and Danielle.

By the pics the Saturday show had a better turn out than the Sunday show. Congrats to you and Dani on your wins. Go SSA and Sundown. Woot, woot! On Sunday's show BigJon had all the competitors jelly with his low tuned, body shaking box. It's not all about chasing number with Jon's setup. Congrats bro, excellent execution.

Thanks Dani. BTW, I love two word post that get edited. Holy smokes! Thanks for sharing BigJon. I really appreciate that man. I'm glad I was able to make it. Totally stoked you enjoyed the demo. Can't wait for the Austin show. All the credit for the vids go to BigJon. Again thanks for sharing bro. The third row is for when we have family visit. It makes it easier packing everybody in one car and taking them out. For the record I have three kids. I, as well, am curious as to what more space would yield. Then again, a couple of mouse clicks later, one can see a site dedicated to such non-sense, for whom my subs are named after. At this point I would look to building a dedicated vehicle for such an adventure. The suburban, dare I say, is too nice and useful, as a family mover, to dedicate for this out landish behavior. If I were to go the dedicated vehicle route it'd have to be and sound just unreal to make it worth while. Time will only tell if I ever enbark on such a journey. I did, thanks. It's always fun to meet up at shows and share in the comradery. Winning tropheys and making show off vids is cool too. Mine, mine, mine.

Got another little update for you all. This one was suppose to be part of the orignal build, but once things got rolling, if it wasn't ready, it got passed up. :\ Well this update was one of those things that the build couldn't be without. With out further ado lets proceed in adding a little accent lighting to the box. Here is what I started off with. A pair of project boxes and battery connectors from Radio Shack, LED strips from the local auto parts store and some 9 volt batteries. Instead of hard wiring everything in I opted to put a juction. I started off with one of these strips. I cut the strip down to what I needed. Here is a test fit of how everything packages in to the project box. I added one of these cushion thingies to the project box lid to keep the 9 volt battery from working back and forth when everything is mounted up and going. Here is a shot of everything in place. Here is the what the finished box looks like. o_O Here is the backside with the mounting hardward protruding through. Also a little test to make sure everything is working as planned. I mounted the boxes under the amp to keep everything looking nice and tidey. Now the hard work, getting the sub out and out of the way to get into the box. Dang these bishes are heavy. I wish they'd offer a neo version of this beast. Hint, hint! Here is the LED strip in place. I got the wiring thought the box. As an added measure of security I added dabs of hot glue to keep the LED strip in place. Here is a shot of the LEDs in action.

Thanks bro. I was pretty surprised I was able to pull of the best of show. I read on other forums there were some good competitors making runs on Saturday. Lets see if I can repeat in Austin next month.