Improving the ride...

[jclark5810]

Hey Eric, the truck's coming along very nice!!! A little off topic but how did you like the audio setup you did? I'm going to be putting my stuff in this weekend, currently i have no radio and i've just been singing to the Getrag who's always yelling back at me:-laf I've got a new head unit going in along with new speakers in the door. I came to a crossroads not sure of how anything behind the seat would sound then remembered seeing your setup in this thread. How did that work out? I'd like to do a single 8 or 10 behind the seat but am very GREEN in the way of car audio so i'm not sure how it would work out. Any advice? Thanks a lot and keep up the awesome work!

 

[ENafziger]

A little off topic but how did you like the audio setup you did?

Well, as usual, it's hard for me to give a short answer!

I pieced my kit together using components I already had stored away, and didn't buy anything except a little wiring. That being said, the "new" amp I used had been sitting for 7 years, and only 2 of the 4 channels are working... or it could be the crossovers that have a problem. I have had so much else going on that I really haven't had time to diagnose it.

At any rate, here's some quick guidelines. Keep the speaker placement in the doors low... did I have pics of where I put the tweeters in the kick panels? It's natural to want to put speakers high where you can hear them, but this results in poor sound quality, a high noise floor, and grates on your ears.

Putting 6. 5" components in the door seems good for highs and mids. If I was starting fresh, I think I'd put a single JL Audio 12W6 sub in a 1. 25 ft3 custom enclosure out of 3/4" or 1" MDF. You could put this together for ~ $300 or so doing craigslist or ebay, and have bass that would rival a setup costing 10x as much.

I've come to love USB/SD card capability in the headset. I don't know if it's just me, but I've had terrible luck with the longevity of rotary knobs for controls. They seem to go bad after a year or two... especially if your truck ever sees dusty conditions.

Good audio work is time consuming. Do it yourself, and use the extra money to spring for higher (not highest) end components. For the door speakers, Focals are good. I'm running Infinity perfects, and they're pretty good. I think the 12W6 sub is the best for the buck by far. I don't have strong opinions on head units or amps for the low/medium end range... except that the Rockford Fosgate I had hit much harder than was rated for.

A small, single cab truck is a little difficult to get good surround spacious sound out of. If you could score an old KDS-P110 equalizer, I think it'd be the best money spent if you're wanting surround sound.

I used some 4x10 speaker brackets from an '80s model dodge for the rear cab corners.

I know I've rambled, but maybe some of it helps. Ask any specific questions if you want and I'll try to answer!

--Eric

 

[pwerwagn]

I second the Focal components suggestion... they are top notch. I traded a dirt bike for a used set of the old Utopia's a few years back, AMAZING. I haven heard the new Be ones, but I don't want to considering the price tag!! The best bang for the buck components I have used have been Memphis Audio. You can usually find last years models for dirt cheap, and they sound really good.



The 12W6 is an awesome sub bang for the buck (actually most of JL's stuff is). I have another suggestion too. For a non-experienced audio person, a Bazooka is never a bad way to go. I bet you can shove an 8" behind the seat of a single cab. Spring for the BT not the EL, and dont get the self powered ones. Get a good amp instead. The bazooka is easy to remove, no custom fab, and the sound quality is great for the effort. I actually had a custom fiberglass/MDF box under the back seat of my 3rd gen, and I remove it in favor of some 10" bazookas when I dont need the back seat space (kids are still in car seats... so the bazookas make a good "floor" for them, and I still have my underseat storage).



In my first gen I had a really simple setup and it sounded pretty good, considering a first gen isnt exactly a great sound stage. Cadence Marine components (waterproof) in the doors (mid/tweet mounted by each other to limit "echo"), and a single 10" DVC sub in a sealed box behind the seat. Then I had a simple/cheap old school fosgate amp that was a 4/3/2 channel and was 2 ohm stable bridged/mono. Had the 2 front channels still stereo going to the components, and then bridged the rear and wired the DVC's parallel for a 2 ohm load. Had a alpine 9803 BBE in the dash... simple, cheap. All in all I had maybe 250$ in the entire system and it worked great in that truck.

 

[jclark5810]

Thank you both very much!!! I'm going to do a little shopping after work today and see what i come up with. Definitely going to at least have the head unit and speakers done this weekend, can't stand not having any music any longer. The rythym of the road is about to push me over the edge. I love the USB ports, we have one in the jeep and bouncing all over the trails or roads they don't skip and you can fit hundreds of songs on there. That will definitely be a must. Is it worth it to run new speaker wire in the doors? I'm sure it is but thought i'd ask. Thanks again for the help guys, i'll post my progress!

 

[HHhuntitall]

... I had a bazooka in my '84, mounted vertically in the corner where the 4x10s go. That was a LONG time ago, I don't know if the newer models will fit, but that one worked pretty good, except for when I first wired it in, I had dirt falling out of the dome light when it fell off..... I had an old Jensen 1,000w amp, bridged rears to run the bazooka, and then the front 6x9s... ... The stuff all came out of a wrecked truck for free..... Later years, I had two mounted in my '90 extended cab behind the jump seats. I loved those things, as they weren't succeptible to getting punished from crap being dropped over the seat on 'em. I had two JL audio amps in that truck, one running the surround, and the other the two bazookas... ... I had a cheap Alpine head, which worked really well. The speakers were JL, too, and I had 6" rounds in the backs instead of the 4x10s. Dynomat would have gone a long way in that truck!!!!



I also had an aluminum box in the back, with an isolated battery, two tens, and a cheap marine head stolen out of a boat. The lid worked as a reflector when lifted, directing the sounds straight back. We loved it on job sites and weekends at parties. Really didn't sound that great, but it worked and was loud. We had no money, so poor boys got poor ways.....

 

[ENafziger]

Ok, not exactly suspension related, but here's the most recent updates to the truck.

I installed a '95 set of seats with power on the driver. I have to say, this is MUCH more comfortable, and actually seems to make the truck drive and ride alot better! I purchased a Geno's 2nd gen cup holder... and all was well until I tried to shift into 2nd, 4th, and Reverse. I scratched my head for a second, got out the torch, and problem fixed!!!

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The shifter position is now much more comfortable!!! It's within easy reach, and you don't have to open the glovebox to put it in 5th!

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The second part of this update stems from me picking up a brand new HX55 that I'm itching to use under the HE351 for a set of smallish ~400 hp twins. Since I'm obviously going to be needing some more gauges to keep track of everything, I decided to head to the junk yard and see what I could find. I came back with another matching gray dash, that I'm going to fit above the existing dash. I think I'll easily be able to fit 10 gauges plus some switches

Disclaimer: This is only the ROUGH fit... I spent 5 minutes with a grinder cut off wheel.

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It will take some getting used to, but I like the idea of having all gauges in the line of site with the road. I also like having boost-drive-boost for the twins all in a row to get a quick glance of operating ranges the turbos are in. This is an eyeshot of a short person... still plenty of view of the road.

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I think I can make it look pretty inconspicuous to the casual observer... it almost looks like it's supposed to be there!

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--Eric

 

[HHhuntitall]

... . Ieeeyish... . this boy's got it bad. Are we twins?

 

[ENafziger]

... . Ieeeyish... . this boy's got it bad. Are we twins? <!-- google_ad_section_end --> <!-- / message --><!-- BEGIN TEMPLATE: vbseo_likeshare --><!-- END TEMPLATE: vbseo_likeshare --><!-- sig -->

I think I could spend a year full time modding the truck and not be out of ideas!! I usually have at least 4 projects going on at once... and rarely make progress on any of them!

 

[HHhuntitall]

Yeeeeeaaaaaaah, definitely kin in there somewhere. But I usually have more projects than that going on at once... ... Or do you mean on the same truck? THAT sounds like my family!

 

[pwerwagn]

Thats gonna look pretty cool Eric!! I like that idea. I might even steal it!

 

[ENafziger]

Thats gonna look pretty cool Eric!! I like that idea. I might even steal it!<!-- google_ad_section_end --> <!-- / message --><!-- BEGIN TEMPLATE: vbseo_likeshare --><!-- END TEMPLATE: vbseo_likeshare --><!-- sig -->

Thanks! Now hurry, go ahead and steal it and work through the fitment issues, and show me how to do it!



--Eric

 

[pwerwagn]

Thanks! Now hurry, go ahead and steal it and work through the fitment issues, and show me how to do it!







--Eric

Haha... I dont even have the "first" dash in the RC yet... let alone grafting a 2nd one in it!

 

[HHhuntitall]

... . all the easier to work with, without a pesky windshield and firewall in the way.....

 

[ENafziger]

... . all the easier to work with, without a pesky windshield and firewall in the way..... <!-- google_ad_section_end --> <!-- / message --><!-- BEGIN TEMPLATE: vbseo_likeshare --><!-- END TEMPLATE: vbseo_likeshare --><!-- sig -->

Exactly!!!

Probably no dash work for me this weekend. However, the Off Road Design crossover steering kit I ordered should be here today!!! So, that, along with the steering gearbox frame brace from an old RC that I scored for $5 will be going on tomorrow

--Eric

 

[pwerwagn]

Yo Eric! Whats up with this bad boy? Still going strong?