Six inch JL Audio woofer install....... (1 Viewer)

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Awhile ago I replaced my stock woofer cause it was basically messed up. After numerous installs on my Cruiser I was ready to just get something small that could get some bass that equalizes with the rest of the music(i'm not into the boom).
Installing the six inch drop-in sub was easy. Way easier then other installs I have done. I first removed the plastic paneling in back. Then I removed the three bolts and cut the wires an inch or so that connects the woofer.
I removed the woofer and dropped in the JL. I drilled some holes in the stock housing and bolted the JL in.
There should be two wires still in your Cruiser. I think they were green and red, and green and black. I extended them to give a loop and hooked the negative to the negative, and positive to the positive.
I tested it(make sure it works, cause getting everything done and finding it doesn't work sucks), then bolted everything in place. No power and no real difference IMO.
After awhile I decided to seal the sub outer rim to the plastic to give it a cleaner sound. I still didn't notice any major difference.


Here is the old one(can pretty tell what condition it was in. I made the hole in the center.) with the JL installed.
236742_360_full.jpg


Here is the JL after I bolted everything in place before I put the cover back on.....
236742_362_full.jpg



Also, I want to toy around with using a 200 watt amp and putting an 8" JL 8W7 where the stock amp and current JL is.......
 
Do you have a part number and/or source for that 6" woofer? Looks good!
 
Hwn built,

Let me be sure I understand your post....

>> I tested it [... ] then bolted everything in place. No power and no real difference IMO.

and

>> After awhile I decided to seal the sub outer rim to the plastic to give it a cleaner sound.
>> I still didn't notice any major difference.

Are you saying the 6" JL Audio offered *no* significant improvement over the stock sub-woofer?

-B-
 
few things as i was looking into the same thing. you need an amp for that sub its drawing too much from your stereo unless you have up graded but even then most good face plates are around 200 watts and thats not enough power to support all the stock stuff and a sub. Try and amp i bet theres a big diff.
Now a question on my part does the Lx450 have that same kinda mount in the rear? i know theres a plastic cubby with cover where it would usualy mount the sub but if i took off the pannel would i find the same mountsing holes for the stock toyota sub? would there be the wires for this too since they used the same harnesses in the yotas?

thanks mike
 
This is what I have. The specs and all is right here.
Beowulf, since I mostly drive this Cruiser and don't sit in the rear seats, I listened to how it sounds from the drivers seat. With everything else stock I didn't notice a difference. Maybe you might. Also, the two front speakers are still working(but rattle like .....) and they are like the only things I hear that provide bass. This morning I sat in the third row and I guess I could hear it, not sure. But yeah, def. get a new amp when you get the JL or anything like that.

LX450LandCruiser, isn't there a sub in back already?? If you really wanna hear that i'd put it in the center console where the 4" one is....Just what i'd do.
 
Mike is correct, a JL Audio sub needs an external amp to get the proper power, or a powerful ugraded head unit. The JL sub will show a big gain over that stock sub when properly powered and enclosed. http://www.jlaudio.com/subwoofers/RP_Chart.html This is a link to a chart that shows proper power needed for JL Audio subs. They suggest 250 watts for the 8 inch W7 you are considering. The 6 inch one listed on the chart requires over 50 watts.


-Matt
 
It's hard to tell from the photo, but is the sub in an enclosure hidden behind the bracketry, or just mounted on the formed steel. If there is no enclosure that sub will not sound good even with an amp. You would need a free air-sub or to enclose the area. The sub creates opposing waves on the front and back. They will cancel each other out if there is no enclosure.
 
My thought is along the same lines as Arch... You'll need a free air sub to move all that air behind the panel. If anyone has already done the legwork on which sub/amp combo is the best bang for the back, please let us know! I like the idea of using the factory bracket for providing a "rattle free" sound once the bass kicks in. Hwn Built has the best "oem" looking grill I've seen thus far. Can he give a little more info on that?

I have an Infinity Basslink (powered Sub) that needs a home in the FZJ but can't seem to come up with an elegant solution. The OEM sub replacement seems to be the cleanest way to add more base w/o taking up valuable real estate.


Thanks.
Ali
 
You guys will never get any substantial or worthwhile bass out of the stock bass location IMHO. Your best bet is to get a decent 4-channel amp ,upgrade HU (head unit) and the 4 stock door locations with decent equipment. The stock HU is gonna die soon anyways and the stock speakers are just pitiful, 4 in. inverted cone with the smallest magnet you will ever see on a car speaker. You will be amazed at what a good amp can do for sound quality and bass response from a aftermarket coaxial speaker.

As far as improving Bass in the stock location, that would take some serious work to seal it up and retain the proper airspace within for a specific woofer. That Infinity Basslink or similar self-contained subwoofer are probably your best bet aside from going with a full blown "Box".
 
the lx450 has no rear speaker set up only two in the dash, one in each of the 4 doors and then a small 4 inch sub in the center consol. No one make a 4 inch after market sub and its even hard to find a 6 inch sub to cut the stock mounting hole. what i plane to do just after christmas here is to take the rear panel out of my cruiser on the passenger side and cover the body with sound proofing material then buy a very small sealed box (less then 4 inch deep) and weld up a bracket to hold the box into place using the stock seat belt holes. then ill cut the factory panel so the sub will have a screen to play through. I ll then mount another board with an amp mounted to it further up (around the top of the wheel well) and recess that as well so as no to lose any space in the cruiser as well. My only question is can i run the 2 factory sub wires to the back into the amp and have the amp power the sub? when i look at most amps they require a front left wire to front right wire ect.... and im not too confident on how over all these work
every thing sound ok to you guys?


mike
 
I've had the Infinity Basslink in the 80 for about 6 months. I think it's a very good solution to the lack of bass without spending a couple thousand bucks.

I was concerned about the space it takes up. But if you put a sub in the stock location and then completely load the cargo area with stuff, you won't get much "sound" from the sub anyway. So, IMHO, trying to put a sub in the stock location is a poor compromise.

My recommendation: Put something in that really works and take it out those few times that you need every cubic inch of cargo space.

Ed
 
the JL Audio website recommends a sealed enclosure of .15 to .2 cubic feet and a ported in closure of .2 to .33 --- Not big at all for this speaker, it shouldn't be hard to come up with something that fits behind the speaker. Throw in an aftermarket amp to drive it and you should notice a difference.
 
I can't remember where I saw some pics of a fella on this board that came up with a wooden encloure based around the oem sub location. Wish I saved those pics for a reference.

I concur with Ed. The Basslink might be the ticket for a decent bass w/o going through serious cutting and hacking. For around $400, you get two 10" push/pull subs with an amplifier in a supreme enclosure.

That being said, I'm still curious to see an elegant solution to the bass issue!

Ali
 
I was looking at the Stealth boxes, but they didn't have those available for Cruisers. Another thing I was gonna do was have my friend make a fiberglass enclosure that looks stock with a 10.. The space back there is so shallow, so not much room to work with.
Also, alia76 mentioned about working around the enclosure. I was going to do that using wood and caulking. The reason I didn't do that was because there was no room to make the box so it would be sealed without hitting my sheetmetal. I was also afraid of to much heat back there.
But if someone has tried it and hasn't overheated the aftermarket amp with the sub enclosed(with backside of box on the metal panel) then I might try it.
Also, how does the LX450 stock subs look?? Could I cut my Cruisers one and drop an 8W7 in??

Here's an idea. Take off center console and drop a 6" JL in a box under it. Hook up wiring and amp. Cut a 6" hole in back of center console. Get the stock grille that came in Cruisers and make holes so it snaps in. I think that would look great and give it a stock look. If I had the material then I would try that......
 
I put in an 8" sub in place of the factory one and mounted it on the rear panel cover. Not exactly ideal but it works. Put in an Alpine head unit with a sub output to a 100W amp and 6-disc MP3 changer. I made brackets to mount the amp and changer to the framework. Dynomated everything as well. Amp may be too low in power because it doesn't have the punch I was hoping for. Replacing factory door speakers were a great improvement though.
 
I concur...replacing all factory speakers with *any* aftermarket should be an improvement! I may not fit a sub in the oem location but wouldn't mind using the cubby thing back there for the CD changer. I like the covered lid to the cubby to keep things neat and tidy.
 
97tlc....What kine sub you running?? How big is the magnet?? Also, 150w should be good for some punch if you want it cheap and good.
 
Hwn built, I have a Rockford Fosgate 8" sub and amp. The magnet was big enough that I had to mount it on the outside of the panel. If I mounted it inside the panel, it would be touching the outside sheetmetal (life is full of compromises). I used a 2 channel amp and bridged it to drive the sub.

Hey brah, I see you're from Kona. My sister lives in Palisades. We are from Kailua, Oahu.
 
Oh, those Rockfords are pretty good. I had 2 old ones back in the day and they were good for their size.

Oh yeah, I live Kona Acres in Palisades. By Holo Holo St. So where are you now?? Still in Kailua on Oahu??
 

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