Pradege

So been overseas here in Afghanistan the last 7 months or so and finally coming back home and can finish this damn build. Wife doesn't drive the truck so it has primarily sat in the garage since i have been gone. I did make a few new purchases for a few upgrades to sound system which i will list: 1. Replaced the MB Quart 4.80 with a Crescendo C1100.4 2. Replaced my JBL components with 3 sets of the Crescendo CZ Series 6.5 components, also got a set of Q-Logic kick panels for that 3rd set. 3. 2 more XS Power D3100's so gives me a D3400 under the hood and 3 - D3100's in the back. 4. Going to try my hand at making cooper bus bars, bought the copper 2 bars(3/8" thick, 2.5" wide, 36" long) Bought a drill press as well more tools cant be bad. 5. Shitloads of Techflex. Yes sir going to pull all my cabling and doing it the way i intended to do it, was pressed for time before so i skipped it all. 6. That false flloor will get done this time around, got a few ideas on how about building it but need to do the math on the measurements before i can really come up with a good plan. Got a few other odds and ends but those are the main changes to what i have currently have. I got a couple questions though about this false floor. What would be the best type of wood to use i am looking mainly at using 3/4" ply wood and 1 x 4's for most of that build, but what type of wood should i use as far as regular old plywood, birch etc.? Also i plan to carpet everything at the moment though that could change, don't know if that makes a difference at all.

So I have finished ordering all the things for the build on my 2011 Chevy Tahoe. Will be my first build and I am still learning as I go, have helped a few friends with some builds but nothing as invasive as this nor by myself but I am looking forward to it. I plan on doing quite a bit to my Tahoe in this first stage of my build, going to pretty much gut the entire truck shitloads of deadener, replacing all the factory equipment with aftermarket. Not going for a flashy look I want to truck to remain as stock looking as possible which suites me cause I have no clue about fabricating anything (maybe try some later). Anyway this is what I finally went with: H/U: Clarion NX702 Door Speakers: JBL GTO608C (components front doors) JBL GTO18T (tweeters A-Pillar) and JBL GTO628 (backdoors) Door Amp: MB Quart ONX4.80 Subs: 2x ZCON 15’s Sub Amp: Crescendo BC5500D Sys Alt: stock Alt + DC Power 300 Amp SPX Series Alt Batteries: D3400 (under the hood) D3100 in the rear (Will get a second one in time) Deadener: GTMAT 80mil ULTRA (Floor, Doors and enough to double up the roof) Power Wire: 150’ XS Power OFC (Big 3 + 2 runs of positive and negative to the rear) Rest of the cabling: KnuKonceptz (Speakers, RCA’s, etc.) HID: 10000K, High Beam, Low Beam and Fog Lights Misc: Distribution Blocks and Battery Terminals from Toolmaker, ANL Fuser holders and too much other stuff to list. There are some other misc. things I am doing Led lighting etc. The exhaust and new intake I will wait on until a little later or my wife may murder me if I spend more money on my truck. Won’t be able to start this build until I am back home around mid-December (currently in Afghanistan.) but I am pretty excited about it and my son is pretty stoked to start on this project. So I interested in what people think honestly. The Ride

Currently i have a some JBL components (608C's) in my truck but, but i am currently thinking about purchasing a RF 3sixty.3. My main question is since i am already using components does it even make since to make the purchase unless i change my front stage speakers? I know it is kind of a vague question with many different variables but to keep in context if you are currently using a passive cross-over would going active give you any benefits as far as sound quality?

Thanks for the replies. To be honest i was just looking at the pro and cons of going one way or the other, nothing in particular which is why the question was pretty general and vague. Gonna stay the way i have my system hooked up with a passive setup although i think i will be changing out my jbl comps for something different. But thanks for your replies they were appreciated.

i have a Clarion NX702.

I was figuring as much but i thought that i would ask to see if i could confirm my own suspicions. I may change out my components for different speakers that has been on my mind for awhile now since i just upgraded my front stage amp from the mbquart to a c1104.4, think it may be a little to much for those 2 ohm jbl's, but thanks for your reply.

Thank you kind sirs.

Wife and Son made a short video of the the subs in action playing a little Rick Ross

Wiring is till kind of nasty in the back, but it is for just the meantime so i don't feel to bad about it. These are pictures of the actual amp wiring and placement as it stand right now all this is temporary as it will change once i get the false floor and actual battery and amp rack built. Time for pictures of the interior with new blue LED's and once everything is hidden away Well that is all i got til i finish it all up but will be awhile as i am away for work for the next few months, but all good got the heavy lifting done just need to get the fine tuning done.

So i did get most of what i wanted accomplished with my truck still got to put in the false floor, added 2 more D3100's, finish painting my box and finish up all my wiring. I had roughly 10 days to get what i wanted done and for the most part i did it so this is just a lot of pictures of the finished product as it stands atm. I still got a lot of work to do. On with the pictures of what i installed in this fast first time solo build. Under the Hood, new DC Power alternator, Volant cold air intake, XS power D3400, Toolmaker Distro Blocks Front End, HID Lighting Highs, Lows, and Fogs. LED lights for DRL's and Turn signals Rear End replaced Tail lights and Third brake like with new clear LED kits, replaced license plate with Blue LED lighting

Installing the Deadner took quite awhile. The original plan was to do all 4 doors which did get done the entire interior to include the roof. I was going to double up on the roof, but when it came time to pull the roof down i ran into alot of issues with it mainly i thought it would be much sturdier but it was pretty flimsy and since it was me doing it alone i felt pretty uncomfortable with extracting it so i left well enough alone this time around and will come back to it, but i did double up on the entire rear floor area which turned out pretty nicely. This is when i had finally got all the deadner in before the second layer in the back. Was in the process of making sure i had all my wiring ran right with extra runs of 18 gauge cables for later upgrades. Same thing just a different angle on the picture. This picture shows where i brought up my power cables was a lot thought put into where to run those damn cables, but in the end i decided to go with this placement and it worked better than expected. i didn't get a picture of all the cables ran and tied down with placements of deadner over the top came out really good. Just a rear shot of truck stripped out and readying to put everything back in.

Had someone ask about the placement of my tweeters in the doors. Here are pictures of the front and rear driver side doors after i finished then up. Pretty much my first solo build and i don't have much experience with fabrication at this time so i played it pretty safe with how i went about installing all the door and front stage stuff. Keep it simple plus i had limited time and didn't want to start anything i could not finish up.

Sorry been MIA for a few weeks but had alot of things going on and not alot of time to finish posting pictures and what not. but i got a few more updates and a few things that will have to wait til i get back to the house to finish up as i ran out of time on my build.

So a few updates. Got all my HID's in finally, finished installing all the new LED lighting in the interior of the truck as well took a few picks with the lights off in the garage they came out so so. Son decided he has done enough work and deserving of being n the pictures. The Blue LED lighting installed HID lighting done and now the front end is complete. Did complete HID upgrades for lighting Highs, Lows, and Fogs.

So finally got most of the interior trim and paneling out of the truck, wasnt as bad as i thought it would be. Last thing to do is take the roof down and start the applying the sound proofing. Son is currently vacuuming the truck out before we start the next phase.

So as i am busy pulling all the paneling out of my truck the UPS man arrives with gifts. Things were packaged pretty well, i am pretty impressed by the packaging to be honest Very heavy though Finally out of the packaging. Yes started drinking pretty early and i think i need to clean that table off some hehe. Back to work on the Tahoe.

No particular reason. Just went with the same brand as the batteries i got. Tool maker makes all kinds of distribution blocks etc.

So my truck has a black eye atm waiting for the replacement passenger side low beam hid should be here in a day or so. Have my new taillights in as well will do the 3rd brake light once i get the interior out. Not a great picture of the clarion NX702 but it is up a running and sounding pretty good even on the stock system atm. A wide angle of what it looks like under the hood right now. The new alt and battery installed and running pretty good right now. Idle voltage of the battery with engine running for the single d3400. Work in progress stripping her out today. My zcons are on the way today with my interior led lighting kit so will get a few pictures of them later when they arrive.

So been abit busy with family and the holidays but i started installing everything this weekend got all my hids done but have a blown bulb for the passenger low beam side so just waiting on a replacement to get here for that. The new headlight enclosures i bought i ran into a problem with them as the they required H1 hid lamps for them but i could not get them to safely fit into the enclosures so i scratched installing them and just went my stock enclosures. The new alternator is in and idling at around 15.21 volts with no load atm and only the one D3400 on it until i finish pulling everything out of the truck which i am actually in the process of doing. Should have the entire truck stripped out today and start laying down my sound proofing. The new deck is also installed along with the new cold air intake. Going to open the garage door and take some pictures. and post them in a few minutes.

I plan on mounting them in the doors at the moment but that may change after i get everything off and take a look at the interior of the door.

Main Crescendo Amp for the subs The enclosure already got a coat of primer on it just going to do gloss black finish on it nothing special, but these pictures are before any painting happened. Back under the hood for the new cold air intake And finally my DCPower Alternator was suppose to get a different type bu not even going to go into the circus act it took to even get this one in my hands and leave it at that Will get some more pictures done up and posted when i have some more time but i guess these will suffice for now.

So got everything all lined up nice and pretty in the living room to take a few snap shops before the wife complains. Truck is also in the garage ready and prepped for surgery. Some pictures of the equipment for my trucks facelift New taillights as well New HID's all the way around 150' of xs power ofc cabling So whats going on the inside? H/U is a clarion NX702 Front Stage replacements will be all JBL component sets Amp for the components will be a MBQuart 4.80

Well finally made it back stateside. All the equipment is here at the house except for my subs but i plan on starting the build either this weekend or the beginning of next week. Loads of pictures incoming here in a few. Camera took some big ass pictures so need to shrink them down abit.

Yeah i am really looking forward to doing this. A little nervous but just going to jump in head first.

Got a question about running power cables thru my 2011 Chevy Tahoe I have seen people run their cables either thru the firewall or under the truck using flexible conduit. Which is preferable? Or is that depending on the amount of runs you are doing. I am planning on 2 runs of both positive and negative from a D3400 under the hood to a D3100 in the rear running a Crescendo BC5500D for 2 ZCON 15’s. If it is just a matter of preference then my question is answered, but if there are other issues to consider then any input would be greatly appreciated. I won’t start my build for about another month or so (in Afghanistan) so I have just been pouring over the net and this forum trying to dig up as much info as I can before I jump deep into doing this build which is my first btw. TIA