# '17 F-150 Install - Some Old / Some New



## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

A couple weeks ago I picked up a new '17 F150 XLT. Coming off of a '14 FX4, the downgrade in audio was shocking! So much so, that it compelled me to dig out some old audio gear and do an install! 

I had considered using a LOC/DSP such as the JL FIX86, but after reading up on the capability of FORSCAN and an OBD programmer, I can use this to de-EQ my trucks signal and have it output a line-level signal. So instead of using a JL FIX, I can take advantage of a full DSP, such as the TWK88.

When it came to drivers, I was pretty undecided. Back in 2003/2004 I had a buddy sponsored by Kicker, so I was able to get some 6.5 components pretty cheap. They were ok, but I sold them with my old Tahoe. I eventually demo'd some ARC Audio Black and really liked them, but for $700? No way. After doing a bit of research, I found that there are SB drivers that are basically the same thing! So, to get this off the ground, I decided to give the SB drivers a shot.

Equipment I'll be re-using from long long ago:
Kicker SX650.1 Amp to drive an equally old Solobaric L7 S12 Sub
Kicker SX700.3 Amp to drive front speakers

The new:
SB Acoustics SB17NRXC35-4 Mid
SB Acoustics SB29RDC-C000-4 Tweeter
JL Audio TWK88 DSP

My plan is go fully active - why not? I'll run 2 channels of the 700.4 to the front tweeters and the other 2 channels to the mids. Eventually I'll add another 2 channel amp for some rears - using a preset in the TWK to turn them on when family is onboard.

I ordered some Noico 80mil Sound deadening material from Amazon
Fast Rings also ordered, along with panel popper tools.

From my local audio shop, I bought a Stinger 4ga amp install kit, and will pick up the TWK88 today. I'm trying to do this on a budget, but also trying to buy some stuff through the shop as they have been helpful with answering my questions.

So.. where to begin? I decided to tear into the doors and add sound deadening material - probably to max overkill levels, so lets go!

Here's my untouched, virgin door about to be violated!

20171020_182435 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Door card removed - not as easy as it looks! Removed the thin plastic panel and butyl seal, will make a better panel and re-use the butyl probably. I also pulled off the white foam covering a few holes and the black stickers, covering yet more holes. Cleaned it all up using some denatured alcohol.

20171020_185139 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Interesting that the door already had some soundproofing material, though not very securely attached. I did my best to fix that. This section looks like some standard butyl sound proofing, though in the lower part of the door was something different.. some odd spongy material that was attached, then sprayed over. I'll leave that alone.

20171020_191659 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Interesting spongy stuff:

20171020_191705 by jpcrion, on Flickr

I pretty much went to town for a few hours friday night adding the Noico SD material. I decided to re-use the factory speaker screw holes, so I cut around the locations. I will add some riv-nuts later to hold my new access panel in place. I was too impatient to wait for the tool purchase! Here's the finished door:

20171020_215630 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Next up is buying some material for speaker baffles and the door panels. I will get some 1/4" MDF for making templates. The baffles will be made from a nylon cutting board I can get at Sam's Club for about 8 bucks. Not sure what material the panel will be made from. I've considered 1/4" MDF painted and covered with SD material. I do NOT want to have it disintegrate later and re-do it, so I may find some 1/4" plastic somewhere.

So, Saturday will be shopping for materials and some tools and off to my Dad's to fabricate some templates for the baffles and panels.


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## DavidRam (Nov 2, 2014)

This stuff will work well for the baffles: 
https://www.amazon.com/Seaboard-Den...qid=1508767956&sr=1-3&keywords=hdpe+sheet+1/4


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

DavidRam said:


> This stuff will work well for the baffles:
> https://www.amazon.com/Seaboard-Den...qid=1508767956&sr=1-3&keywords=hdpe+sheet+1/4


That would work perfectly for the door access panel cover. I'm looking to source it locally, hopefully for a bit less. $40 is more than I wanted to spendon 2 pieces. I did see that Menard's near me sells 1/4" thick in a 4x8ft sheet for $54. So If I have to, I may go that route.

We'll see what I can source today.


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

Day 2!

Time to fabricate some baffles and the access panel cover. I've got some shopping to do. Off to Sam's club to purchase a couple HDPE cutting boards. They'll work great as baffle material - they are about 1/2" thick and I can easily get 2 baffles from one cutting board. For less than $9 it's perfect.

For the access panel cover, I'm not sure what material I'll use yet. The HPDE cutting boards aren't big enough so I'll have to source it from somewhere. The local home improvement store has a sheet of 1/4" HPDE for $54, so I may end up going that route, though it's more than I want to spend. Anyone want to buy some baffles/access panel covers? 

I do have a couple pieces of 1/4" MDF that i'll be using to make templates, so here we go:

Using stock speaker and the plastic that is covering the access hole now, I traced out the shape of the template:

20171020_222343 by jpcrion, on Flickr

20171020_222415 by jpcrion, on Flickr

I used my jig saw to rough cut them before I went over to my Dad's house. He's got a pretty good woodshop setup, so it'll be much easier to do this with some good tools. It makes a HUGE difference!

I cut the baffle template out a bit more closely with the band saw: 

20171021_154401 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Sanded it down using the spindle and belt sander:

20171021_162529 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Once I was satisfied with the shape, I transferred the shape to the HPDE. I cut it out using the band saw, then screwed the template onto the HPDE. I also rough-cut the inside hole. Over to the router table next. Using a flush trim bit, I trimmed the HPDE to match the template.

20171021_164915 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Over to the router table next. Using a flush trim bit, I set the height to only cut the HPDE and trace the template.

20171021_164946 by jpcrion, on Flickr

I then trimmed off the excess material, ending up with a pair of baffles matching the template.

20171021_165114 by jpcrion, on Flickr

20171021_165448 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Next, I rough-cut the access panel from the 1/4" MDF on the band-saw. Back to the belt and spindle sander to finish up the shape.

20171021_172548 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Then a test-fit on the door. Looks pretty good!

20171021_180426 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Baffle looks like it'll work well also.

20171021_180547 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Today's work is complete.. I have a pair of baffles and a template for the access panel cover. I did make a 2nd panel cover since I had all the equipment out - I am kicking around the idea of painting/sealing the MDF panel and using it. I should really go get some HPDE and do it right though.

I'll probably go home and start working on putting the sound deadening material in the driver's door.


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

That baffle came out nice! I wish my 15L7 would fit in my F150.


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

BP1Fanatic said:


> That baffle came out nice! I wish my 15L7 would fit in my F150.


That would be insane! I'm going to run my old L7 S12 for now. It's in a nice portable box that I can keep in behind the passenger seat. When the truck is full of people, I'll just throw it in the bed.

Phase 2 will be to build something under the seat. Maybe a 10, or a pair of 8's.


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## EvAnA (Aug 20, 2012)

McKrakken said:


> That would be insane! I'm going to run my old L7 S12 for now. It's in a nice portable box that I can keep in behind the passenger seat. When the truck is full of people, I'll just throw it in the bed.
> 
> Phase 2 will be to build something under the seat. Maybe a 10, or a pair of 8's.


I had 2 JL 13TW5v2s fit under my rear seats and managed JLs recommend airspace. The front of the box did stick out 2 inches or so but was functional. I think I still have the sketchup design if any of the measurements would help your designs.

About to sell both of them. They definitely slammed but the F3 was a little higher than I could settle for long term.


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## Mullings (Jan 31, 2016)

I didn’t take pictures of the door treatment but I put beyma 8nld and ast50 in all 4 doors and (3) jl Audio 10tw3 played by Rockford fosgate t1000/4ad, 1500/1 and t400/4 controlled by a Audison bit one, incredible loud clean










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## Mullings (Jan 31, 2016)

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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

EvAnA said:


> I had 2 JL 13TW5v2s fit under my rear seats and managed JLs recommend airspace. The front of the box did stick out 2 inches or so but was functional. I think I still have the sketchup design if any of the measurements would help your designs.
> 
> About to sell both of them. They definitely slammed but the F3 was a little higher than I could settle for long term.


Thanks, I'd be interested in the sketchup design. I'm totally uneducated in designing a sub.. so any help would be great!

My thought was to have the box under the seat be more stealthy and not stick out.. but all plans can change.


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

Mullings said:


> I didn’t take pictures of the door treatment but I put beyma 8nld and ast50 in all 4 doors and (3) jl Audio 10tw3 played by Rockford fosgate t1000/4ad, 1500/1 and t400/4 controlled by a Audison bit one, incredible loud clean
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Looks awesome! I was thinking of going with one or 2 10tw3.. or a pair of 8s. though if I start using my S12, I may not want to go backwards to 8.


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## EvAnA (Aug 20, 2012)

McKrakken said:


> Thanks, I'd be interested in the sketchup design. I'm totally uneducated in designing a sub.. so any help would be great!
> 
> My thought was to have the box under the seat be more stealthy and not stick out.. but all plans can change.


I'll have to dig up the final design I used and I can share it out.

It's very similar to Mullings box using the extra airspace behind but I did mine down-firing following the angle of the seat.

I also sketched up a box for a more accurate representation of maximum airspace underneath the seat after I built the box, I was able to tweak it to fit flush with the seats and raised the front a tad. This one won't fit the 13s I had but would give you a good jumping off point for designs. I'll try to find that design as well.


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## Mullings (Jan 31, 2016)

I tried squeezing every little space under the seat but only managed 1.85 cubic feet but the output is massive, accurate and tight


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

That's my problem, the rear seats have legs. I would love to do a BP4 with 6.5's or 8's under the rear seats.


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## Mullings (Jan 31, 2016)

For that seat I’d do a few 8w3’s firing forward


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

I'd be worried about somebody kicking them. That's why I want a BP4 enclosure.


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

BP1Fanatic said:


> I'd be worried about somebody kicking them. That's why I want a BP4 enclosure.


I've seen some cool heavy duty grills or bars across the driver to prevent someone from kicking it.


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## EvAnA (Aug 20, 2012)

Added the two designs I mentioned in the link below. It's a OneDrive share. Let me know if it doesn't work.

The seat-space-box is literally just a representation of what's available minus the secondary addition on the back of the box which some people may or may not want to do. But the under seat floor space without sticking out anywhere on its own is 2.0698 cubic ft.

Microsoft OneDrive - Sketchup


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## vwguy383 (Dec 4, 2008)

Sub'd for a fellow MN'er. I'd go with the MDF baffles in the doors and just find something to waterproof them. They look real nice. What made you decide to go with the sound deadener you chose?


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

vwguy383 said:


> Sub'd for a fellow MN'er. I'd go with the MDF baffles in the doors and just find something to waterproof them. They look real nice. What made you decide to go with the sound deadener you chose?


I'll give the plastics shop near my dad a shot. He said he gets remnants there, so if it's not too expensive, I'll make the panel covers from plastic also. I'd rather do it "right" once, than open the doors back up in a year to find them a mess from moisture. If the HDPE is too expensive, then MDF it is! I'll just seal the hell out of it. 

I chose the Noico based on cost and reviews on Amazon. The audio shop near me wanted $60 for 10sqft of hushmat.. this was 36sqft for the same $60. Lots of great reviews, so I figured I'd try it.. yeah, I'm probably going way overkill with the coverage.. but I like it!

Where in MN are you located?


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## Serieus (May 27, 2011)

McKrakken said:


> I chose the Noico based on cost and reviews on Amazon. The audio shop near me wanted $60 for 10sqft of hushmat.. this was 36sqft for the same $60. Lots of great reviews, so I figured I'd try it.. yeah, I'm probably going way overkill with the coverage.. but I like it!
> 
> Where in MN are you located?


noico is pretty good stuff, esp. for the price. i bought some of it and ran it in my last car, and have plenty to finish up the new car when i get around to doing my build  seemed to stick better than the second skin damplifier (not damplifier pro) that was in my old car, not that the second skin had any issues with falling off but it didn't like to stick around some corners. the noico sat in my car in some fairly hot weather (north carolina summer) and had no issues, everything was still stuck in place very strongly when i sold it. hard to beat for the price!


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## vwguy383 (Dec 4, 2008)

McKrakken said:


> I'll give the plastics shop near my dad a shot. He said he gets remnants there, so if it's not too expensive, I'll make the panel covers from plastic also. I'd rather do it "right" once, than open the doors back up in a year to find them a mess from moisture. If the HDPE is too expensive, then MDF it is! I'll just seal the hell out of it.
> 
> I chose the Noico based on cost and reviews on Amazon. The audio shop near me wanted $60 for 10sqft of hushmat.. this was 36sqft for the same $60. Lots of great reviews, so I figured I'd try it.. yeah, I'm probably going way overkill with the coverage.. but I like it!
> 
> Where in MN are you located?


I'm located in Hastings. What shop are you going to? Mach1?


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

vwguy383 said:


> McKrakken said:
> 
> 
> > I'll give the plastics shop near my dad a shot. He said he gets remnants there, so if it's not too expensive, I'll make the panel covers from plastic also. I'd rather do it "right" once, than open the doors back up in a year to find them a mess from moisture. If the HDPE is too expensive, then MDF it is! I'll just seal the hell out of it.
> ...


I'm up in Rogers. I've been working with the owner at Mobile Installation in Brooklyn Park. It's right on my way home so it's easy to drop in. Should get my TWK88 on Thursday.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Very nice what you’ve going going so far. I wouldn’t list this as a budget build as I didn’t see you State a budget during my read. It’s nice to see someone doing a build that isn’t over zealous with dropping large dollar amounts in it.


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

Coppertone said:


> Very nice what you’ve going going so far. I wouldn’t list this as a budget build as I didn’t see you State a budget during my read. It’s nice to see someone doing a build that isn’t over zealous with dropping large dollar amounts in it.


It's "budget" in the sense that I'm trying to get it done without spending a ton of money right now. I'm trying to keep the implementation cost under $1k.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Now you’ve really peaked my interest as I’ve never had a build cost me less then $1000.00 in parts alone. I know you’ll get it done and the outcome will be on point. 


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

Ok, so another day of work. I'm working on the driver's door, putting in the sound dampening material, installing riv-nuts for the access panel cover, and I'll even take a crack at running new wire through my door boots - molex connectors!

Door card removed - nothing exciting to see here.

20171022_103300 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Looks like there's some moisture in the door. Makes sense since I did just drive home in the rain. I inspected the existing sound dampening material and found that they did a really really poor job of installing it. Rolling it caused water to squirt up and out of the top so obviously it's not adhered to the door properly. I'll have to cut out that section, clean it up and get it ready for new stuff to be applied over it.

20171022_110218 by jpcrion, on Flickr

I also noticed that the factory sound dampener was put on very poorly at the bottom - it stuck up and covered these foam "mounds". When they sprayed the doors, the dampener prevented paint from getting where it needed to, so it looks like there's some staining taking place.. eventually it will be rust if not taken care of. So, I cut around that also, and will clean it up and put some primer on it.

20171022_110015 by jpcrion, on Flickr

I applied the dampener inside the door after drying it out with a towel and blowing a heater in there for a while. I then started working on the access panel again. I want to see how this riv-nut thing works. 

I laid out some possible locations for the screws. I need to verify if they will work, so I took the existing plastic access cover and mapped my screw holes to it.. over to the door and made a few adjustments.

20171022_121402 by jpcrion, on Flickr

20171022_121443 by jpcrion, on Flickr

I then re-marked the holes on my MDF cover and drilled the holes. Now back over to the door to transfer these holes to the door. I held it in place using tape while marking the holes. In hindsight, I should have made ONE hole, finished the riv-nut, mounted it securely, then moved on to the next one.

20171022_124538 by jpcrion, on Flickr

After the holes were marked, I put tape over them to help keep the bit from walking. It worked very well. I then drilled all the holes. Again, in hindsight I would have done this differently, and will on the passenger side. I'll finish 2 rivnuts then mount the panel cover, and use the holes as guides for the drilling. On this drivers side door, the bottom 2 holes are off a bit. Not a big deal. I can either enlarge the holes a bit, or if I decided to make plastic panel covers, I can relocate the holes a bit. they are off by less than 1/8".

Using an el-cheapo riv-nut tool I put in the riv-nuts. I have read about some guys using some touch-up paint to cover the bare metal from drilling. I didn't have any on hand, so I used some RTV around the back to seal it up. I think this will be better as I'm thinking that putting in the riv-nut will end up taking the paint off again.

20171024_202531 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Riv-nuts in place and I added started working on adding more dampening material.

20171024_202441 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Here's the door after I completed the sound dampening and mounted the panel on again. You'll see the two holes at the bottom with no screws - those holes will have to be re-located a bit. I don't want to do that now though. I'll wait until I have access to a drill press, and some plastic to re-fab the panels.

20171024_214851 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Next I'll take a crack at running new wire - what could possibly go wrong??


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

New wire. I probably dont' NEED to run new wire to the doors considering that I'm only running about 85w to the door speaker right now. But I hope to eventually upgrade the amps and probably get new drivers too - I'm already eyeing up the SI mids! So, it's probably best that new wire is run. I don't like the idea of splicing into the existing factory wire either.

I researched and read the horror stories about dealing with molex connectors. So I stopped by the Audio shop and asked what he wants to run the wire for me. He said $75-80. Hmmmm. Ok, I'll let him know, maybe do it friday when I pick up my TWK88 from him.

I went home and did a little googling to see what these molex connectors are like. I have zero experience with them! I've always seen running wire through the door boots as an absolute nightmare, so... lets do it! 

First thing is to remove the molex connector from the door. I did this by popping off the top boot. A little prying with a panel popper tool did the trick. Then, on the top of the connector there are two small tabs that get pressed in while I pull out.. pop, the top comes out. One tab on the bottom and the connector comes out as a whole - not so bad!

20171024_185412 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Hmm.. now what? After messing around with the molex connector for a min, I found a couple tabs that allow me to separate the connector. from the backside (truck side) there are two plugs that go into the back of the connector. I removed those and checked out what kind of room I have to work with. Fortunately the top gray connector has NO pins in the middle, so that's what I'll use. My speaker wire is some really nice twisted/shielded wire from work but I don't want to drill a 1/4" hole though the connector to run wire.. so instead I'll strip the wire back, run it through the connector and then twist it again after.

I picked a small drill, just bigger than the wire and carefully.. CAREFULLY drilled through the connector. No hurry and no need to hammer the throttle on the drill. I very slowly drilled through, being careful to feel the backside for when the drill popped through. That was successful.. so I did another hole right next to it. Spent a little time cleaning it up so the connector would go back together again without hunks of plastic in the way. A little test fit and success! Wire goes through no problem.

To make sure I got the hole exactly correct on the backside gray plug, I inserted it back into the molex connector then ran the drill through to make a small pilot hole. I took the gray connector back out and finished the hole.

molex connector holes look like this

20171024_192502 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Here's a shot of my wire.. I stripped back about 2ft of shielding so I could run it through the molex connector.

20171024_191541 by jpcrion, on Flickr

A little heat shrink to tidy things up and protect it.

20171024_191731 by jpcrion, on Flickr

I heard that running the wire through the driver side and into the cabin was really hard, especially with the emergency brake there. I tried it with the un-stripped end of my cable since it's nice and stiff.. went through no problem! A little poking back there and it wasn't bad at all. Now, how to get my stripped end through? I didn't take pics but I took a 3/4" piece of shrink tubing I had that's about a foot long and ran it over the wire that came through to the cabin.. worked the tubing so it poked out the hole so it basically bridged from the door jamb to inside the cabin. I pulled the un stripped end of wire back out, then ran my stripped wire through the tube starting from inside the cabin, to the outside.. easy! Pulled the shrink tube out and we're ready for the next phase.

I need to run the wire through the gray connector, then through the molex connector. I untwisted the wire and it ran through easily. I pulled it up to the shrink junction.

20171024_193058 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Then I had to feed it through the molex connector and out the backside. No problem there either. I put the molex connector back together and everything looks good! Just need to figure out how to get the wire through the boot.

20171024_193633 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Unfortunately I didn't take any pics of this.. I guess I was too focused on figuring it out. I may just do an entire guide when I do the passenger door and post it separately. I popped the boot grommit out on the door and cut a zip tie that held a wire in place inside the door.. I worked the bundle of wire out as much as I could to get the boot as straight as possible. Since the bottom of the boot was taped up, I had to cut off the tape to expose the opening. I used the unstripped end of my cable to again run up the boot and out the top. It took a little wiggling and massaging the boot to get it through, but I did it. No lube was needed, but it would have helped I'm sure.

Once I got the cable out the top of the boot, I taped my new speaker wire on and pulled it back through and out the bottom. 

20171024_195811 by jpcrion, on Flickr

I retaped the bottom of the boot with electrical tape to seal it back up and reinstalled the boot into the door. I was surprised how easily it went back together. Not so bad at all.

Here's some fresh new re-twisted wire just waiting for a new driver to.. well, drive!

20171024_202149 by jpcrion, on Flickr

I just had to re-install the upper boot gromit thinger. The easiest way to accomplish this, I found, was to put the boot back on the molex plug first. Once the boot is back on the molex connector, it pops right back in place, sealing to the truck just like it's supposed to.

20171024_200343 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Ok.. I think that's enough for tonight. While this is all going on, my son is sitting on my driver's seat "working" on his homework.. or not really working. It's time to close up shop for the night and get his homework done!

Tomorrow I'll tackle the other door, and if I can leave work early I will try to pick up some plastic to remake those panel covers.


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## EvAnA (Aug 20, 2012)

Looking good so far. I'm pretty sure I've blocked out the memories of the running wire through connector phase of my build.

BTW my TwK88 arrived last night and I swapped it in with the forscan de-eq line level change. Coming from a Fix-Twk combo it's almost a night and day difference....its amazing when you can vastly improve on the distortion from the source. Highs, mids, and lows all more dynamic like they aren't trying hard even at full tilt.

You're getting off on the right foot the first time unlike me.


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

EvAnA said:


> Looking good so far. I'm pretty sure I've blocked out the memories of the running wire through connector phase of my build.
> 
> BTW my TwK88 arrived last night and I swapped it in with the forscan de-eq line level change. Coming from a Fix-Twk combo it's almost a night and day difference....its amazing when you can vastly improve on the distortion from the source. Highs, mids, and lows all more dynamic like they aren't trying hard even at full tilt.
> 
> You're getting off on the right foot the first time unlike me.


I'll have to talk to you about how you did the forscan. I haven't hooked mine up yet. I downloaded the SW and got the forum membership, but not the license yet. 

Interesting.. are you thinking that it's much better to not use the FIX at all? That's the route I was going to go.. but if that's the case, I'm really happy that I decided to go forscan and TWK!


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

Coppertone said:


> Now you’ve really peaked my interest as I’ve never had a build cost me less then $1000.00 in parts alone. I know you’ll get it done and the outcome will be on point.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


To be fair, I am reusing my amps.

I'm not sure what it would cost today to get good 4x85 and 750x1 amps. I'd expect I would have to spend 500-750.

My drivers came out to be 190 shipped. Huge savings over buying the ARC Blacks.

The biggest cost for this build will be the JL TWK88 at about 425. The rest is not too bad. I'll have to add up the various parts but it should come out to about 1k.


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## Coppertone (Oct 4, 2011)

Even reusing your old amps still doing this build cost wise is impressive. I’m sticking with my current gear minus a dsp for my next build. Depending on the car/truck/ van that I pick up, I will decide then if the head needs swapping or if I can just get away with a dsp tied in. Will keep reading what you’re sharing and you’re doing a great job so far.


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## EvAnA (Aug 20, 2012)

McKrakken said:


> I'll have to talk to you about how you did the forscan. I haven't hooked mine up yet. I downloaded the SW and got the forum membership, but not the license yet.
> 
> Interesting.. are you thinking that it's much better to not use the FIX at all? That's the route I was going to go.. but if that's the case, I'm really happy that I decided to go forscan and TWK!


Definitely just let me know, you'll need the license for Forscan. Might want to do that part ahead of time because it took a little under 24 hours for me to get mine sent to me.

That's what I'm finding with even only 1.5 hours of listening last night, only had time for a quick minimal tune as well. Since we can get unclipped pre-amp signal with eq-off from factory it defeats the purpose of the FiX. And in general better than adding another device to the mix trying to convert the high levels to low levels. I thought it sounded good before with the FiX but my ears are telling me now that I was still dealing with some distortion.


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

Coppertone said:


> Even reusing your old amps still doing this build cost wise is impressive. I’m sticking with my current gear minus a dsp for my next build. Depending on the car/truck/ van that I pick up, I will decide then if the head needs swapping or if I can just get away with a dsp tied in. Will keep reading what you’re sharing and you’re doing a great job so far.


Thanks, I appreciate the comments.

Well, if you pick up a F150, I have the template for the door panels and baffles. lol Not to mention a guide I'll put together for running new wire to the doors.


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

EvAnA said:


> Definitely just let me know, you'll need the license for Forscan. Might want to do that part ahead of time because it took a little under 24 hours for me to get mine sent to me.
> 
> That's what I'm finding with even only 1.5 hours of listening last night, only had time for a quick minimal tune as well. Since we can get unclipped pre-amp signal with eq-off from factory it defeats the purpose of the FiX. And in general better than adding another device to the mix trying to convert the high levels to low levels. I thought it sounded good before with the FiX but my ears are telling me now that I was still dealing with some distortion.


This is really encouraging!

I'll get my TWK on Thursday or Friday - hopefully I can get the rest of the system up and running this weekend. I'm guessing that running the power wire through the firewall will be the biggest challenge. Though, it probably won't be fun taking apart the center console.


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

Another day, a bit more progress. I stopped by a plastics shop and scored a 2x6 sheet that was left over from a job, for only $25. It was near my Dad's house so I popped over there and routed them out quick. 

I went home and alternated between catching a few minutes of the baseball game and working on running new speaker wire though the passenger side molex connector. No major issues encountered. It was kind of funny - my wife was out wondering what I was doing so I explained how I had to run wire.. as soon as I said I need to drill through the molex connector, she left. lol "This is too stressful!" She says "how do you know what to do!?" I said "you just start hacking away". She left. Maybe I should have answered with a bit more of a confidence inspiring comment. 

I'll skip all the pics I took of ripping trim off, drilling, running wire.. etc.. but there is new wire!

20171025_203856 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Last thing of the evening was to install the riv-nuts on the passenger door and test fit the new panel.

20171025_213910 by jpcrion, on Flickr

I made a small error when trying to drill one more hole. I drilled through the panel thinking there was door behind it, but nope. So I had to relocate the hole. I filled it in with a little RTV. 

Next I need to cover the panel with sound dampening material. I'm debating between cutting the sound dampening to the exact size of the panel so it's easy to remove OR, cutting the material a little bigger and sealing the panel in. Still can easily be cut away to remove if necessary. Thoughts??

That's it for today!


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## BP1Fanatic (Jan 10, 2010)

Looking good!


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

Pretty productive weekend, though there aren't a lot of pics to show it.

Saturday I started by running the power wire into the cab. It was real fun! With as big as the F150 is, I'm surprised that the engine bay is so densely packed. The typical location to run the power wire is passenger side, behind the fuse box. There is a huge grommet there, along with a much smaller one next to it. I've seen both used. I decided to try the smaller grommet since I've seen a build where the installer was able to remove it to cut a hole. So, that's what I did. I removed the grommet, cut a small "X" and the Stinger 4ga wire snuggly passed through. I really like this wire! Getting through the material on the other side of the wall was a bit more of a challenge. I ended up using an xacto blade to cut a few X's. 

Once again using my trusty shielded wire as the fish, I butted a small section of it to the 4ga power wire, taping it on with electrical tape. I did this so there was a smooth transition from the smaller wire to 4ga. It took some work and some swearing and some PULLING, but I got the twisted wire through, then the 4ga. I pulled the wire through to the cab and put the grommet back in place, went in pretty easy.

20171029_203001 by jpcrion, on Flickr

I had some errands to run, so I looped the wire and zip tied it securely. I need to figure out a good place to mount the fuse holder. I may just get some industrial strength velcro and attach it to the fuse box lid.

20171029_203049 by jpcrion, on Flickr

I took my Son to get his snowmobile certification, so he got to rip around a parking lot.. lol

20171028_131758 by jpcrion, on Flickr

When I got home, I got back to work - In order to get access under the passenger footwell, I had to take out a ton of trim and panels. I did that, and started running the power wire down the passenger side channel. I thought, to make my life easier, why not just remove the rear seats? Sounds like fun! I did that also - while trying to prevent my wife from having a heart attack.

I finished running the wire through the channel and it looks like there is plenty of wire to run to a distribution block.

*Question! I have a couple 4 to 8ga dist blocks. Think it'd be ok to run 8ga power and ground to the amps??*

Looks pretty interesting with no back seat! My amps are there too.. I'm trying to figure out the optimum placement. Need room for my TWK88 also!

20171029_202324 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Sunday I spent about half the day working on my truck. I should have started this a few weeks earlier when it was warm! It's 30's here in MN and my garage isn't heated.  So I' running with a space heater in my truck to warm things/myself up.

I spent all my time today working on the speaker wire. I did two fresh runs of twisted/shielded into the A-Pillar locations. Taking off the A-Pillar cover was super easy, and it looks like installing the new tweeters should go ok. The flange is way too big, so I'll have to dremel the sides down to fit into the channel.

20171029_202024 by jpcrion, on Flickr

20171029_202029 by jpcrion, on Flickr


Before running the wire under the dash so it can be run down the driver side channel, I used some small diameter wire loom to combine the two wires. I ran it under the dash as stealthy as possible, zip tying it where I can. Once I got to the driver side foot well, I was VERY careful to run the wire way way out of the way of any mechanicals. There is no way it can interfere with any pedals.

I then loomed up part of the driver side wire, and finally combined them into a bigger loom - heat shrinking it and running all 4 wires down the driver side channel. Having loomed the wires makes it REALLY easy to work with. I also created a color code system for identifying the wire.

Wire loomed and shrunk - ready to be combined into another bigger loom to be run down the driver side channel.

20171029_185652 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Combined and tidy'd up. I didn't have big enough shrink, so I used electrical tape. When I pull the runs for signal wire, I'll clean it up more and zip tie it all together. The signal runs will be 2 sets of twisted/shielded, in it's own loom. It will be easier to keep track having them separate.

20171029_201613 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Plenty of room in the channel for the wire - and for the signal wire I'll run tonight.

20171029_201650 by jpcrion, on Flickr

Wire in back. Ready to be stripped and installed into the amp. I will also be grounding all the shields, so we'll be breaking out the soldering iron tonight as well. I'm not sure it's necessary to ground the shields, but it will certainly help reduce the chance of any noise issues.

20171029_201703 by jpcrion, on Flickr

I SHOULD be getting my TWK88 today, so I'll hopefully get the call and stop on the way home to get it. I'll finish laying out the amps on the board I'll be using, then off to get some carpet to wrap it.


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## thereddestdog (Feb 21, 2017)

Keep the 8AWG wires short (<14") and you will be able to get away with that


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## Hoye0017 (Mar 23, 2010)

Re: whether to put deadened over the edges of the filler panel.

If those panels are HDPE, you'll probably want to go over the edges and the panel. I haven't tried sticking deadened to HDPE myself but I know HDPE has a bad reputation for getting anything to stick to it. No matter what you do, you may want to flame treat it first.


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

thereddestdog said:


> Keep the 8AWG wires short (


Thanks for the response. I should be able to get the distribution blocks pretty close to the amps. The 8AWG runs should be no more than 1-2ft. Lol.. now that makes me think if they are that short, i may as well just buy some 4AWG!


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

Hoye0017 said:


> Re: whether to put deadened over the edges of the filler panel.
> 
> If those panels are HDPE, you'll probably want to go over the edges and the panel. I haven't tried sticking deadened to HDPE myself but I know HDPE has a bad reputation for getting anything to stick to it. No matter what you do, you may want to flame treat it first.


. 

Thanks! I'll do some testing to see what I have to do to get the deadening to stick.


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

Subscribed. Just bought the wife a 2017 Lariat and the sound is terrible. Putting together a small build for her, centered around a MS8.


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

Question? Have you come across a wiring diagram for the stock system?


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

subiemax said:


> Question? Have you come across a wiring diagram for the stock system?


What are you looking for exactly? I have a diagram for the speaker wires coming from the H/U.

I also have which line to run for 12v remote turn on for your DSP/AMPS if you have the power inverter behind the rear seat.


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

McKrakken said:


> What are you looking for exactly? I have a diagram for the speaker wires coming from the H/U.
> 
> I also have which line to run for 12v remote turn on for your DSP/AMPS if you have the power inverter behind the rear seat.


The wires from the HU in what I'm looking for. Ms8 has auto on, so I should be good, but I'd take that too.


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

subiemax said:


> The wires from the HU in what I'm looking for. Ms8 has auto on, so I should be good, but I'd take that too.


I can't find the image I downloaded, showing the connector pin layout and colors, but here is the speaker wire color/pin reference:

Left Rear - Brn/Yel (pin 9) Left Rear + Wht/Grn (pin 21)
Left Front - Wht/Brn (pin 10) Left Front + Wht (Pin 22)
Right Front - Wht/Org (Pin 11) Right Front + Wht/Vt (Pin 23)
Right Rear - Brn/Blu (Pin 12) Right Rear + Brn/Wht (Pin 24)

I'll dig up the info on the power too. I need to catch my build log up, system is in and working!


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

Thx man. Curious how those tweeters sound in stock locations


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

subiemax said:


> Thx man. Curious how those tweeters sound in stock locations


So far I'm really impressed with the speakers, though I've been out of the game for a LONG time, so my idea of what's really good may be a little stale right now 

They are a bit bright being in the stock location and bouncing off the windshield. I just started tuning, so I should be able to rein them in. It's not horrible though. I am VERY impressed with how vocal music sounds like Diana Krall, Nora Jones, Willie Nelson.. really really blew me away!


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

Sounds good. I'm not real keen on cutting holes in my wife's truck if possible. Hopefully they will work out.


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

subiemax said:


> Sounds good. I'm not real keen on cutting holes in my wife's truck if possible. Hopefully they will work out.


I don't think there are any worries about them working out. for most music they sound awesome, even without tuning. I'm being pretty picky. My kids and wife are really impressed with how good the system sounds.

For a future upgrade, I am going to look at putting them in the sails, either hiring out the fab work, or trying it myself. Perfect location! The sails are easy to get off, offer a lot of room and are cheap to replace.

What are you doing for mids/sub?


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

This is a real budget build. Lol
Have an MS8, a OS Boston 5ch, Sundown sd3-10, and some Ampere mids. Tweets will either be dome Daytons or the tweeters that came with the Ampere.
Everything used, but the MS8, which is refurb.
All in $500


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

subiemax said:


> This is a real budget build. Lol
> Have an MS8, a OS Boston 5ch, Sundown sd3-10, and some Ampere mids. Tweets will either be dome Daytons or the tweeters that came with the Ampere.
> Everything used, but the MS8, which is refurb.
> All in $500


Nice! About what I was going for. I re-used some old Kicker amps, my Kicker sub, but bought the new mids and tweeters.

I broke down and got the TWK88 as the big ticket item. I'm about 1k in.

going to use Forscan?


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

No, just let the MS8 do it's thing. That's what it's for.


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

subiemax said:


> No, just let the MS8 do it's thing. That's what it's for.


You might want to consider Forscan also. You can very very easily switch the HU outputs from high level to low and very clean. 

Forscan can also remove the factory EQ, making the MS8's job easier - no need to remove what's not there.


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

I really don't know what Forscan is. Or how much it is.


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

subiemax said:


> I really don't know what Forscan is. Or how much it is.


Essentially it's using a small OBD Link tool to access the vehicles system, then reprogramming the audio module to switch the signal to low level and get rid of the factory EQ.

Once the system is accessed, it's entering like 4 numbers and clicking a few buttons. Couldn't be any easier for the gains received! 

Cost is $80 for the programmer on Amazon, forscan software is free. There a lot of info on this on some F150 forums. There are several other things you can do with the programmer also.

https://www.amazon.com/ScanTool-426101-OBDLink-Bluetooth-Professional/dp/B006NZTZLQ


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## subiemax (Nov 19, 2007)

I wonder if you can program Speedo for different size wheels


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## McKrakken (Oct 13, 2017)

subiemax said:


> I wonder if you can program Speedo for different size wheels


yes, I believe so.

I'll PM you a couple links.


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## Kayla-Bo (Mar 24, 2021)

McKrakken said:


> What are you looking for exactly? I have a diagram for the speaker wires coming from the H/U.
> 
> I also have which line to run for 12v remote turn on for your DSP/AMPS if you have the power inverter behind the rear seat.


I would like to know what wire you used to connect the remote wire to. I do have the inverter under the back seat. Thanks


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