Trep's 1999 F150 Ford Single Cab Truck

[Tmax98 3]

go photobucket i hate clickin on the lil pics of imageshack

sry just a lil thing i hate

[95Honda 486]

go photobucket i hate clickin on the lil pics of imageshack

sry just a lil thing i hate

Cool thanks, I'll give it a shot. I was surprised when you couldn't download a pic straight on to the site. This way probably saves a lot of server space.

[mrray13 30]

you can dl straight to the site. you have to create your own gallery, upload to there and then you can link in here.

look up, top right, see where it says gallery? or even jsut below that where it says my albums? click either one of those and you're on your way!

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Trepkos 1]

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....

Edited June 12, 2008 by Trepkos

[Trepkos 1]

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.

[Trepkos 1]

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.

[coobies5 43]

sounds like a plan chief!

best of luck

[Tmax98 3]

make sure the sub surround is not goin to hit the grill

[Trepkos 1]

make sure the sub surround is not goin to hit the grill

Good point, it shouldn't, there is about an inch of clearance in front of the surround and the grille.

[Trepkos 1]

Began routing the wire into the cab and underneath the door seal. Zip tied to an existing mechanic there.

In this pic you can see where the power cable actually enters the cab through the grommet underneath the driver's floorboard.

I need to actually finish electrical taping that small bit there.

The power cable and fuseholder has been mounted and electrical taped and split-loomed.

The KnuKonceptz battery terminal has been reconnected to the battery with the stock wiring and the audio system 0/1 awg hooked up to it.

I would like to say, the KnuKonceptz In-Line ANL fuseholder is a pain in the ass to install. It really is, you actually have to shave and cut down the wire in the 0/1 awg to get a secure fit into it and no allen wrench I have fits the screw holding the ANL fuse down.

I believe the one under the hood is fairly secured, I really hope it is tbh.

[95Honda 486]

I feel every pain of your install...

[Trepkos 1]

I feel every pain of your install...

Haha nice stuff man, looks great though.

[tezin87 0]

Where do you get those baffles? are they made of abs? i'm trying to fit 6.5's in a ford door as well and I don't want to use the extra 3/4'' mdf I have left over, too thick.

[95Honda 486]

1/4" aluminum plate, cut on a CNC. Made them myself.

[Trepkos 1]

Yay! My rainbows! They will be replacing the Phoenix Gold RSd 6.5"'s. This time I will actually be deadening the doors and cutting new and more secure baffles for the speakers than the one that the PG's had.

I know I complained a bit about the PG rsd's but they weren't bad speakers at all, they sounded really good, especially given the conditions they were installed under.

And when I was thinking of upgrading and changing parts of my system, they were actually the one part besides the head unit which I had plans on actually keeping.

They and the Profile Ap1000 are being replaced with this 2008 Rainbow SLC 6.5" component set and Sundown SAX 100.2 two channel amplifier. I hoping with the new baffles, and deadening material, that it sounds really nice.

The midbass, whooo..

The Cal25 tweeters, these things are tiny!

I am working a very slow pace, hitting certain areas at a time, and right now I am working on the engine compartment wiring and eventhough I finished the fuseholder wiring wednesday night, I just wasn't happy with the presentation of the exposed wire on each end of the fuseholder and also the messiness of the split loom so this morning I managed to re-install the fuseholder(pain in the ass) and eliminate most if not all of the exposed wire. I also got rid of the split loom and I will either leave the wire like it is and tuck it a little bit or I tech-flex it.

I also better secured the fuse on the fuseholder.

I decided to see how the connection was so I took the DMM out and reconnected the negative terminal to the battery and measured the voltage. Without the engine cranked I was reading 14.5v(rounded to the tenth) at both the battery, relay switch, and the end of the fuseholder, I then cranked the engine and it increased to 17v.

Yay my deadening came in!

[Trepkos 1]

The changes I made to the fuse holder to get rid of excess wire. Looks a lot cleaner.

This is how I am going to try and mount the power cable in the truck to keep it from draping over the engine or swinging. Just a temp. setup, I'll tech-flex the wire, uniform the screws, make it look a bit better.

Now Im starting to question how I am going to finish up the Big 3, battery negative to chassis, and chassis to engine block. The original plan was like this.

Take a strand of 0/1 awg wire from the battery negative to here:

Which looks like a ground point on the frame behind that multitude of smaller(underneath neon light wires) wires.

And wiring it to one of those places on the engine block, either on that screw at the top or the the place sticking out in the middle to the left of the striped alternator positive - battery positive wire.

Or replacing the wire in this picture that you can see coming from the chassis to the engine block.

[mrray13 30]

tips for the big three...

DO NOT replace any factory wire (unless needed), just add. if you find a simple route the factory took, follow it with your own wire, but do not remove the factory. just make sure it's agood, clean (if possible) location.

battery - to frame: can be anywhere solid. but look for the factory location. it's usually a bit easier, but again, make sure it's a good connection.

battery - to engine/ or engine to chassis: engine location is easy, grab an alternator bolt. on my 04 silverado, and even my 08, one bolt is even labeled ground. run that to the same chassis ground you found earlier, or to the battery, whichever is easier.

battery + to alternator: pretty self explainatory.

also, what amp are you using again? and what voice coil configuration is your sub?

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Trepkos 1]

tips for the big three...

DO NOT replace any factory wire (unless needed), just add. if you find a simple route the factory took, follow it with your own wire, but do not remove the factory. just make sure it's agood, clean (if possible) location.

battery - to frame: can be anywhere solid. but look for the factory location. it's usually a bit easier, but again, make sure it's a good connection.

battery - to engine/ or engine to chassis: engine location is easy, grab an alternator bolt. on my 04 silverado, and even my 08, one bolt is even labeled ground. run that to the same chassis ground you found earlier, or to the battery, whichever is easier.

battery + to alternator: pretty self explainatory.

DVC 2-Ohms, Parallel wired, Hifonics Bxi1606d amplifier.

also, what amp are you using again? and what voice coil configuration is your sub?

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Trepkos 1]

Thats with the vehicle initially cranked.

And a different DMM, that voltage dropped down to 15v.

With the vehicle not running, it read 12.5v.

I might try cleaning the engine area since Ive been told that its excessively dirty, heh.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Great job, this has to be one of the most detailed build logs we have every had here.

[Trepkos 1]

Well, pretty much done with the engine compartment, Big 3 is done(took a while), finished and uberly secured all the wiring headed to the cab, I also sorted out the wiring underneath the truck for the underneath neon lights. Battery terminals installed....etc etc.

Here are some pics, hopefully I can begin work on the actual system now.

Heres an overall view. You can see, I made a new grounding spot and sanded off the paint beneath it. On that grounding spot is the end of the battery negative to chassis and the start of the chassis to engine block.

You can also see the fuseholder going from the battery positive to alternator positive. Looks sorta iffy just hanging there, Im thinking of cutting off the mounting platform on it to make it look like its intentionally suppose to be hanging.

I used the small little looks to mount the power cable going to the inside of the cab of the vechicle so it wouldn't drape over the engine. I will also be zip-tying the small underneath trigger wire that is draping over the fuel injectors do that power cable.

Everything is tech-flexed and electrical taped.

Another perspective.

Yes that the chassis spot that I made and yes that isn't an ordinary washer, thats actually the end of a ring terminal which I tore off. To act as a washer(might be just temporaily).

You can see in this pic that we grounded the cable on the engine block location where the alternator is bolted in.

I cranked the vehicle and it started just fine and the voltage readings on each location was also fine. Between 14.5-15v's at each location, 12.5v with the vehicle not cranked.

[Trepkos 1]

Yes got the ground cable sorted out and a new ground spot sanded down and ready. I decided to tech-flex the ground cable to differentiate between the power and ground since both wires have red insulation.

Decided to take a small bit of wire and wire it from the battery to the relay switch to improve the power flow from the alternator positive to battery positive wire which is also hooked up to the relay switch.

Getting ready to deaden the floor of the truck, this will be my first deadening job. Im going to deaden the main area, the middle area, and the floor boards but Im not going to mess with the door seals.

You can also see where the panels have been cut with the dremel, not the smoothest cuts but good enough atm. I might take the dremel to them again to smooth them down and cut the spots where they arent very even.

Cut the cloth aswell, ofcourse, not the prettiest cuts Ive done in my life. I can probably tidy it up a bit, but Im not worried about the presentation of the back will since it should be hidden for the majority.

[tezin87 0]

what did you use to crimp the terminals onto the 1/0?

[Trepkos 1]

what did you use to crimp the terminals onto the 1/0?

Well I crimped most of the terminals with this welding 0/1 crimping device which needed a hammer to be fully effected but I crimped the last two with a vice.

[tezin87 0]

ok thanks....I have a vice at my disposal so I'm going to go that route I guess. Keep up the good work!