PDA

View Full Version : First Gen Sub Box Install



MyFriendScott
11-29-2011, 12:21 PM
I just finished up a complete re-wire of my car audio system, new head unit, and 12" sub installed in the trunk. I didn't take pics of the wiring, but I did snap some pics of how I mounted the sub box in the trunk. Thought I'd share since some of us are probably going to receive some new gear this holiday season...

After spending some time online looking at possible mounting solutions, and reading everyone's opinions on L brackets, Velcro, and bolting the sub box to another piece of plywood serving as a base, I decided I was just going to bolt the box directly to the trunk pan. One half way decent article said this would also produce better bass results than Velcro or straps. My main concern was preventing the box from ripping out its anchors under acceleration and cornering, so bolts seemed to be the best solution.

The box was too tall to push all the way back inside the trunk and clear the 6x9's and rear defogger so it had to sit on the angled portion of the trunk. This allowed easy access to the bolts from underneath, gave me adequate storage space in front of the sub, and prevented accidental drilling into the gas tank to anchor the box. Here's a pic of the approximate location where the box will end up. The amp is to the passenger side of the box, mounted vertically on carpeted wood up against the back of the trunk. The sub is offset because I still wanted access to the amp.
51828


Here are the bolts I used. Found them in my stash and perfectly sized bolts and washers. They even have a good exterior coating. Stainless would have worked just as well, but these were free and available.
51829

Pulling back the carpet and trunk liner, I positioned the box where I wanted and held it in place with a strong magnet.
51830

Looking up from underneath the car and behind the rear axle, I used the dimples and impressions in the floor pan to judge where my bolt holes needed to end up. And then the drilling began.
51833

Since the angle of the pan where the box will be bolted to will cause the box to lean backward, I wanted two bolts in the upper corners of the box and the third bolt centered and lower. As the car accelerates, the box would have a tendency to fall toward the rear of the car so I wanted to minimize the box from ripping through the anchors.

I drilled my first hole with the box in place, put the bolt through it and then found the right spot for hole #2 and did the same. Since there's clear access to this area from underneath the car, it was fairly simple to judge where the holes would end up by looking at where the first bolt is poking through. Here's a pic of all 3 bolt holes in the pan looking into the trunk.
51834

At this point, I vacuumed up the area, put some blue painters tape over the holes from underneath the car and painted the holes to protect the exposed metal. A test fit of the box with the bolts in place showed I was more than half way home at this point.
51835

Here's a pic of the nuts installed hand tight. Plenty of room to get a wrench in here.
51836

All that was left was to tighten up the bolts and reinstall the speaker into the box. The finished product looks like this.
51837

There is significantly more bass sound coming through than just having the box sitting in the trunk. I have a subwoofer volume control knob in my center console and had to turn it down about 15% after testing the stereo. The box is extremely stable now. I don't ever see a need to have to remove the box to load the trunk so I'm very happy with the turnout. Hope you enjoyed.

rfalker1
12-05-2011, 12:55 PM
Nice job on the install, I kind plan on doing the same thing, except I want mine to sit flush "like deleting the angle on the floor pan"