Worklog - Road RagE II (2007 Tundra)

[07BlackCrewMax]

make sure to do a final wrap up photo shoot showing all the mods you've made - I'd love to see it compiled in a single post of pictures... Great work!!

[PS-RagE]

At last the story continues on the sub enclosure........

.....so the fabric "bridge" I'd created to join the back wall to the MDF box sagged under the weight of the resin. I saw it as it happened but there was nothing I could do and figured it could be easily corrected afterwards. Well, when "afterwards" came along it turned out to be a pretty bad sag. I tried to just fill it but the glass got ridiculously thick and I came to the decision that I was never going to get it flat like this.

Finally, I just cut the damned thing off:



You can see when I laid the MDF on it just how bad that sag was and how thick the glass was getting:



So now with only a bit more glass I finished the roughing:



Next, of course comes the filler. Here is the "finished" box being test fit in the truck:




I just had to get it "smooth enough" because from here I brought it to an upholstery shop where they covered it with vinyl:




The whole idea behind that is so I can have the "pebbly" texture to match the interior. It looks black in the above pic but it is actually a dark bluey-grey

And now tonight I have begun the final assembly.

Here is a set of crossovers:



And a teaser pic of where I'm going with this:



But that is it for tonight. Tomorrow I should be able to get the majority of the assembly complete.

Please stand by............

[Jumbo Jet]

As always, amazing work. Giving me some great ideas.

I have always mounted my crossovers as close to the speakers as I could. You see any down side to having them on the amp rack that far from the speakers? I dont remember where I heard it, but years ago someone told me to keep them close. Never made much sense to me, but I did it anyhow. I'd really like to have them on my amp rack too. Seems like the best place for them.

[PS-RagE]

Next is to begin the power wiring.

Even though the Tundra has a 150A alternator, at full volume this system is capable of 1.6kW which works out to 115A at 13.8v. However, if we look at the potential peak power, that is about 2265W/164A. So, I figured a capacitor probably wouldn't hurt and I ordered one.

Got a bit of a surprise when it came in and they handed me a wooden box:



Even more of a surprise when I saw the cap complete with a pair of white gloves so you don't get finger prints on it!



That is a Tsunami X15HCAP-20: a 20 farad, hybrid capacitor.

Along with the cap, I got a pair of Tsunami V10PG4-MANL distribution blocks:



Bit of perspective distortion there, they are actually much smaller than the cap.

So the blocks are connected to the cap with a couple short lengths of 4 gauge cable and the amps are connected to the blocks with short runs of 8 gauge. I'm using 50A fuses for each of the 300W amps and a 150A fuse for the 1000W sub amp (rule of thumb is your fuse should be double the expected current draw):








Next up is the audio interconnects. The head is connected to an audio processor via a length of fiber. The output from the processor goes to the amps via RCA cables.

I ordered a 30m spool of Belden 8461 audio cable and some Puresonic gold plated connectors:



The connector is soldered on and a bit of heatshrink is used for a strain relief:



All five cables are made and the cable covered with a nylon braid. The lefts and rights are braided together:







And that's is all I got done this weekend - 13 hours worth. Sure glad I'm not billing me by the hour!

[Jumbo Jet]

Again, amazing work as always. I cant believe you got all of that to fit on that rack. You must have been a Tetris wiz. Looks like youre pretty close to firing this thing up.

What are you doing about your steering wheel controls with the new Alpine? I need to find something to keep mine with the new Kenwood.

[PS-RagE]

Steering wheel controls are already hooked up (see page 2). The same gizmo I used will work for your Kenwood, I think.

As for your putting the crossovers in the back, I can't see any reason why not. It is how I had them with my last truck. To me, the most likely way to induce noise is going to be with the long low-level interconnects running from the head to the amps. In my last truck, I used a sheilded cable for those. No need for that this time since they will be no longer than a meter

[wag91]

Rage,

On your Alpine 205, does it have a "camera" heading under the source button? I wired my camera in today as you did on this log and it doesn't seem to be working. The camera is turned on in the Alpine. I have not supplied a line to the reverse line yet. Maybe that is it.

[PS-RagE]

Not under "source" - under "display"

[wag91]

Thanks, working great now. It was the reverse line. This thread is excellent.

[PS-RagE]

The straight RCA connecters were too long to plug to the amps so I had to order some short stemmed 90° ones:



These new connecters are soldered on and the cables routed:





The amplifier outputs are connected to the crossovers:





And the covers for the crossovers are replaced:



The new crossovers use quick connects - gotta question Alpine's choice using those for this tier of product. Since I am not trusting of a simple friction fit I chose to solder the wires in place instead.

Anyhow, finally I can install the subs! I used some #12 speaker wire left over from my home theater install:





I stuck duct seal along the rims:



And here we are:



Remember, that is the underside of the enclosure - the subs will be downfiring. I suppose I could have painted it <shrug>


Wow - let me tell you this assembly is heavy! I knew it was going to be but it is so heavy I can barely move it

Next, I have to hook up the amps' remote inputs and provide power to the radio and wireless amplifier but for the most part this portion is complete. Next week I can get this in the truck and start rerouting my power runs to the heavy lines in the back.

.

[SpecoPerformance]

Next, I have to hook up the amps' remote inputs and provide power to the radio and wireless amplifier but for the most part this portion is complete. Next week I can get this in the truck and start rerouting my power runs to the heavy lines in the back.

.[/quote]

ahhh, why bothering even putting it into your truck? ill meet you and let you put it in mine instead

[dani7]

wow!!! what kind of alarm is going it? colt 45?> ak-47?

[txbonds]

Extremely nice setup.

Can you possibly confirm for me if the Alpine IVA-205 will work with Ipod Videos? I've seen reports on crutchfields website that indicate it won't play videos, but other items lead me to believe it will.

I'm looking for a double din headunit that can do control of ipod video/audio, as well as blue tooth, rear seat screen, dvd, etc.

I've narrowed my list to

Clarion 675
Kenwood 8019
Pioner AVIC-D3
and hopefully the alpine if it can do it.

Thanks for any insight.

[PS-RagE]

iPod video? Never tried it. I'll check and see what my video options are

[markramirez]

I don't believe the W205 will do Ipod video. The new W505 will. And I just bought my 205!! Cars: Alpine IVA-W505 Video Headunit Plays DivX, iPod Video