Tacoma Audio Endeavor

I don't think I'll be glassing the underside. If you could really see how I've done the underside area you'd see it's very secure. I might throw some chopped matt and some resin down there one day but certainly not till the concept has proven itself. The weakest link isn't likely to be the area underneath; but rather the seal between the baffle and the truck.

 

you should seriously think about glassing it, sure you can add mat later but when your enclosure is not proberly sealed you will notice a major loss of bass/sound.

At the very least, i'd seal up the holes (metal holes, on the bottom side) with a few layers of dynamat if your not fond of fiberglass and use silicone to create a good seal on that top baffle

 

I know, but like I said, if the top baffle doesn't seal there isn't any point in doing it. Only as strong as the weakest link. I've done this long enough to know.

You must not have read what I wrote above in the larger post...that's exactly what I've done.

 

That's why you build the entire underside in fiberglass attached the the mdf on the top side, 1 piece, no holes. that was what i was saying

 

Again, I don't think you read the entire large post....

If you choose to fiberglass the area YOU WONT BE ABLE TO GET IT OUT! This is because of it's geometry; it flares out at the bottom making it IMPOSSIBLE to get out.

So unless you plan on doing ALL the fiberglassing, sanding, painting INSIDE the vehicle without making a mess then go for it. Really, I think it would make the strongest enclosure with the best seal. I just don't think it's really a viable option. Too much of a headache.

 

you tape it tight at angles that will allow it to "pop" out and your good, i just did one for a dodge crew cab.
-just giving you my 2 cents, not looking for a fight

 

I know what you mean man. And so we're clear I'm not lookin for a fight either.

But I don't think you understand what I'm saying. Here is another example. If you froze the blue liquid in the below flask; and you were smart enough to freeze a handle into the liquid so you could grab it...would you be able to get it out?

 

And that would be why you tape it off so its all concave

 

I had the same thought initially. In fact, I made a mold of the entire area. I made the area concave by using tin foil packed into the spaces to yield a geometry such that it could be popped out. I think it would work but you'll lose a lot of space that way and you'll still have to cut off the front lip.

Either way, I'm really happy with the way it's turning out. Tomorrow morning I'll be finishing it up.

 

Soooo...I said "tomorrow" about 10 days ago. Had a few bumps in the road but I've got everything ironed out. Remember, just because something doesn't work the first time doesn't mean it wont work; it just needs to be altered.

The problems I was having were that of attachment. The pop rivets I had planned to use ended up not being long enough which threw me for a loop. The attachment idea I had going for the front and side lip didn't work either. I didn't leave quite enough metal to do my "grenade pin" style attachment method. Like I said, not the end of the road, just a detour.

I ended up bolting some 2x2's in the bin along the front wall. I placed them vertically and added a threaded insert to them so I could put a bolt through the top of the baffle and slowly cinch down the baffle board. The plan worked and it holds like a rock.

I did have trouble sealing the whole thing at first but some more weather stripping in the appropriate areas and some silicone worked wonders and it's totally sealed now. I hammered on it for a while last night and it really bangs. No sweeps or reference music tests just yet; only tested with some RAP. I still have to set the gains better.

Here it is open before closing her up.



All sealed up and bolted down!



And for those who doubted.....yeah, plenty of clearance!

 

Looks good man... nice work!

 

Nice work IS, how does it sound?

 

Dude that looks pro! I cant wait to see this in person!

 

Just a suggestion, for the OP, or anyone else trying this mod:

I think you would have had better luck if you used angle iron (Looks like an "L", and can be found at home depot, lowes, ect.) bolted to the insides of the bin to provide something for you to bolt your top baffle to. You can go simple, and use nuts/bolts on the baffle, or tap (put threads into the angle iron) so you don't have to use nuts. Of course you would want to run a bead of silicone between the angle iron and bin, and then the top baffle too.

What I would do is bolt the angle iron to the baffle first, and then put that on the bin and attach the angle iron on so you have a true surface to seal on. You could even get fancy and recess your bolt heads in the baffle, as well as get nice looking bolts since you will be able to see them.

This looks like something I will probably do in the future.

How many cu ft is the bin? I wonder how big of a sub you could fit in there with the same design. 10"? 12"?

 

Angle iron was a thought but damn, good luck bending it to the right shape. I wasn't sure how I'd tap it either. Nuts and bolts would have been hard to accomplish I think but it would have been secure for sure.

I think the bin is about 1.2 cubes maximum. It's quite a task to get it all done but I'm loving it so far. The cool thing is that I can make more than one baffle board and swap out different subs if i really wanted to. I'm thinking that an 8" is the biggest you could get in there. A 10" might be possible if you didn't countersink it.

Your biggest problem in the end will always be the motor structure assembly. As you can see, the subs I use have a neo motor and not a ferrite magnet, this makes it significantly slimmer to mount underneath.

 

I thought you cut the top of the bin so it would all be the same height? (or close to it) Judging by the pictures, you made the top all the same level. I wouldn't bend the angle iron, I would cut it in pieces like the frame around a picture with mitered corners.

I think a shallow type sub would be mandatory in an application like this.

Oh, and if your wondering how to put threads into metal, just google "tap and die set", you drill a hole, then use a special bit that cuts threads into the metal as it turns.

A hacksaw, bench grinder, and plenty of time and patience and you might be able to do it. I just personally don't know if I would trust foam weather stripping when it comes to the forces at play here. JMHO.

Overall, I think you did an awesome job, the finish looks phenomenal, and I love the matching paint to compliment the truck's paint color.

 

Thanks for the tips man. I do need to get some metal tapping stuff. I've never done anything like that but learning would be useful for sure.

I did cut the top lip on the whole thing to make it even. I was just referring to making the angle iron go around the corners of the box if you were to secure it all the way around. I don't think it would be needed but it's just the first thing I thought of when I read your post.

I'll admit that I'm weary about the weather stripping myself but so far so good. I've hammered on it pretty well with some tough stuff and it pounds.

Ying Yang Twins - Whistle while you twerk
Young Jeezy - Hypnotize
Lil Wyte - Oxycontin
Lil Wayne - Nigga with money
Three Six Mafia - Late night tip

I think it's really the old 'pounds per square inch' proverb at work. Both pressure and surface area are great. That combined with a total of 7 bolts for multiple pressure points has it down pretty decent. I do fear that I might sort of blow a gasket one day and it will break the seal. But if it does I'll go buy another $5 weather stripping roll and lay down a new seal.

 

hows it sound?

6's or 8"?

 

6.5's

They sound really good. I'm starting to listen to more real music now and they are very accurate. One thing about using a small sub like this with a really small voice coil is that they have REALLY low electrical inductance. This means that distortion is very low by way of the voice coil actually acting a bit like a crossover and filtering out some unwanted harmonics.

Like I said, I still have a lot of tuning to do but I'm very impressed thus far.

 

damn. thats sweet. all i can say.