underseat sub build

[DanMedeiros]

Hi Mud world,

I figured I should post up about this project in case anyone else is interested in adding a subwoofer under the passenger seat. Granted I am not the most mechanically inclined but this took me forever to figure out and was the culmination of many interrelated projects.

One of my projects this year was to build out my Witts End quarter panel mount from @NLXTACY . On my trip to Baja a year ago I was frustrated that I didn't have onboard air and my factory stereo crapped out. I asked a audio shopped and they said my OEM amp was toasted. So I built my quarter panel mount around adding a via compressor and a 5 channel amp. My new plan was to add solar, 5-channel amp, and via compressor utilizing the wit's end panel.

 

[DanMedeiros]

I already have a ham radio (icom 5100-a) under the driver seat so I needed to utilize the passenger side if I wanted to stash a sub. I wanted to go this route because as much as I love good beats and bumping the notorious BIG in my "LX four and a half" I didn't want to take up cargo room with a sub. This of course meant I needed bypass and pull the rear heater. This was a big project accomplished with the kit from @NLXTACY and the gates hose from @LandCruiserPhil . I also changed all my hoses and flushed my radiator

 

[DanMedeiros]

Once I had the rear heater out I was surprised by how little room there actually is under the seat. To have any chance of fitting the sub I needed to lift the seat a bit. I used @NLXTACY chair lift brackets. These were not that straightforward to install. I came very close to screwing up my seat which is my fault due to being a klutz

Here is a picture of how its supposed to fit on the chair. I had to kinda figure this out as the directions I had for for the land tank extensions. These brackets work a bit differently.

 

[DanMedeiros]

Here is the speaker I used in the sub enclosure I ended up building. Of course I bought it from a local shop for double the price I could have found it online


https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-TS-SW2002D2-8-inch-Shallow-Mount-Subwoofer/dp/B00JQTU434

 

[DanMedeiros]

I will admit that it took me 4 attempts to get the enclosure spec'd right. Every shop will tell you to use 5/8 MDF to build an enclosure. However when I built a box that just barely fit inside the space under the PS seat there was not enough clearance to actually fit the damm speaker! I was about to toss this sub in the trash but then decided to try building another box out of 1/2" baltic birch than I had laying around. This allowed the speaker to just barely fit in the enclosure

 

[DanMedeiros]

You can see from the above photo that I had to build the box narrow enough to fit in the space left by the rear heater but that the top of the box needed to be wider to actually be able to screw down the speaker and it's surround. I'll post up exact dimensions of the box I found when I find my notes.

 

[DanMedeiros]

Here is the box with speaker installed. To wire it up I first tried to use a standard connector that I bought from the stereo store. It was too big to actually work with the tiny box I built so I used a weatherproof connector from @NLXTACY . I'm sure the audio shop would think this is lame but screw em.

 

[DanMedeiros]

Here is the sub in its final configuration with the PS seat removed

 

[DanMedeiros]

I then realized i had no idea on how to actually secure the damm box under the seat that wouldn't cause a ton of rattling. I ended up taking the speaker out of the box and bolting through the box and the floor. This was a giant pain cause I had used a ton of silicon to seal the speaker into the box and make it air tight. Took me an hour with an exacto knife to get the speaker out. So my advice is bolt the box in before you do the final speaker install

 

[DanMedeiros]

Here is the sub under my seat with the Witt's End Fire extinguisher mount. I thought the FEM would rattle but it doesn't.

 

[DanMedeiros]

I ended up stuffing a ton of insulation and Noico mat under the sub. The floor was crazy hot under there and I had chipped out all the factory insulation to make more room for the sub. Enclosure and the passenger seat in general seems much cooler now.

 

[DanMedeiros]

So anyway I got the sub tuned by the local shop. Despite its small size it makes a massive difference. I think the main benefit is that now the door speakers are just pushing out highs and mids and sound much more full and precise. Certainly wouldn't impress anyone in a lowlier with a giant system but not gets long enough to make my baby cry.. I think having a proper amp makes a ton of difference too compared to using a powered sub