dbl cab Fiberglass box to fit JL 10W3v3

I was hoping someone has seen this or knows if it is a good idea. i would like to put one, or two would be bad ass also, JL 10W3v3 in a fiberglass box just like this. does anyone have any experience with making custom fiberglass boxes and if so what technique would be best for making one like his at home.


I guess i will also take time to say I'm new to Tacoma world "posting"... i do a lot of reading not a lot of posting.

 

trust me, from 15 years install experience, if you dont have experience making fiberglass enclosures or have a really good idea of what your doing, dont even bother! youll end up with a smelly mess, a lot of wasted materials and a lot of wasted time and money!
boxes like that are usually made in a mold because they make a lot of them.

 

yes i have noted that this is going to be a tough build, but never the less i want this to be exactly what i want. i don't like to settle on something. im not worried about working with fiberglass seems strate forword enough just time comsuming.

if anyone knows of a way to mount 1 or 2 JL 10W3v3 in a MDF box on one side of the truck (i only want to sub to be on the passanger side of the truck) i would love to know how to do this

 

I would suggest building a frame out of MDF to get your general shape. You have to remember the thickness of the fiberglass when you build it.

I would build the frame and mounting rings first. After your frame is ready, stretch dry fleece oover it to get the general shape, apply resin to the streched fleece. Let it start to setup and add layers of mat and cloth. Build it up, let it set and then sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand, bondo, sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand sand bondo sand sand sand sand sand.

You will probably do a lot of sanding.

 

You could make the main structure from MDF and make just the back from fiberglass to get the added depth needed without sacrificing structural integrity.

 

That's too weird that we think so much alike and at the same time!

 

Thanks guys for you reply's.

 

he wouldnt need to do much sanding at all if your covering it with carpet. in fact the more sanding you do the thinner the fiberglass becomes! if you lay it down right to begin with and use matte strips it should come out more than good enough to just carpet right over. on my box i was going to have it upholstered so it had to be smooth or it would show.

 

True, he wouldn't need to sand it much if he was carpeting it. However, he didn't say anything about carpeting it.

 

if you seriously want to take this on i would say that leaving the front and sides made of wood would be fine, you need the strength there so use 3/4 MDF but the back can be glassed to save space and utilize all the nooks and crannies. if it were me making this i would build the structure out of hard board in the back and strengthen the inside with glass mat. any time you have angles fiberglass is great because the more corners you have the stronger it will be with less glass and resin. however anything thats flat is likely to flex and crack, you have to make reinforcement ribs and glass them in to make it strong. i reccommend cutting strips of cardboard and folding them into a V shape then glass over them they take up minimal space and become extreemly solid and ridged. put them along the inside of your flat panels.

in this application i would anchor the hardboard, 1/4 inch thick to the back walls of the truck using 2 sided tape to hold them in place inside the cab and against the back wall, then when they are all in place you can use some strips of glass mat and resin and with a CHEAP like .89 paint brush first brush the hardboard seams and corners with resin then stick the matt over thoes areas and with the bruch and more resin dab the resin on the surface of the mat untill saturated. youll need to babysit the stuff till it starts to gel up and then go over everything again making sure none of the mat lifts off the surfaces, try to get everything to lay down flat.
after it cures you might do another coat with resin and mat till its strong enough to yank it out of the truck. assuming you used only enough 2 side tape or foam to just hold the peices in place it should pop out easily.
once you get it out of the truck you can assemble the sides top and bottom to your structure and then go nuts with the inside and the glassing and reinforcements till you got about 3 applications over the entire inside.
then you can attach your front peice over the finished structure.
you want to make sure to tape off with duct tape any edges of the top, bottom or sides that will mate with the front panel so you dont get any resin on them or it will harden and make it difficult to seal the box up.

after you install the front panel i would put at least 1 layer in all the joints and corners of the inside of the box working through the speaker holes. again you want to duct tape around your speaker hole to keep from getting resin on the front or inside the hole or the speaker won't mount flat against the front..
youll probly need at least 2 gallons of resin at about 50 bucks a gallon and some hardner to go with it. in addition to that about 10 .89 paint brushes, a pair of heavy duty rubber gloves, some old sissors, a container to mix the stuff. (i found some cheap glad ware food storage containers at wallmart (i think 3 to a pack) for a couple bucks) and a large sheet of cardboard to do the project on. remember to wear some chlothes you plan to throw away and get a roll of plastic to cover your interior and entrance to the truck while your working inside the cab. the cab will stink for a couple days but as soon as you remove the project from the truck the smell will be gone for good so dont worry about that.

you can usually re use the plastic food containers between each application as once the resin has dried it will pop right out of the flexible container and be reused good as new! the rubber gloves also when stretched will allow you to remove the majority of dried resin and the paint brushes will pile up in the trash. i use a strip of cardboard to mix my resin and hardner. try to use exactly the amount of hardner reccommended because if you mix it too hot it will gel up on you while your still working with it. you want a working time of at least 30 minutes. make sure to mix compleatly each time and try not to handel the hardner or the resin container with anything but clean hands. otherwise things will harden on you if they get mixed and youll have a mess on your hands.

DO NOT get resin on anything you dont want to throw away, that includes paint, truck parts, jewlery ect.. prep work is the key to keeping things from getting ruined. anything resin touches will be trash cause youll never get it all off.
do it in a well ventellated area preferrably on a warm sunny day outside is best.

 

thats a good point. I will more than likely be carpeting it. does anyone have some photos of their fiberglass box in the making? I know there are a thousand sites on the web that have how to's on this but its always nice to see one meant for a Tacoma

 

you can see in this pic on the inside in addition to the wood braces i made some from cardboard.
i had to use the wood braces to hold the sides apart exactly 11 inches while i wrapped the outside with fleece. they became part of the interior structure as i applied the glass. then i added the ribs about 4 in total to the areas in between. the sides being hardboard seemed to be strong enough with 2 applications in the inside of the box and one on the outside. despite they were flat surfaces i did not need any reinforcement in these areas. the hardboard itself becomes pretty stiff when resin soaks into the fibers and the glass mat in addition to that makes it strong. also the surface area that is insupported in this box is relitivly small so it wont flex. but in the back of the box your making along the wall your going to have to reinforce it because its a long span with no support. in fact i would even reccommend you cut some small peices of 3/4 MDF in strips to add bracing between the front and back of the box.
you can add these later by using a straight edge across the front of your box and measuring the distance and angle between the botom of your straight edge and the back of the box. then cut a brace to fit in and glass it to the back. you can then glass it to the back of the front peice when you install it later.

 

Thank you for the detailed response bass mechanic. It will come in handy when i start this project.

 

sure i forgot to mention, when your ready to start applying resin you want to take some time to cut strips of mat and know about where they will be placed and have them set aside in advance. or have a friend cut them with sissors and hand them to you while you apply them. they dont need to be exact but they will lay easier if you cut them so they only fold in 1 direction. in fact if you fold them to go around sharp corners before you saturate them in resin they may stay in place easier.