Tacoma audio upgrade (8" mids!)

got a lil more finished up the other day.. every wire is routed.. tweeters are hooked up.. just gotta connect it all to the amps.. rca's will be here friday, cant wait for that.. been waiting forever for them to get here.. got all new connections crimped on the battery, had to drill and tap one small hole for one of the connectors on the battery.. you can see in this picture i wasnt paying attention and almost welded the wrench to the teminal lol.. .. only thing i need to finish is to cut the wires for the big 3..

 

How are you setting those tweeters up? I had a set and they were too bright for my ears. I had to swap them out for something less extreme.

 

i got the speaker wire i ran in the front door and made 2 into 4 wires.. 2 go to the tweeter and the other 2 go to the door speaker

 

well i got ancy and couldnt wait till tomorrow for my rcas so i routed some old ones outside and hooked everything up.. and it all sounds awesome! pretty sure i can pull more outta the subs.. the doors and highs are crystal clear.. im surprised i dont see any low voltage, trucks running perfect.. for sure thought this old battery wouldnt do good.. but lights arnt dimming at all when cranked all the way up.. routing the big 3 tonight.. been laggin on it.. finger tips are hurting from twisting wires lol.. and once the rcas are here tomorrow ill have to redo all the amp connections since i left them all long while testing.. can i can finally start putting all the panels back on my truck so it doesnt look like a bomb went off in there... more pix tonight

 

looking good

 

well started down the rabbit hole now... got the amps tuned.. sounds good but that box slaps.. its a real old box so... makin a new one now.. bigger in every direction.. big enough to where the seats more then likely wont fold flat anymore lol.. but that shouldnt be a big deal.... also extended the upper seat latch by 1 1/4 allowing me to bring the top of the box from like 2 1/4 to 5".. bottom is going from 7 something inches to close to 10" but that will prolly drop to about 9 ish inches... the middle seat bracket is a brain teaser thats for sure.. the old box's gap was big.. like 4" wide 4.5 tall and the width of the box.. im making that smaller to for more air space.. that gap is going to be around 1.5 to 2".. will still be the width of the box but will taper for more air space.. got the back of the box put together.. made it a real tight fit to no room is wasted.( which kinda makes it harder to make but should pay off) my brother in law tried to talk me into removing the brace in the back.. which woulda made this a whole lot easier but i decided to leave it in for this one... kids are going to grandmas today so i get the day to myself finally lol so i should have the box put together by the end of the day... was working on my brother in laws tacoma till 2am last night... we ran about 100ft of 1/0 wire from the battery, under the truck into the back of the cab for the amp rack.. he went to a contest today first run did 139.2DB were shooting for 130 so now anything over 140 is a win.

top and bottom of the box are cut already just need to trim and cut a angle on them for the face of the box.. first time installing any audio and first time building my own sub box so im learning a lot thats for sure

 

Looking good.

 

gettin the seat mount gap done for the base.. definitely got it a lot smaller then the stock box which means more space inside.. might try and get the sides cut out tonight before it gets to late to piss the neighbors off lol

 

couple more pix.. got the angles cut and the face cut and got the sides traced out before i had to go to my nephews bday party... tomorrows lookin like a good day to use some glue and get it from 2d to 3d lol.. also picked up some spray on bedliner... never used it before besides this little test piece.. seems like it will work good this was only 1 coat.. i can see it getting pretty durable with multiple layers..

my brother in laws rear window was leaking a big.. guess the box got some of that water, you can see the water damage and that whole back section isnt sealed anymore and moves... so im sure this new box will be a huge improvement.. also can see the size difference from the old box to the new box

 

its finally starting to look like a box!.. had to change up the seat belt mount cover a bit.. and set it back from the edge 3/4 so i can run a doubled up face for the subs.. gonna do a few more internal bracing, seal it all up on the inside before putting the top on

also my rca's finally came after usps driving them around for a month.. bastards

 

heres a picture so you can see the size difference between a stock off the shelf tacoma box vs this custom box lol.. there might be a chance it wont fit haha.. it will fit thought.

 

Looking good. What finish are you planning on? Carpet ? Rhino spray? (some trucks do seem to have potential water issues.

 

I had some water issues with the vents in the back of a double cab...


I went with carpet.

 

thanks! prolly do a bed liner spray.. trucks sealed up pretty good, so not to worried about water.. didnt get as much done today as i thought i would.. put some calking around all the seams and got the 2 tops cut out.. and cut some corner bracing, just waiting for the silicone to dry.. all thats left is pretty much just cut out the speaker holes and terminal holes... oh and i keep forgetting, i do need to cut some of the plastic corner panels in the rear.. forgot to account for the sides when i built the back and bottom so i gotta cut off about 3/4" or so from each side... box came out to 50"

 

well its finally a box! not bad for my first time making a box like this.. the angles def messed with my head more then a few times.. especially that seatbelt mount slot.. gotta seal the lid from the inside.. and gonna take the router with a roundover bit to make it look a lil better.. by buddies trying to talk me into putting fiberglas resin all over it without the glass... or at least on the inside.. not sure i wanna do all that though but will see.. kinda wanna hit all the outside seams with some bondo.. for a extra seal, and make it look like a seamless box.. it def isnt pretty thats for sure lol.. went to town with the screws to lol.. wanted to make sure every bit of that double stacked lid was stuck together.. sh*t ton of glue to lol.. i hope it fits cause i cant wait to be done with this so i can clean up my garage and stop breathing mdf dust lol

 

well i fudged a bit... measured countless times.. forgot to add the sides of the box on the inside edge.. so they went on the outside edge.. trimmed about 1" of plastic off the back side covers.. but didnt account for the side seat mounts... lol.. im thinkin if i cut that seat stop on the mount it should allow it to slide down to where it should be.. god i hope i dont gotta make another box lol.. def have plenty of room behind the box lol.. wish me luck cuttin haha

 

just cut them off and it let the box drop in a little more lol.. gotta get the router and hit the middle of the box where the middle seat mount is.. making the box a double stacked face messed up my space lol but once i put a lil arch in the middle of the box it will slide right in, i know it haha.. then well figure out how to bolt the seats back up lol one problem at a time..

 

well now that the practice box is done, time to start on the real one lol.. i fudged up.. it wont fit haha.. well it does fit, without the seat lol... i have enough wood to make another one.. already got my measurements so it should go a lot quicker this time... lol im so pissed.. but kinda knew it might happen.. the top is good at 5" but the bottom should be 1.5" shorter.. could prolly lose 1.5 on the side to.. live and learn.. next one will be better.. got a new router and a bunch of bits so i can put some fancy edges on it lol..

 

Sucks you gotta make a new one but should be way better with what you learned on the first one. Way to stick with it, the building is half the fun isn't it?

 

lol ya i was ready to be done but i knew i was pushing the size limit.. if i didnt double up the top it prolly woulda slid in a little better.. already got the new box cut out.. just gotta cut the sides and use the router for the holes.. should be gluing everything together today