Jump to content

To Build Or Buy?

ld691

By ld691
in Audio, Electronics & Software

Recommended Posts

ld691 Enthusiast

ld691

Posted
Posted

hey guys so im wonderin if i should try and build a sub box for underneath my rear seat in an ext cab 09 truck? or would it be just as easy to bu one off subthump? i can build it in shop class for free but im thinkn it would just be a huge headache!! opinions? also i will be runnin two mtx tt65! how will they sounds?

Wingnut Senior Enthusiast

Wingnut

Posted
Posted

I bought a pre-made box at a local joint a few years ago for my '02 that held 2 10" subs and fit perfectly under the back seat for under $100 if memory serves. Was well worth the time/headache savings to me.

cghbuilder86 Enthusiast

cghbuilder86

Posted
Posted

I just got through building one that goes under the back seat in my truck. It holds one 10" speaker. I made it down firing. So the sub speaker faces down. It is a tight fit height wise. It barely does fit. If you made the speaker facing out it would be no problem. I can post pics and dimensions if you want?

ld691 Enthusiast

ld691

Posted
  • Author
Posted

ys that would be awsome if you could post pics and spes for the dimension of the box, my subs are 12inch and im guessin meaurments from one side of truck would be the same for the other side?

SparkySparks Enthusiast

SparkySparks

Posted
Posted

The floor is a slightly different shape from one side to another, 12" subs are going to be tight and unless you raise your back seat (not sure if you can even raise it enough for 12" subs) you will have to go with either down or upward firing design. Also cghbuilder86 has a 2004(going by the info under his name on the side) which if I remember correctly has more room under the back seat so the measurements for his box might not fit in your truck. I went back and fourth on to build one or buy one and could decide. I could make one for cheaper but when I figured up the volume it was lower then what subthump had listed for their box. In the end I didn't have to decide as I'm now saving for a wedding and a house so no upgrade to the sound system for me, well maybe an upgrade to the 6-disc factory radio with the usb if I can find one on the cheap.

ld691 Enthusiast

ld691

Posted
  • Author
Posted

kay guys evrything is wired up but only one problem. i have no boxes yet for hte subs! i need someone to give me dimensions of boxes they have prevoisly built for the nbs truck ext cab. my sub at 12 inch thins

cghbuilder86 Enthusiast

cghbuilder86

Posted
Posted

This kinda slipped my mind...I did remember to take pics though. I'll just have to go out and take the measurements tomorrow. I'm not for sure if your truck seat is the same or not...you can measure your seat space and see if it will fit. My speaker depth was 5.5" I think if I remember right. If your 12" has more depth than that you may need to go with a traditional, one that is not downfiring. Because it was a very tight fit for mine in depth. I also built one for my brothers '94 ext. cab. His actually had more clearance under the seat. I had to make mine smaller for my '04. One thing to point out is that you don't have to cut the notches out on the bottom sides. I just did that to see if it would let more of the sound waves out. Most of them will be straight across on the sides. You could also make it to where it is a lot longer and fits up onto the hump in the middle of your floor. I just didn't care for all that. Just wanted something simple to hold my sub speakers. You could make two that are identical for both sides.

I'll get those measurements tomorrow.

Have you really already got everything wired? I am still in the process of setting mine up. Seems like I keep hitting bumps. Had trouble putting the 4 ga. cable through the firewall last time I worked on it. Where did you go through the firewall and where did you ground?

post-75159-1290482273_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482294_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482321_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482345_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482375_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482396_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482422_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482273_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482294_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482321_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482345_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482375_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482396_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482422_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482273_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482294_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482321_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482345_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482375_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482396_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482422_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482273_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482294_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482321_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482345_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482375_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482396_thumb.jpg

post-75159-1290482422_thumb.jpg

ld691 Enthusiast

ld691

Posted
  • Author
Posted

there was a rummer gromet close to the sterin colum that i pushed the wire through, and i ground it to the cab in the back seat! ya ill take some time in shop class to build them

ChevyTech77 Senior Enthusiast

ChevyTech77

Posted
Posted

I built my own but took a lot of time fitting it in the alloted space and making it as close

to the recommended size for my sub as possible. While it sounds good, if I had to do it

over again, I'd just buy one. I can fix a car but building things with wood torments me. :fume:

jdubub Senior Enthusiast

jdubub

Posted
Posted

For the best quality sound, in all honesty that i have found....... I would get a ProBox. Not sure if they are popular where you are located but they are huge in TX area and out of ported, enclosed, MDF, and all other boxes you can put the cheapest subs possible in a probox and it will make them sound good. Ive tried all different boxes out there because i didnt want to spend the money for a probox. you get what you pay for I have found out

rebelman06 Enthusiast

rebelman06

Posted
Posted

I have built several boxes. I would reccommend having access to a table saw to make sure your cuts are straight along with using MDF and not plywood.

2009SierraZ71 Enthusiast

2009SierraZ71

Posted
Posted

I bought one from subthump for my 2009 and it goes on the driver side under the back seat. I considered building one, too, but when the subthump showed up I was glad I didn't. When you see the box you see how uneven the floor really is and in my opinion would be a pain to build. However, with that being said, I think the subthump box is a bit too small for my 10 inch sub. It didn't sound good at all until I put some insulation all over the inside walls. Now the bass is pretty tight and sounds decent. But I do like how they built the box so it sits over the spare tire tools. A little bit of cost on the sound was worth how nicely it fits under the back seat.

Denali_Joe Enthusiast

Denali_Joe

Posted
Posted

if you got access to the tools, build your own! I have not done that yet for this truck, did on my last one. Don't wanna drop the cash into this one with the bose system and all the factory integration to the stock head unit. I like having all of the space under my backseat for when I fold them up. If I were to do it on this truck I'd get another shallow mount 10 and put it in a custom box in the center console.

 

When I built my last one the only step I was worried about was making it look nice. I cannot wrap a present, nonetheless a speaker box. I got a can of herculiner and put a few coats of that on and it turned out fantastic as well as making it tough as nails. Unfortunately it was in a Tundra, but you will be amazed at the output if you build the box to the specs of the sub. I had a cheapo power acoustik in a 1 cu/ft ported box with a 3" x 12" port and it absolutely pounded!

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • PunchT37
      AFM Experience

      By PunchT37 · Posted

      I wonder how much carbon is on all those high mileage valves?
    • Atlas
      AFM Experience

      By Atlas · Posted

      When I had a Bumper subscription for a few days when I needed to run title histories on cars I was looking at, I decided to look up a few of my old/past vehicles.   My 2015 Silverado was still actively registered and it last sold in 2024 with 160k on the clock. No idea if that's on the original engine but someone's keeping it on the road or the original AFM stuff is still going.   It used 0w20. I remember feeding it Mobil 0w20 AFE for the first 30k of its life on <5k OCI's.     Edit: Just did a nationwide search on Autotrader for 2015-2025 Silverados with 5.3's and sorted by highest mileage first.   357k 352k 292k 291k 290k 277k 271k 268k 266k 259k 256k   High mileage on a modern 5.3 doesn't seem all that uncommon, but that's just searching mostly dealer ads on Autotrader. FB Marketplace has all kinds of high mileage 5.3's going back to 2007    
    • Chuck FB
      Bridgestone vs Goodyear tires?

      By Chuck FB · Posted

      I can't say I have ever heard of someone getting that type of mileage out of a set of tires even though they rotated on a regular basis but without a doubt if the front end gets wear and those tires are no longer able to track straight it scrubs them off, and driving style and road surface make a huge difference as well.    However that is not what prompted me to comment as it was the new tire theme of sitting in storage waiting to be used scenario. I am sure some tires can last for quite a while in storage if its not too warm and out of the sunlight but unfortunately some tires the way they their rubber compound is formulated they can age and dry out even in a reasonably decent storage location. My brother ran into this maybe three years ago when he was looking at the tires that were on his dually truck and a combination of wear on the rear ones and noticing that the front tires had some cracks around the sidewall of the tire not far from the bead but he had replaced only the front ones not long ago with 2 of the remaining 6 he had left from the initial two sets of takeoffs he had all bought at the same time .... 10 years ago ! ( the years fly by, a truck that only gets used a bit to haul a camper during the summer and sits in a shed for a large part of the year ). That second set of 6 tires, two he had put on the front prior like I said and they had very little wear but those cracks were now present. So we go into the shed where the other 4 tires had been stored all this time and every one of them had the same cracks in the sidewalls and so in the end it amounted to throwing away 6 brand new but 10 year old takeoff tires into the dump that he got a deal on at a tire shop because they aged out. They were a Ford factory equipment BFG tire and those tires did not age well compared to some tires I've seen far older then that and did not show that type of aging. True, they always say up here anyway that 7 years is sort of a limit for age by rights, we don't have the intense prolonged heat that many of you have down in the states that just cook tires and depends on where the vehicle sits when not in use. GB, another words maybe had you bought a set of tires to store it would have been fine as long as you used them up fast enough but there are no guarantees when it comes to rubber, tires or of that other type stored in some guys wallets 😆
    • Head South
      Open Door Chimes When Key is Out

      By Head South · Posted

      2020 2500 HD...I had some trouble getting the key into the ignition switch but went in fine after applying some extra effort. Since then, the door chimes when open when the key is out of the ignition. Also, when I lock the doors with the switch on the arm rest, the driver door locks but then unlocks. (I can lock everything fine with the fob) The message on the little screen displays the "Engine Hours"...kinda weird.   I'm guessing something happened to the ignition switch and it thinks the key is still in there. I unplugged the batteries for 20 minutes, no change. There are a number of videos on YouTube but nothing I can find that address this specific issue. Ideas appreciated, thank you.
    • newdude
      Seems to be Missing a lot of Updates

      By newdude · Posted

      Based on what I can tell, yes.   As for updating it, its a mixed bag.  Updates do fix a lot of issues, but occasionally can create some oddities.  They do more good than harm though overall.     Here's what the most current one does and a  V171 Improvements Important: Improvements will vary by model, build configuration, system, and sales region. Not all vehicles have all features. OnStar and Wi-Fi may not work after remote start CarPlay may not automatically reconnect Part of the Driver Attention messaging screen may be in English even though the language is set to something else XM may not work After a dead 12V the radio may set to Arabic at each startup Bluetooth contacts might not be able to sync with the vehicle During an OTA the 12V battery may drain Customer might see a screen telling them to return to the dealer After changing the Wi-Fi SSID or password a device may not disconnect If a device is connected on the 2.4Ghz band, nothing will connect to the 5Ghz one, which could show as slow Wi-Fi speeds Customers might have noticed Wi-Fi dropping in certain areas and reconnecting later Customer might see the top of the screen blinking during Android Auto Android Auto may not connect CarPlay audio might momentarily cut out The "Add Phone" button may be grayed out The radio may not start up   V167 Most Notable Improvements:   Outside Air Temperature is incorrect. -You may see a popup message for Engine Shift. (Corvette Only) After changing the exhaust sound they get a popup that "mode change not applied", even though it was. -When changing volume, the volume bar is for Traffic instead of Audio. -(Corvette Only) Improvements to the placement of buttons and text. -If the customer receives the message "Apple CarPlay Could not connect", the cursor might move in the opposite direction than expected when using the control knob. -Android Auto automatically starts playing their music, even though they have turned that off in settings. -Intermittently they have a red OnStar LED with no OnStar function and/or no audio. -The minimum length of the Wi-Fi password was increased to 12 characters. -The popup message "Driver Attention Check, check your mirrors or Super Cruise will shut down" may not have come up on the display when it should have. -Startup animation added for 20th anniversary of the V-Series on Cadillacs. -The Navigation app received location improvements when going under long underpasses. -In the Navigation app there are filters for charging points that the vehicle cannot use.   V164 Most Notable Improvements Most notable improvements contained in this release may include: Apps Intermittently, an “SD Card Removed” message will pop up in the Navigation app. While in the audio app, the radio may stop working. Trailer Tire Pressure sensors may not be learned in the Trailer app. Not being able to return to the home screen while in the Camera app. After an ignition cycle, the radio might go to a black screen or stop working if using Sirius XM. Spotify icon truncated on Audio app.   SXM When changing power modes with the ignition switch, the HVAC pop up might appear. During startup, the radio will show the brand splash screen then go blank. Receiving a confirmation pop-up when changing drive modes. A “Return to Dealer” message may appear on the radio screen. SuperCruise setting toggle may not work. System After an ignition cycle, the radio might go black or stop working if using Sirius XM (SXM). Settings When performing a factory reset, the radio may stop working. After performing a factory reset, the radio may stop working when trying to switch users. When trying to go into the Language section quickly after startup, the radio may stop working. Projection Wireless CarPlay cannot be connected after unpairing another wireless Android Auto device. When the Android Auto screen comes up to connect wirelessly, the screen may freeze if the Cancel button is pressed. Removed the Apple CarPlay Cannot Connect screen when a device fails to pair during the autoconnect process. CarPlay information may not show up in the audio app. Near Field Communications (NFC) chime may be heard when NFC does not work. The Cannot Connect screen does not pop up after the first connection on wireless CarPlay fails. Apple CarPlay is now functional in Guam. Over the Air (OTA) When a software update is cancelled, the downloading logo may still be displayed. Energy When using the Energy app, the radio may stop working. When plugging in the vehicle, the display might show “Now” instead of “Charging Upon Plug In.” Instrument Cluster Voice recognition can be started while on an OnStar or phone call. When downloading contacts, there is a progress bar and circles on the Recents page of the cluster. The temperature on the cluster and the display may be different. After receiving and ending a call on the secondary paired phone, the cluster may get stuck on the phone menu. Bluetooth Intermittent Bluetooth connection loss.

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...