Where are you mounting amps?

Under the seat? On the enclosure? On a rack?

https://youtu.be/Nr-_tmQe7nM

Sonic Electronix came up with this idea of mounting wood underneath the carpet with liquid nails/silicone then drilling the amp into the wood, w/o drilling into the car body. If I did this? I don’t think the carpet would reach to where it was originally under the trim. I think my only option here is to drill under the seat into the body, what do you recommend d?

 

Rack under my driver seat works well. There are vents on the floor to deal with so the rack suspends over those.

 

I have a 2nd Gen, but I have both the amp for my component speakers and my powered subwoofer bolted in behind the seat; This was taken the day my neighbor installed the sound deadening...

 

This is a rack that utilizes the existing seat bolts, hence no body-drilling required? I wonder if anyone makes one for a 1st gen

 

Mine have been under my seats since I bought the vehicle six years ago. Just wired up, not mounted to anything and have never given me a problem.

 

Unless I can find a quick, premade amp rack for a first gen, I'm going to do a piece of MDF under the seat

 

Hmm.... I don’t think they make one for a first gen. I like your MDF idea though!

 

Go get an HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) cutting board from the gettin' spot...a thinner one will do. Make sure it's bigger than your amp. Place the amp on it and mark out the mounting holes. Drill those out - slightly smaller than the screws you'll use. Run screws through it - long enough to get through the carpet and amp heat sink...maybe countersink them or use something with small heads so that they don't contact any metal on the bottom. You'll want to put something under it anyway. I have MLV there, but any thick plastic sheet will do - or melamaine, neoprene, etc...whatever works.

Slide the board under the carpet, use a blade to make slits big enough to let the screws come through, then mount the amp to it using washers and nuts on the top.

 

Under seat

 

I had mine mounted on the back wall but I also had a JLW7-10 that hid both of them. Under the seat is fine if you only run one amp and it fits. If you’re going under the seat I’d definitely recommend using MFD or some plastic board under the carpet so you don’t drill into the floorboard for sure.

 

I’m not understanding your mounting process, mount with washers and nuts?

 

My amp and under seat sub have been just sitting there unmounted with no issues for many years.

 

Yeah, so when the cutting board is prepped and ready to go under the carpet it will have screw threads sticking up out of it. Then you line up the holes for the amp, put a washer on the screw, then a nut. The carpet will be sandwiched between the amp and cutting board - keeping the amp secure.



I use another way too - secure the amp directly to the cutting board then run a bolt through the carpet with a big washer on the carpet side. Both ways are secure, but I think I like the board under the carpet better.

 

I do think the board on top of the carpet route is better for amps that run warm like the PDX or AB amps like that Lisa above. It lets the heat sink get rid of heat more efficiently. It's also easier to swap amps. You can just pop the board off, drill your new holes, and stick it right back on. I mount power management on them too.

 

How are you guys grounding your amp?

Question on wiring - I want to wire to 2ohm, can I do that using the terminals? Meaning instead of wiring one sub directly to the other, can I connect both subs to their terminals, run wiring from one terminal to the other, and run a pair of wires out of that terminal to the amp?

 

by screws, you mean bolts right

 

Bolt, machine screw, whatever works

 

Yes, you can wire through the terminals if they're big enough to get 2 sets of wires in one of them (assuming you're wiring parallel).

You can ground to the frame, body, or battery. Battery is best, frame better, body OK. Clean the mating surfaces of any paint or coatings - wanna get down to the bare metal then touch up around it after you're done so that spot won't corrode. Best practice is to ground everything in the same spot, but at least ground all amps in the same spot. That helps reduce the possibility of a ground loop.

 

I wired the ground to a bolt under the center console.

 

Some YouTube gurus say to silicone-seal the inside of the terminals within the subwoofer box to prevent “air leaks”. Is that necessary? These terminals do have a cheap, soft foam gasket on their mounting surface