Trepkos

With that said, this installation went fairly smooth tbh, the subwoofer is securely in the box, the grilled is securely attached the box and all connection are/should be secure and still connected within the box and the super/wood glue should be dry now and the box terminal should be in good shape. My friend had to leave around this time so we actually had to go back through all that we did concerning upgrading the electrical system that was unfinished and get the truck drivable to move it back to the garage. There was an issue where the positive and negative terminals(old ones) weren't very secure to the battery that delayed this quite a bit. But after he left, I solved this issue and picked up where we left. Here am I seeing how well both amplifier will be sitting and sorta getting an idea on how they will sit once the actual amplifiers are in the truck. I cut off the old terminals attached to the stock wiring and rewired them to the new KnuKonceptz terminals. This was sorta difficult but there is nothing moving that wire from those terminals, they are SECURE. I decided to postpone the Big 3 installation until tomorrow or this weekend, in this picture i believe I was getting the wire prepped for the power wire going to the distribution blocks in the cab(not there yet). I was probably measuring the wire for the fuseholder. Ok, I got the power wire in the positive battery terminal and I have split-loomed and electrical taped it. By the way, before my friend left he did complete a wire from the alternator positive to the relay switch positive with the 0/1 awg wire and techflex. After he left i took the techflex and tucked it under the rubber connector ring's insulation to make it look neater and it will not be replacing but actually be added on the already alternator positive to relay switch positive wire. I also found a place on the frame of the vehicle for the battery negative to chassis connection and I will be making the chassis to engine block connection on the manifold. That aside I just realized I got to fuse the alternator + to battery + wire. Yeah I moved the truck. Finally got the fuseholder installed(its dark) and I have snaked the wire on the other side of the fuseholder through the grommet previously used by the previous power cable into the cab of the truck. This is a pic of the fuseholder and cable. I have two beefs here. 1 - The fuseholder isn't very 0/1 awg friendly and I had to do alot of shaving to get the wire to fit in there decently and even then there is a little bit of exposed wire from outer bit of wire being pushed back, you can see in that picture, it isn't much but I hate exposed wire. 2 - My other beef is the actual fuse connections, they seem to be for an allen wrench to tighten, unfortunately I have no allen wrench that will fit it and I have an allen wrench set. So I had to use a wrench to sorta tighten it, which it appears to be tight and secure I'm a little iffy about keeping it like that. This time Im actually routing the RCA's on seperate sides of the truck, RCA's on the right and power-gnd-rem on the left. The RCA's are also zip-tied to existing wires underneath the door seal to keep them from sliding or moving out of place. So heres been the problems so far: - A few issues one finding the wires for the Big 3, seems like there is more-so a Big 7-8?. - Those few issues I listed concerning box, most of those should be cleared except the screw which may not be in the wood, thats kinda has me a little worried. - The fuseholder issues concerning the fuse may not be tight enough in there and no allen wrench to properly tighten it. ----------------------------------------------------- Here is what I need to get done tomorrow or this weekend. - I need to split-loom electrical tape the wire coming from the fuseholder and into the cab. - Need to do some wire management on the engine compartment underneath neon light kit wires. - I need to try and better secure the fuse in the fuseholder. - Look into purchasing a manifold nut for my truck to secure the big 3 cord going from the chassis ground to the manifold. - Fuse the battery positive to alternator negative 0/1 awg wire(if i really have to) - Finish the Big 3 and straighten up all wiring in the engine compartment. - Modify previous ground for 0/1 awg wire. - Place all power and ground wire where it needs to be in the amplifier spots, also do the same with subwoofer speaker wiring. - Re-Install the floor, install amplifiers and distribution blocks and route wires up through pre-placed holes. - Install amplifier remote controls onto the middle dash panel with wiring going through the carpet. - Get ready to the install the box(Panel and wall cutting) - Fit box, reconnect negative and positive on the battery securely and make sure all big 3 and electrical connections are secure. - Wire up the speakers/ subwoofers to the amplifiers. - Get ready to set the gains and other settings on the amplifier. - Install the box and hook up the subwoofer speaker wire to the box terminals on the outside. - Make sure each component is getting proper voltage after the the positive and negative are reconnected. - if voltage is correct, turn on radio, set gains, make sure all works well and if all does, get everything ready for the seats to go back in. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Next week we will begin to install and new component set and the deadening whatnots, hopefully.

No more floor! XD Assortment of tools and accessories sitting on the inside of the hood. The box is in from SM Customz. And so is the Sundown SAX 100.2 Two-channel amplifier. Seeing how the Sundown amplifier will fit in its location. Seems to be the right size to not run into any problems with the seat; mainly the utility that allows the seat to move forward or back. That mess is a combination of the RCA's, the interior neon lighting wires, underneath neon light console wires, the remote and old HU ground wire(which has now been removed). I have sorted it out now, beforehand there was a problem with the interior neon lights not all coming on at the same time, the middle one was often delayed by about 15 secs, this has been fixed. I shrink wrapped and re-connected all of the connections and bundled and ziptied the excess wire so it is quite a bit more organized and out of the way than the jumbled mess that it was earlier. Due to some issues concerning the Big 3 we decided to turn our attention to the subwoofer in the box installation. We were going to use the soldering iron and solder for this project but decided against soldering the female disconnects to the box terminal in the long run since the disconnects are already fitted fairly tight as it is without the need of solder. On the other hand we did run into one or two issues in this area. 1 - The box terminal came out, so we bought some super/wood glue and re-glued it to its hole in the box. 2 - Some of the disconnects would not fit on the box terminal connectors. 3 - When screwing and securing the subwoofer into the box and its baffle, one of the top screws may have now made it into wood judging by its quick descent during the process of screwing and also the fact that it will not come out. 4 - Wiring the DVC subwoofer was tricky, there are two pairs of terminals on both side of the subwoofer, I wire the + to + and - to - on both side and then we wired the + on one side to the box terminal positive and the - on the other side to the box terminal negative.

Day 1 - 8:30 AM - So we start things out by a little wire management and disassembly, but our first workplace is underneath a tree. First we take out the seats, then the floor, and a friend of mine begins to work on the big 3, given instructions I have given him from this website. No problems so far. As you can see in the above picture, the wiring is a bit of the mess from a combination of audio system, stock, and underneath neon light kit wires. We have disconnected the power wire and its fuseholder and connection the relay switch and now we're snaking it through a grommet in the firewall to the main cab to be pulled out completely. I have taken off the middle panel to expose the myriad of clustered and tangled interior neon lights lighting and other assorted wiring. Removed the distribution blocks and all other components that would hinder the removal of the carpet. And theres the seats.... Box full of randomness... Another shot of that mess of wire I get to work out later on. My friend is beginning to play around with the battery terminals. The 0/1 awg wire being used on the Big 3 and the the audio system wiring....

Hey, nobody said putting a loud system behind the seat in a single cab pickup truck was easy.

Tomorrow we will see how everything works out.

I'm 6'4" but I can manage.

Oh but there is more. SM Customz has been progressing on the enclosure build more and more each day and hopefully the box will be here by tomorrow allowing me enough time to play around with the subwoofer installation on Wednesday. Now there has been a lot of skepticism about this subwoofer enclosure's ability to fit into the back seat given the very limited space back there. This skepticism has been on both side including mine, but I have taken measurements which said that this box should be in the clear but just barely. Here are some pictures provided by SM Customz showing the progress of the box build. Its going to be a very tough fit but I am determined to make it work. In regards to the rest of the build, I have decided that I am going with only one component set in the doors, 08' Rainbow SLC 6.5" w/ Cal25 Tweeter, being powered by a Sundown SAX-100.2 amplifier. Both of the components have been purchased and should arrive just in time for the installation. To compliment this setup is 100+ft of Raamat BXT for the floor/wall/and doors of the vehicle and 4 yards of Ensolite. Now more pictures of the CD player. I have no idea why I took the seats out when I installed the CD player. But hopefully today will be the last time I will have to take the CD player out during the whole installation, hopefully.....

And heres an update. We're one week away from "Installation Week", and whats a more better way to celebrate such an occasion than to get a little bit started. When I say this, I mean that I decided to go ahead and install the the CD player. I was actually planning on doing quite a bit of the wiring and whatnot today but I didn't get a chance to do this. The CD Player is a Kenwood eXcelon KDC-X991, purchased brand new from Online Car Stereo. My original choice as a headunit was the KDC-X891 and was originally purchased from Woofersetc, but unfortunately the headunit was not actually in stock like it was displayed on the website. Therefore I had to dish out a lot more cash for a head unit which had everything I wanted, but on the good side, I got what I wanted and so much more. A short summary of my current experience with the head unit. Compared to it's distant cousin, the KDC-X791 which was actually a little messed up, the -X991 is in a different league completely and price of the head unit shows this as well. I never thought I wouldnt spend so much cash on a single din CD player as I did on this unit, but I can honestly say that I do not regret doing so. The -X991 has ALOT of features, everything to personally customize your head unit from downloadable wallpapers to font and display layouts. The head unit also has a ton of different EQ, sound manipulation, speaker manipulation, and other sound and volume related features to allow for total control over my speaker's output. The display is really nice and bright with a variety of different colors(over 4k) and alot of fancy and fun animations. Ofcourse there is also the G-Analyzer which I really have no idea of the usefulness of this feature. At the moment, I'm keeping the manual in my glove compartment because of the multitude of different features and also the possibility of getting lost in discovering them. Another thing which I really love about the headunit is the way that you can actually change the angle of the faceplate and also the way that the motorized facebook folds down when you eject a CD. Much better than the clunky non-motorized faceplate of the KDC-x791. To begin the install I took a quick trip to Circuit City and Bestbuy looking for a new dash install kit and wiring harness for the CD player install. Came home after purchasing the overpriced accessories and I first began to wire the factory wiring harness adapter to the wiring harness of the headunit. I gently electrical taped and folded the unneeded wires and zip tied the few wires that would actually come of use to avoid an unorganized mess. After that was done, I shrink wrapped the connections(using matches XD). Unfortunately when I was cutting wire on the newly bought wiring harness I accidently snipped the illum. wire at its start when cutting another wire. Though not much if any copper was actually affected by this, I decided to continue on and work with this wiring harness. Unfortunately for me, wire splicing the wires(with my teeth), I accidently pulled one of the wires completely out of its socket. So I had to resort to my previous wiring harness, therefore that was twenty dollars down the drain. Once everything was said and done I began to work on the actual dash install kit which would house and support the headunit. After some tedious work on assembly I installed the CD player into the dash kit. This dash kit is alot more secure and sturdy than the previous one but at the same time, its a pain in the butt to remove and insert unlike the last one. After this was done, I took the CD player to the truck and began to complete the install. Thanks to the USB cord, Antennae cord, 3 sets of RCA output cords, Auxillary cord, the wiring harness and folded jumbles of electrical taped non-needed wires, the space behind the headunit is non-existent. Yeah, it looks a mess but it really isn't all that bad. I reconnected the negative battery and decided to put my wiring, wire management, and installation to the test. The CD player came on and I immediately played around with the settings to get the CD player to recognize my Ipod hooked up the Aux input. It did so but there was no sound output from the door speakers. Turns out that the amplifier was not on because there was no signal from the remote wire. I immediately played around a bit and finally found the remote wire which wasn't the External amplifier control wire which I had originally thought but was indeed the Power amplifier control wire. After re-splicing the wires and electrical taping and managing the old wires, I retried and thus there was success and there was sound, really nice sound in comparison to my older unit.

Thank you, and thank you for your reply.

I actually made the decision to go with one set of 5x7, '08 models with the new cal25 tweeter revision and running them off of a eD NINe.2 2-channel amplifier, 100x2 @ 4-ohm @12.5volts. Should power them quite a bit. But I definately don't want to underpower them. The profile amplifier currently powering my PG set is kinda underpowering it a tad, so I think it may be a tad overrated, that is why I have decided to sell it and buy the eD NINe.2. Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, I do. Sucks when I get no responses for typing as much as I do.

One of the biggest parts of this build project is the wiring which will include the upgrading of the big three with 0/1awg wiring as well as upgrading the audio system wiring standard from its previous 4 - 8awg setup to a 0/1 - 4awg setup. And also I will be using 12awg for the speakers and 16awg for the front stage speakers. I have finished acquiring all the wiring components and wire needed. Which consisted of the following: 25ft KnuKonceptz Kolossus 1/0 Gauge Power Wire 2x In-Line Waterproof ANL w/300A Fuse(One for the Big 3, one for the main system) 2x KonFused Negative Battery Terminals 2x KonFUSED 2-Way Distribution Block(2x 150A) Fuses Several Feet Of 4 Gauge Power Wire(This was leftover JL audio wiring from the last installation). 20ft Karma SS 12 Gauge Speaker Wire 30ft Karma SS 16 Gauge Speaker Wire Krystal Kable 4 Channel 6M Twisted Pair RCA Cable(Might not need now.) So as far as wiring and tools are concerned I am pretty much prepared. Hopefully the 25ft of 0/1awg wire will last through the Big 3 and the small distance it needs to travel to get to the distribution blocks in the cab of the truck. Now to occupy that wonderful enclosure being designed and built above came the 15" Fi Q. Probably the biggest subwoofer and one of the sexiest subwoofers I have ever seen in person. The last pic was where I was measuring the dimensions of the motor and basket of the subwoofer to make sure it would fit in the designed enclosure. And to power this subwoofer will be the Hifonics Bxi1606d Class D Mono amplifier. An issue with this amplifier is mainly its length which is around 2-3"'s longer than the previous Txi1008d amplifier which sat beneath the seat. The combination of this length and height is conflicting with the seat movement bar on the underside of the seat so the amplifier will be switching places with the front stage amplifier on the underside of the passenger's side. Similar to the previous setup, the amplifier and distribution blocks will be placed underneath the bench seat. Since the subwoofer is going behind the seat and the enclosure is such a large fit I ordered a 15" Bar Grille to offer protection to keep the surround and dust cap from becoming damaged by the backside of the seat. The previous Kicker CVT's left impressions in the back fabric of the seat. Amazingly the grille actually fits over the subwoofer, barely, but it does. But to keep it from pushing the seat upwards i may need to cut into the seat to allow the grille to sit inside the back of the seat. The grille will also allow more breathing and movement room for excursion. Did I mention it looks hawt too? I actually have planned out the entire installation process on a wordpad file which included a checklist to make sure each and every aspect of the system is finely tuned, operational, and secure. I plan for the installation to begin in mid-June and last an entire week. This is the latest date, allowing me enough time(hopefully) to save up the money needed to purchase the remainder of the system. Today I purchased the head unit for this system, which is Kenwood eXcelon KDC-x891; which has everything I want out of a head unit. Eventhough my past experience with Kenwood head unit hasn't been the best, I love the look and functionality of these decks, plus for the price and amount of features, this deck was my final choice. Both it and the custom enclosure should be shipped in sometime next week, my next build related post will probably include information about those two components, and the process of getting the box to fit behind the seat and also the installation of the subwoofer in that box. Hopefully all of that will go flawlessly, I will be using the 12awg wiring, the 12awg disconnects, and solder to provide for an extremely secure connection, as well as drilling and screwing the subwoofer and grille into the enclosure. Once that is done, cutting into the panels and possibly into the seat as well as seat adjustments would be done to make sure that the box has a comfortable fit without too much trouble. Remaining Parts Include: RAAMAT BXT Deadening Material Ensolite

So my future setup, the one currently in the works has changed forms several times over the past two or three monthes. It first began as mainly a substage upgrade: A bigger enclosure which would enclose 2x 12" Kicker CVX DVC 4-Ohm subwoofers, and I would run them off of a Hifonics Txi1508d class D mono amplifier. The amplifier changed from a Txi1508d to a Bxi1606d class D for reliability issues and recommendations. Soon even the 2x 12' Kicker CVX's changed to a single 15" Fi Q w/o BP option. But as the project progressed it became apparent that I was willing and wanting to upgrade and overhaul almost every aspect of my current system. Thus, the faulty head unit was to be upgraded to a Pioneer DEH-P7900BT then that changed to an Alpine CDA-9887, which changed to a Kenwood eXcelon kdc-x991, and then finally settled on a Kenwood eXcelon kdc-x891. Upgrading the front stage of the system was controversial since I was mostly satisfied with my PG rsd comp set besides the midbass(or lackof). But I decided that I would need an increase in my mids and highs to balance out my sub stage. I first began with the idea of keeping the PG comp set and installing a set of stand alone tweeters with built in crossovers into the pillars of the door. This changed to actually getting a 6x8 Rockford Fosgate T-Series component set to replace the Phoenix gold set in the doors and essentially move the phoenix gold set to custom Q-form kick panel enclosures for 6.5" speakers. This eventually changed to putting Rainbow SLC 5x7" component speakers in the factory locations in the door and the 6.5" Rainbow SLC in the kick panels. To run this front stage I planned out running it all directly off a 4-Channel Alpine PDX 4.100 amplifier, and even bought the appopriated 4-channel RCA cables to do so. But after research, I decided that I could possibly save money and keep the Profile AP1000 2-channel amplifier and run the two component sets on it, it outputting 225watts x2 @2Ohms. But this is still controversial, because I'm not sure if the amplifier really puts out the power needed to effeciently power these two component sets. In which case I am looking at possibly getting a eD NiNe.2. Ok, enough of that text block. The biggest problem that affects putting a system in a single cab pick up truck is space(or lack of). Especially when your only real substage options are restricted by the space available behind the bench seat in my truck. The box which housed the 2x Kicker CompVT's was exceptionally small at best, 2.36ft^3 and sealed. Its dimensions was 9"BDx4.5"TDx16"Hx50.75"L and that box was a snug fit. This box would have to have a lot more air space, alot more mounting depth and was also originally planned to be sealed. To do this would require the enclosure to take up all available space and even then some. Design by Cody Smith of SM Customz 4.4ft^3 sealed. This was the original enclosure design. But unfortunately I thought that the Bxi1606d being as overrated as it is, would not output enough power to efficiently move two CVX's which thermal power handling was 750watts a piece. So I opted out for a single 15" Fi Q, and better yet, why not port it. Thus this design came to be. 3.5ft^3 @ 33hz Ported Design by Cody Smith of SM Customz As you can tell by the way that the back side of the enclosure is shaped, the enclosure is built to fit into the back wall of the truck and wrap around the support beam adding 2"+ of mounting depth. This would mean that some modifications would be needed to be made so that the enclosure could sit comfortable against the back wall, cutting panels and clothe and exposing the metal. Unfortunately one issue arose before construction began and that was the breathing room for the side-firing port. At 55" there was be very little, 2-3", of airspace distance from the port and the side rear panel of the truck where the empty rear speaker slots sit. For that reason, the enclosure length was decreased to 53" to allow around 7" of breathing room and ofcourse alot of space if the air traveled around the edge of the passenger's seat. This decreased the airspace to 3.3ft^3 and increased the port tuning to 34hz. I also had to take into account the obstruction of the seatbelt compartments on the rear panels. Oh yeah, the sub and port placement has been reversed, sub on the driver's and port on the passenger's. With a top depth of 7"'s there seat my sit a tad bit upright. Look at that abundance of space! The crew at SM Customz are currently in the process of building the box which may arrive sometime next week. Now one of the biggest issues with the last install was the lack of tools and tools such as wood/disconnects/connectors/and other assorted wiring accessories. I decided to be prepared this time around. Meet my toolbox... Old tools from the last install mainly include the power drill which wasn't used until later in the progress of the install. Quite a bit of screws, screwdrivers, zip-ties, hammer, broom, my handy DMM, circuit tester, assorted small wires for remote and headunit wiring, and my broom and really decent black gel(for restoring black color on faded black plastic panels and vinyl,this stuff works extremely well for a walmart product.) and some crappy pliers and wire strippers. But to add to my arsenal I have acquired the following and hopefully have finished my tool and accessory purchasing for this project. - 15ft Red 3/4" Split-Loom(For the 0/1 awg wire going from the engine compartment to the inside of the cab. - 25ft Black Techflex Wiring Covering(For the big 3 0/1 wiring in the engine compartment.) - Wedge-On Crimping Tool (For crimping 0/1 awg wires in their ring terminals.) - 8x 1/0 Gauge ring terminals w/insulation(For the battery hookup and Big 3 installation.) - 11-Piece Soldering Tool Kit - This came from radio shack and is a nifty little soldering kit which includes the gun, alot of other assorted accesories for wire management and a small amount of 60/40 solder. Unlike last time, the wiring will secured to their speaker terminals on the speakers with the help of disconnects and solder instead of just twisted and tied on. - Kronus Heavy Duty Automatic Wire Stripper/Cutter - an extremely handy wire stripper/cutter and crimper for the speaker and subwoofer wires. - Heat Shrink Tubing Set(36-Pack) - This is for the headunit wire connections to provide a more secure connection without coating the entire thing in butt connectors and electrical tape like last time. - 4x 12awg Female disconnects - This is for the subwoofer terminals, I bought these when I thought that I would be dealing with 2 subwoofers instead of one, thus 4 of em instead of two. - 50x 14-16awg Female Disconnects - Cant have enough of these little jokers for the component system wiring, lots of room for error with this many. - 1lb of 60/40 solder - idea for electrical use such as wire connections. - Heat gun - this ofcourse will be used with the heat shrinks. All of the tools I gathered are ones which survived the last installation and new ones which will provide better connections, more easy and security in the installation as well as increase in stability. No jerry-rigging this time.