Regular cab ported box build

My subwoofer journey so far:
1. Kicker cvt 10 loaded truck box
2. Cheap Amazon truck box (atrend sealed 10) + Rockford P2
3. Hybrid Audio Imagine + atrend box
4. Alumapro + atrend box
5. Infinity Kappa 100.9 + atrend box

3,4,5 all sounded great, the HAT sounded phenomenal... All were terrible with rap,rnb, all were great with rock. 3,4,5 could not go loud - I loved how they all sounded but wanted a little louder. I decided to go ported. I looked for a cheap prefab box that would fit, but could not find one.

Box modeled around Infinity, 1.5 cubes tuned to 30hz. with 3in aeroport.


Right after I took this picture below I realized that I had put the bottom piece on wrong. So I had to rip that off which was a pain because I was using both 18ga 1.5in nails and screws. Luckily the glue wasn't dry. But still had to cut new side pieces. Wasted about two hours.


The channel was built to fit over the child seat anchors. I had to remove the jack mount however. I added in a brace (three screws in middle of box) and used Tnuts and hex bolts for the sub.


My carpeting sucks, I used an entire can of 3m 90 spray glue - expensive but works well. The bottom piece helps for support. 3in pvc port just filed down a little to add a little flare at both ends.



Impressions: When first turning on.. holy crap it's so loud. Gains were set right, but I had to turn the sub volume on my head unit and my bass knob(inline attenuator) way way down. I couldn't get the sub to bottom out, where as with the sealed setups, it would distort relatively quickly on some songs. I definitely got the volume I was seeking at the slight cost of sound quality. Never having a ported box, I am quite amazed. I got a quote for about $250 for a custom box, I spent about $100 for materials.. next time I will gladly pay the money to have it built. The angles, the channel.. pain in the ass. I think from start to finish it took about 9 hours including clean up.

 

you always give the best write ups. thanks man

 

Well done sir.

 

Looks good! Don't be so hard on yourself

 

Looks nice I want to do something like this in my 96.

 

Does your seat go all the way back?

 

nice looking setup
I prefer using http://www.parts-express.com/precision-port-4-flared-speaker-cabinet-port-tube-kit--268-352.

Really makes a huge difference for me.
4 inch is great for 2 8s ,1 10

 

No, seat does not go all the way back. The box will hit the seat before maxing out. I knew this before building but didn't mind too much as I am not of the taller species.

I still have the box, still love it. I did make a few modifications along the way though. After a few weeks I began to wonder if my sub wasn't performing the way it should - it just sounded like it could be a little tighter and go lower. Anyway, I had the great idea of buying an identical sub and sealing the box. So I removed the port, sealed it up and added a second Infinity. I ran it that way for awhile. The sound did clean up a little, but surprisingly to me, I lost a lot of volume. Only after all of this did I break out the calculator and run the numbers on the box again. I had made another mistake and did not calculate the space the port took up. Curious, I removed the second sub and sealed up that hole. Then I took the exact same port I had used earlier and mounted it externally... and it made all the difference in the world.

So now I have an extra sub and my box is now a frankenbox. But it sounds like I hoped it would and I have no more urge to experiment.

 

Nice. One thing I noticed is the reg cab Tacoma has a lot of room behind the seats.(I've owned Ranger and Frontier regular cabs.) I'm 5'9'' and if I put the seat all the way back I can't reach to push the clutch in. lol I will build one this summer using your box's measurements, but not as wide and sealed. I just need to adjust the width based on my sub's volume requirements.

 

One thing... I would totally recommend cutting out a cardboard template of just the side piece. Tape it in place in your truck and move your seat back to where you drive. I made sure the front of my sub had enough room to where it would not be touching the back of my seat.

 

Good idea. I'll do that.

 

Another option is to counter sink the sub and build the box flush with the seat.