Subwoofer in a regular cab

Darth_Vader · September 26, 2015

So this post is going to follow the build of putting a 12" Sub in a regular cab. I'm guessing I am taking a different approach. I decided to get rid of the center jump seat while keeping the center console and I think I might be able to pull it off. For this build I'll be using a Fosgate Punch 3 12" sub. What I've done is pulled the cover and cushion from the center console. At this point I removed two of the seat braces (will possibly pull the third tomorrow as I originally was going to do an 8" and had excess room so I decided to go for the 12") and after measuring it out I can achieve around .86 cubic feet, maybe a bit more if I get super creative, in the footprint of the original cushion. I will try to capitalize by using polyfill to artificially upsize the box an additional 15-20% to hit a goal of around 1.1cu/ft. The goal, when it's all done, is to have a box that fits in the are under the console where the cushion was that utilizes the factory seat cover to cover the box to install a true 12" sub in a RC. I will try to upload pictures as I go.

Cutting the supports out.

The whole for the bottom part of the box, the top 3-4" will be larger, the size of the foam, which hangs over the sides almost 3", I may drop the sides of the box down to pick up a few fractions of a cubic foot.

The frame with the console top.

Darth_Vader · September 26, 2015

Well after trying all morning I couldn't design a box for the 12" that had the cubes I needed so I went back to using an 8, built a new box and then cut the seat cushion to fit around the box. Here are some more pics.

Fitting the box

Trimming the foam

Installed back in the truck

muddkatt · September 27, 2015

Its easy to arm chair quarterback, so please don't take this wrong. Wouldn't it have been better to have had the sub fire down instead of firing up, then hit the edges of the box with a router so that the seat "could" be used without damaging the sub?

Silver ice 6.2 · September 27, 2015

Hey nice idea and final product good.. but from my experience in building woofer enclosures... aka cabinets for us old school folks.. sub or subs firing down hit the hardest for me.. in 2003 I had a 1995 silverado extra cab and I removed the center console and built a sealed enclosure for a kicker solo Baric sqaure.. sub was firing down 3 inches away from the carpet.. and omg everyone thought I had 2 twelves.. I had to stuff tennis balls between the bed and the cab. Back window was shaking alot.

Edited September 27, 2015 by Silver ice 6.2

Darth_Vader · September 27, 2015

I had initially planned on doing it down fire, in fact the box I took it out of was a down fire box I had built for my Tahoe. Then I removed the center console and saw an Airbag control module right underneath it and quickly decided that a downfire may not be the best idea in that spot.

Edited September 27, 2015 by Harlech

Darth_Vader · September 27, 2015

Still trying to find a way to shoehorn this 12" in somewhere, the passenger seat may have to be slid forward and lose some leg room...

dbcooper748 · September 28, 2015

I had initially planned on doing it down fire, in fact the box I took it out of was a down fire box I had built for my Tahoe. Then I removed the center console and saw an Airbag control module right underneath it and quickly decided that a downfire may not be the best idea in that spot.

How much volume did you end up getting out of that small space?

Darth_Vader · September 28, 2015

Right around .3 cu/ft, which is actually a smidge more than the recommended for that speaker. I calculated that I could get almost .8 cu/ft if I were to built a top box in the shape of the seat (Which I did), basically a bigger, although thinner, box on top of this box. It was still going to fall short of the 1.1 cu/ft I needed for a 12" sub. Would of been perfect for a 10" but I will say, if I turn the bass up the arm rest does start to rattle if I don't have my arm on it. I imagine it would be more of an issue with a 10" in that position. But for what I listen too this isn't an issue. Now for what my wife listens too the whole cab rattles.

Also, I am working on a wedge box to put behind the passenger seat now for the 12", I will then run the two off an active cross over so the 8" will be dialed in for midbass with the 12" reserved for the low stuff.

dbcooper748 · September 28, 2015

I like the idea. I have a crew cab and am in the process of building my own underseat storage box for the rear, but would like to add a sub. Im thinking i will attempt this using a downfire design as suggested above and this way i can have a sub and still have my full underseat storage.

Edited September 28, 2015 by dbcooper748

Darth_Vader · September 28, 2015

I like the idea. I have a crew cab and am in the process of building my own underseat storage box for the rear, but would like to add a sub. Im thinking i will attempt this using a downfire design as suggested above and this way i can have a sub and still have my full underseat storage.

And you might be able too as the air bag module may not be mounted in the same spot on the CC. There are a lot of things I don't care if they get blasted with low frequencies but that thing just didn't feel like the type I wanted to risk.

15BlueSilverado · March 14, 2017

Well after trying all morning I couldn't design a box for the 12" that had the cubes I needed so I went back to using an 8, built a new box and then cut the seat cushion to fit around the box. Here are some more pics.

Fitting the box

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Trimming the foam

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Installed back in the truck

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Did your jump seat have the lockable storage compartment under the seat cushion? It doesn't look like it but just curious. I have a CC and mine does. I kind of want to do the same thing in mine, I also don't want to lose the storage space under the rear seat.