Sub Woofer Mod

[MyBlackBeasts]

After replacing the door speakers on MM with Pioneer 3way 6x8s, and modding the rear deck with Legacy 6x9s, I decided to finish off with replacing the crappy OEM sub as it was audibly poor sounding mixed in with the new speakers. As the music I listen to does not require 6000 watts of bass, I decided to swap in a replacement 6.5" in the OEM box with OEM amp. Design engineers being design engineers, this didn't end up being as easy as it should have been. :mad2:

Here is pic comparing units. Left is OEM and right is a JL 6W3v3-4 unit i got an awesome deal on-line.
http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g443/MyBlackBeasts/spkrsidebyside.jpg

Inside box is an X shaped support the speaked magnet rests on. Had to shorten 1 & 1/8" for new unit. This was easy - Dremel with cut off wheel, measure & make mark, set cut wheel on mark, rest thumb on X and slide all around it = poof, perfect chunk of X removed.
http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g443/MyBlackBeasts/housingmod1.jpg

Now here's where I would like to have a conversation with the design engineer... They molded the box perfectly contured to the OEM speaker!!! I guess they never thought someone might want to replace their crummy one... Because of this the new speaker magnet hits the curve of the box. Using diameter caliper made index marks and cut out a window with Dremel, air body saw & hack saw blade. Then by flipping the piece so it is now convex instead of concave, it now clears the speaker. Used GlueWeld to reattach and cut the scrap X piece in to patches to fill the bigger gaps.
http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g443/MyBlackBeasts/housingmod2.jpg

A little sand paper work, mixed a little flat black & grey Testors model paint & tada! finet. Paint is wet here, when dry color matches good enough for as hidden the spot on box is.
http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g443/MyBlackBeasts/housingpntd.jpg

Dropped in new speaker & hooked it up.
http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g443/MyBlackBeasts/Untitled-1.jpg

Re-installed box & done.
http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g443/MyBlackBeasts/final.jpg

Sounds freakin' awesome!!! :eek:

Recommend to anyone to upgrade Sub. Really makes stereo sound 1000% better! :D

[visionmercury]

I had a kicker comp CBC low profile in mine for a while , I just cut it out and put a comp 8" in there was tickled with the difference

[slickster]

I wish you did this 2months ago. I wanted to do this but was not sure it was going to be enough so I spent $600 on one jl 12 w6 with amp box hooked up and everything and now it's to much and the bass is tuned way down. Good job!

[03sport007]

Looks good!!!!!!! Did you keep the factory amp?

[MyBlackBeasts]

Looks good!!!!!!! Did you keep the factory amp?

Yes I did.

[guspech750]

Awesome. I too had been thinking of replacing that crappy sub with one of the same size.

Looks great!


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[Dobs]

This one is supposed to be almost direct fit, i will order one soon to replace the stock woofer.

http://www.crutchfield.ca/Kicker_10CVT654_6_5_4_Ohm_Comp onent_Subwoofer_p/2060CVT654.htm

*edit: dunno what i was waiting for, so i ordered it right away!

[dohc324ci]

This one is supposed to be almost direct fit, i will order one soon to replace the stock woofer.

http://www.crutchfield.ca/Kicker_10CVT654_6_5_4_Ohm_Comp onent_Subwoofer_p/2060CVT654.htm

*edit: dunno what i was waiting for, so i ordered it right away!

I did the same exact 6.5" kicker sub and meh. Is it better than stock yeah but would do the JL if I were to do over again.

Kicker sub and amp marginally better. IMO.

[Dobs]

I did the same exact 6.5" kicker sub and meh. Is it better than stock yeah but would do the JL if I were to do over again.

It's obvious that the JL is better, but it's twice the price of the kicker and require modification.

On my side i just want something a little better then stock, since im already satisfied with it.

[MyBlackBeasts]

It's obvious that the JL is better, but it's twice the price of the kicker and require modification.

On my side i just want something a little better then stock, since im already satisfied with it.

I checked Crutchfield for long time and they had no 6.5 so I serched for the JL unit. Found a site that I got it from for way less. I'll see if still available & will post.

Got from Techtronics for $118: http://www.techronics.com/caraudio_9678_JL-Audio-6W3V3-4-6-1-2-inch-Single-4-ohms-W3v3-Series-Car-Audio-Subwoofer.html

Search Google Shopping for JL 6W3V3-4 and you get a bunch of options for $120(+/-) range.

[dmjarosz]

Genius! I'm looking to upgrade my sub and also dont need 6000 watts. I think I'll be ording up a JL sub in the near future.

Has anyone replaced the factory sub amp with something thats relatively bolt-on? Wiring isnt an issue since I already have a 4-channel amp back there and can just tap off its power/ground wires.

And regarding your design engineer comment... I dont think they care if someone is going to replace the sub or not. I'm pretty sure they're # 1 priority is cost. They are Ford, afterall.

[dohc324ci]

It's obvious that the JL is better, but it's twice the price of the kicker and require modification.

On my side i just want something a little better then stock, since im already satisfied with it.

IMO its well worth the price. The Kicker 6.5" Sub is actually supposed to be installed in an open air setup not sealed in an enclosure. But it does sound decent even on full volume just doesn't hit like it should I am guessing because by design not for an enclosure. I may put it up for sale and do a 10" JL in its place.

[Dobs]

IMO its well worth the price. The Kicker 6.5" Sub is actually supposed to be installed in an open air setup not sealed in an enclosure. But it does sound decent even on full volume just doesn't hit like it should I am guessing because by design not for an enclosure. I may put it up for sale and do a 10" JL in its place.

Maybe it just need more power to drive then the JL.

* By the way, did you tried with phase reversed?

[MyBlackBeasts]

Genius! I'm looking to upgrade my sub and also dont need 6000 watts. I think I'll be ording up a JL sub in the near future.

Has anyone replaced the factory sub amp with something thats relatively bolt-on? Wiring isnt an issue since I already have a 4-channel amp back there and can just tap off its power/ground wires.

And regarding your design engineer comment... I dont think they care if someone is going to replace the sub or not. I'm pretty sure they're # 1 priority is cost. They are Ford, afterall.

After 35 years of professional wrenching I have determined that design engineers do not think past what they are designing. This box is perfect example. They were given a speaker and told to design a box to fit it & car. So they mold box to exact conture of speaker with no excercise of the grey cells beyond that. All they had to do was move box wall 1/4" further out (this would in no way effect the cost) and you could drop any 6.5 right in. Just like there is no communication between the design engineers over the entire project. DE 1 is told to design widget 1 & DE 2 is told to design widget 2, etc. All the widget sub-parts are then assembled to create final product which then the mechanic has to repair. The tech goes to fix and constantly says "who is the moron that designed this?!?!". I have seen thousands of the most stupid design issues over the years that all I can do now is shake my head and go on... :shake:

[dohc324ci]

Maybe it just need more power to drive then the JL.

* By the way, did you tried with phase reversed?

I dunno man I did the whole setup - http://www.kicker.com/PX_Amplifiers

Kicker 6.5" CVT651 sub and Kicker PX200.1 amp - gonna change out the head unit to get the best sound but that is crazy talk I need money for mods!

[Fosters]

. .

[Esilar]

Today i finished my swap. I followed the instructions here in this thread and put a JL 6W3 in the original box. Here are some pics of the progress.

First a pic with the cutout and the JL laid in. Around the magnet of the loudspeaker is still the rubber enclosure. I removed it later cause nobody can see it and more important it reduce the diameter. It can just be taken of.

http://www7.pic-upload.de/27.09.12/p88w3mwjfwmh.jpg

Next pic the hole is sealed. I used a hot glue which is still flexible when hardend.

http://www10.pic-upload.de/27.09.12/oupxht21r8zu.jpg

I also removed the nice looking rubber ring on the top cause its conical form prevent a fit of the deck lid. With a sharp cutter it was not a big issue.

http://www10.pic-upload.de/27.09.12/9ptg1ha4kbf.jpg

Last step screw the deck lid on it and - voila - it's done.

http://www10.pic-upload.de/27.09.12/lhxhopm8c97p.jpg

As you can see in the last picture the brown foam is crumbling away. I just need to touch it and it brakes into pieces. :(

Beside the blame to the designer of the box i also have to point at the engineer who made the connector wires. It is a mess! Who the hell came to the weird idea to give GROUND a red color wire. :eek: And used a black color for the signal. Never ever should that be done in a car wiring. Ground is ALWAYS black. Jesus! I nearly grilled my amp when i wanted to test the new sub before i mounted the whole thing into the car. :mad2:


After all, the result is far to be breathtaking. The box volume is too small for the JL, the sub can't breathe. The amp is weak and the wires thin. Nonetheless the sound is noticeable better than the original setup before and quite sufficient for my needs. But if i count the JL with $140 and 2 days of work to squezze it in then i have to admit that buying an Infinity Basslink for $200 seems to be an easier way. But hey, where is the challenge then? :P

[fastblackmerc]

I took the easy way out......

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u133/fastblackmerc/MM%20Mods/Basslink/BasslinkSparetire.jpg
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u133/fastblackmerc/MM%20Mods/Basslink/Basslinkontheshelf.jpg

[boatmangc]

Today I had enough. I am getting ready to build a box for a shallow mount 10 and mount the Infinity 1300A amp I bought from a member a year ago.
I pull out the factory sub and look at the 8" Pioneer Premier shallow mount I installed 2 years ago and was never happy with.
I looked up the specs on it and the factory box should be right size for it so I figured WTH have I got to lose.
I took the factory amp out, cut off the piece of plastic hiding it from view and made a part out of diamond plate to mount the Infinity amp to it.
Mounted it wired it.
Awesome, all I need. Rocks pretty hard. Still fits where the old sub did and my stereo is better than ever.

So now I have a
Kenwood DNX9140
Infinity Kappa 6X8 in doors
Infinity Kappa 6X9 in deck
Pioneer Premier 8" shallow mount
Pioneer Premier 75 w X4 amp
Infinity 1300A 200 w amp
Monster cables
Monster 10 Ga speaker wires.


Moral of the story? That factory amp is a total POS, if your going to play with the factory sub, put some power to it or replace the whole shebang. It won't sound worth a crap no matter how expensive of a sub you install without a better amp.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/boatmangc/Bumper%20fix/IMG_1835.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/boatmangc/Bumper%20fix/IMG_1838.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/boatmangc/Bumper%20fix/IMG_1841.jpg


And all of my crap still fits!
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/boatmangc/Bumper%20fix/IMG_1842.jpg

[WhatsUpDOHC]

Ted Nugent already took enough of my hearing from me.

I don't need a louder stereo.

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[boatmangc]

What? Speak Up
Thursday I spent an hour with my face 6 inches from the plenum of a Yamaha 250 2 stroke EFI at 6000 RPMS trying to locate a high speed miss.
I was going fast enough it blew out my ear plugs.
My stereo has to be loud for me to hear it. LOL

[WhatsUpDOHC]

WHAT???

T/F did not help.........

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[WhatsUpDOHC]

I like to say that Ted destroyed my ability to process the sound wavelength that my wife speaks on.

I can hear everything but her......

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