# Hillbilly goes KISS on an 09 Ram



## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

My goals are to remain nearly 100% stealth. This install will give me a chance to stick with cheap drivers since my install won't let me take advantage of what a more expensive driver has to offer. The stock system doesn't sound bad at all and just needs a little help. What better cheap drivers to use than the stock turds in there now. I'm not looking for the best a Ram can sound but moreso something that's just listenable. I'll be amping each dash mid and front 6x9 with all the attentuation needed to levelmatch and time align. Until I get the box built for my new Sundown sd1 v2 I'll be amping my stock rears for sub duty. Anyway, on to the pics.

Loctite on the bolts made me have to use a swiveling breaker bar. It worked barely.








Not sure what this is but considering I don't like how the console bolts to the middle seat I have nothing to worry about here.








Look at the underside of the carpet. That's one of the reasons the cab is so quiet.








Brought my wires through an empty grommet going into the cab and under a piece of weather stripping. Had to step the wire down to 18g to make everything go back together right.








See how the 16g is keeping the trim from going back like a should from the thick high quality jacket. The 18g that I forgot to take a pic of has a really thin jacket so all you see is 2 pieces of wire going behind the panel. *There wasn't a way to get in through the boot*








To get power to the stock dash speakers I had to figure out which wire went to them. After doing the pop test with a AA battery I found it was through the plug that plugged into the stock x9 in the door. 








Looks like I have at least 3" behind the speakers. That should be plenty for most respectable mids.









That's it for today. Tomorrow the amps will be installed under the front seats, headunit installed, connections made, and interior put back together. Overall this really hasn't been a difficult truck to work on but being hot out today had to take frequent breaks. Will get a fresh start in the morning and do the finishing touches. I'm hoping getting the cables up from the floor to behind the headunit won't throw me a curve like the doors did.


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## MarkZ (Dec 5, 2005)

That plastic panel looks ripe for some deadening. It also looks like it's bolted on, so you should be able to yank it easily and do both sides, yeah?

On my car, the boot that connects the door to the interior wasn't just a rubber tube. It was a friggin pigtail. I had to drill holes through it to pass a speaker wire through and then use the stock wire for the other speaker. See? It can always be worse.


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## jowens500 (Sep 5, 2008)

Sucks they moved the speaker so far down in the door compared to the last gen ones.


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## TheDavel (Sep 8, 2006)

no tech flex?:laugh:


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

MarkZ said:


> That plastic panel looks ripe for some deadening. It also looks like it's bolted on, so you should be able to yank it easily and do both sides, yeah?
> 
> On my car, the boot that connects the door to the interior wasn't just a rubber tube. It was a friggin pigtail. I had to drill holes through it to pass a speaker wire through and then use the stock wire for the other speaker. See? It can always be worse.


I'm not too worried about resonances right now as I won't be pushing these speakers hard enough for it to matter. Once I put something respectable in I'll do a full deadening job on the panels.


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## dejo (Jan 3, 2006)

NotTheDavel said:


> no tech flex?:laugh:


******* tech flex=electical tape.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

dejo said:


> ******* tech flex=electical tape.


You know me too well Jon:blush:

But really, I don't go heavy on the ******* techflex anymore:laugh:


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## wheelieking71 (Dec 20, 2006)

looks fun! interesting approach, speakers being the last upgrade. i can understand it though. doing it in steps, and keeping tunes going along the way. i like it, cant wait to see more!


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Very nice sir! Looking forward to this build!


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Damn, is that closed cell foam on the underside of the carpet? I'd kill for that **** in stock form!


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## Dodge4L1fe (Jun 5, 2009)

*subscribed*


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

ItalynStylion said:


> Damn, is that closed cell foam on the underside of the carpet? I'd kill for that **** in stock form!


It might be. Either way it's about an inch thick. I'm probably going to do ID xs69's in the front doors and have some stuff in mind to make it even more quiet than it already is. Door treatment was the last thing on my mind when doing a rush install with stock speakers amped. When the stock badyears wear out I'll most likely put Uniroyal Crosscountry tires on it so that should quiet it down even more. 

I'm still working on the tuning but right now the stock turds up front don't sound too terrible bad. Had to cross at 1600 to get them to blend. Also think flipping polarity on the dash speakers would help as well. Will try it when I have time. Been busy all week with fishing and camping. Drove home to get a good nights sleep. Sleeping in a cramped top bunk in a camper doesn't allow for solid sleep.


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## ReloadedSS (Aug 26, 2008)

I'm always impressed whenever someone installs on a brand spankin' new ride. Subscribed!

Also, really impressed by the backing on that stock carpet.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

Ok swapped to aftermarket speakers. I'm running focal polyglass v1 mids and these tang tweets. Notice what happens at 15k. I'm hoping this rise will work for me. Parts-Express.com:Tang Band 25-1744S 1" Ceramic Dome Tweeter | Tang Band 25-1744S tang band tb speakers dome tweeter ceramic dome hard dome non-metallic dome

First off I jigged some adapters for the 6" mids and tweets. It was pretty basic by just tracing the stocker on some .5" cutting board and that's it. Here's the dash mid/tweet being traced.








Notice in this one the top of the line passive filter Chrysler uses on these 2.5" widebanders








I used ensolite on the mounting surface of the cutting board. While I'm thinking about it I used .25" for the tweets. After using ensolite on the mounting surface I'm going to put that in the "what NOT to do category. You'll see shortly why I'm saying this. Next time around I'm priming and painting.
















And here's the mids in the doors. Should have countersunk the factory screws that go into the mounting locations. There isn't much bite there. I'm putting Peerless Exclusives in sometime in the fall so I'm not too worried about it.








With the panel on it's almost too close for comfort. I don't think the mids will buzz the panel but if they do the fix will be easy. I like keeping things as close as possible without causing problems.









One thing you've probably noticed missing in this install is sound deadening. At this point the install just doesn't need it. The Door locations are sealed pretty well from the factory and the truck rides really quiet. If I notice any resonances I'll proceed with deadening but at this point it WILL NOT be used. Everything is pretty rigid in its stock state. Doors also close with a solid THUD. The 09 Ram is a joy to work on and leaves very little grueling work to be done once wires are run. Only downer is the only "good" place for the amps is under the front seats. If my PG Xenons can fit under there anything within reasonable size can. Pics aren't shown of that because it looks exactly like something you'd see rolling out of the Best Buy install bay. Nothing special but safe, tucked, ziptied, and functional. If something's hidden I could care less about looks anyway.

With there being too much in the way of a center console and me wanting to keep it simple I'm doing a prefab from subthump and a pair of RE SR10's. This setup will be removable for just in case I need to fold the rear seat up and set something big back there that needs to stay dry and/or away from thieving hands.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Wow. Still not bad sir. I like the cutting board idea. I might have to adapt that instead of the 3/4" MDF I used in my 2008. I am afraid that my mids ARE touching the doorpanels, and I just don't hear it.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

I'll never use mdf for mounting rings again. Cutting board is a lot sturdier andholds screws better.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

That is awesome. I will make a note of it.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

After a round of heat exhaustion I went out to give the left side a listen. Had some panel resonance on my arm so decided to deaden the passenger panel since it was still pulled off. Drivers side will most likely get deadened tomorrow.


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## syd-monster (Jan 7, 2008)

I was going to say, with deadning your only going to improve what is already a solid car, from your description. With time, the doors would have started to get some flex.
Now that you have treated the doors you have taken care of the issue, before it became a problem! Good work and nice to see a KISS aproach to a new car too! COngrats.


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## tintbox (Oct 25, 2008)

Right on.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

No deadener on the door?


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

chithead said:


> No deadener on the door?


I'll see what happens with just the panel deadened. Going minimalist on this one.


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Sweet. I wondered if it was necessary since they have this monster beam running down the middle of the outer skin. I thought maybe just doing the inner skin and panel would be enough. Anxious to see if it is good for you.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

Went ahead and deadened the plastic covers in the doors. When you push on the cone of the mids it comes back out slow so I'd say my doors are pretty well sealed








Slight mishap with the scissors. Had to cut the deadener into really small pieces thanks to all the contours on the cover.








Best stuff in the world for getting pretty much anything off your hands.








Now my Best Buy quality wiring and amp install...truthfully this was the best place for everything while still keeping them out of the way. Not enough room anywhere else...I checked everywhere else for clearance BEFORE taking the easy way out which also happened to be my LAST choice on where I wanted to put them.


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## Rob K (Apr 28, 2009)

I used a 3/4" baffle on my 08 Ram door and the mids were hitting, almost tore a hole through the surround. I swithched out to a 1/2", all is good now. The cutting board is an excellent idea. This is the second odd yet great use of a cutting board I've seen, the other being sponsons for jet skis.


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## Paul1217 (Aug 12, 2007)

if you want to get rid of the "best buy install", which i resent by the way (i dont let anything leave my bay looking like that), there is a ton of room on the back wall of those trucks. ive done amps there a hundred times. and if you think that the front seat bolts were tight try those backs!

but anyway, i already did an 09 ram. i did 2 rockford P312D4's and a 10001bd under the back seat. the reason im telling you this is cause i made a mold of it while i was at it  so if you want a box made i can handle that.










sorry the pic is huge


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## gsr22 (Jul 30, 2007)

Looks pretty good. I would seriously consider that offer If i was the o.p


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## stuckinok (Jul 22, 2008)

Looking good man I hope everything works out for yea....

How do you like the truck over all? How is it on gas?


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## arrivalanche (Jun 27, 2008)

wow that wiring is kinda scary


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## ctrhenry (Jul 16, 2006)

Paul1217 said:


> if you want to get rid of the "best buy install", which i resent by the way (i dont let anything leave my bay looking like that), there is a ton of room on the back wall of those trucks. ive done amps there a hundred times. and if you think that the front seat bolts were tight try those backs!
> 
> but anyway, i already did an 09 ram. i did 2 rockford P312D4's and a 10001bd under the back seat. the reason im telling you this is cause i made a mold of it while i was at it  so if you want a box made i can handle that.
> 
> ...


not to hijack, but do the seats and subs interfere with each other ?


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Chris, I kind of agree. What was it about the rear wall that you didn't want to use it? I see a lot of trucks with amps attached on the wall. I would think it might be a little easier on you to put one back there, no?


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## papastoy (Jan 10, 2009)

What brand of Dash kit did you use? Thanks.


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Paul, that box is bitchin! Nice work!


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

bikinpunk said:


> Chris, I kind of agree. What was it about the rear wall that you didn't want to use it? I see a lot of trucks with amps attached on the wall. I would think it might be a little easier on you to put one back there, no?


There's less than an inch when the back seat is folded up.

The wiring is safe despite the looks.

Paul I'm sending you a pm for details. And sorry for referencing bby. I've just seen too many similar wiring jobs come out of the one local to me.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Yeah, quality BB installs are few and far between. Congrats on being one of the installers there that takes pride in his work. (And nice work it is above  )


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## Paul1217 (Aug 12, 2007)

thanks for the comps on the box! not trying to hijack. just saying there are options. i did another ram, an 06 and actually cut the storage space underneath the seats out and put a big ported box there with two earthquake 12s and full custom back wall with 2 amps, so i know there is a ton of usable space back there.



















lot more pictures of the build on the site
: Custom Installations Steve


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## Paul1217 (Aug 12, 2007)

ok, that didnt work, try these

: Custom Installations Steve steve's_dodge_-_97.JPG

: Custom Installations Steve steve's_dodge_-_98.JPG


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## el_chupo_ (May 27, 2007)

Hey Chris: Hit me up if you are feeling like selling that other sub, or trading back.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

Wow that looks good Paul. The truck with the ported 12's is obviously a crewcab since my seats don't fold down like that. I touched on my utilitarian needs via pm.

Matt, middle part of July I'll talk to you about the trade. My wallet is beyond tight right now for the next 2 weeks at least.


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## el_chupo_ (May 27, 2007)

Hillbilly SQ said:


> Wow that looks good Paul. The truck with the ported 12's is obviously a crewcab since my seats don't fold down like that. I touched on my utilitarian needs via pm.
> 
> Matt, middle part of July I'll talk to you about the trade. My wallet is beyond tight right now for the next 2 weeks at least.


No problem Chris. I understand, I am trying to put off some stuff for potential bills...About to drop 80 bucks on oil to do an oil change, and on my way home a light came on in my dash...


BTW: I modeled up those RE subs a while back, they look great.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

el_chupo_ said:


> No problem Chris. I understand, I am trying to put off some stuff for potential bills...About to drop 80 bucks on oil to do an oil change, and on my way home a light came on in my dash...
> 
> 
> BTW: I modeled up those RE subs a while back, they look great.


What you running in that thing? I'm gonna do a synthetic blend in mine more than likely every 3k. Or maybe full synthetic every 5k with filter change 2500 into it. Living 5 miles from work makes synthetic a requirement with so many dry starts


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## chithead (Mar 19, 2008)

Might be able to mod the seat to fold down like that though. I know in the previous generation Ram we can flip the hooks on the back wall, and that will allow the back of the seat to fold down when you lift the bottom up just a bit.


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## Paul1217 (Aug 12, 2007)

if you space the seat up 1.5" to fit a bigger box under there the seat back does that. makes it easier to reach the amps and stuff back there


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## ctrhenry (Jul 16, 2006)

Nice Box.


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## 60ampfuse (May 18, 2008)

What does KISS stand for?


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## Blazemore (Dec 1, 2006)

60ampfuse said:


> What does KISS stand for?


keep it simple stupid


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## M1A1 (Oct 4, 2008)

Bump.

How are those ceramic tweeters? Any (in focus ) pictures of their location in regards to how on/off axis they are?


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## tinctorus (Oct 5, 2009)

Hillbilly SQ said:


> There's less than an inch when the back seat is folded up.
> 
> The wiring is safe despite the looks.
> 
> Paul I'm sending you a pm for details. And sorry for referencing bby. I've just seen too many similar wiring jobs come out of the one local to me.


Nothing wrong with best buy.
Sure we have some hack's but I have seen alot of bad jobs come from local "custom" shops.
The only difference is with us being such a large company its easy for guys to just "get by" with doing **** like that.
But I can assure you like any place else there is a ton of very talented installers.
Also might I suggest using the back of the cab I have done a few of these similar to the one posted and there is a ton of room back there it just makes it a bit more difficult to tune everything once it is back together so I would suggest leaving them out for a bit to make sure its just how you want it to sound before putting it all back together


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

tinctorus said:


> Nothing wrong with best buy.
> Sure we have some hack's but I have seen alot of bad jobs come from local "custom" shops.
> The only difference is with us being such a large company its easy for guys to just "get by" with doing **** like that.
> But I can assure you like any place else there is a ton of very talented installers.
> Also might I suggest using the back of the cab I have done a few of these similar to the one posted and there is a ton of room back there it just makes it a bit more difficult to tune everything once it is back together so I would suggest leaving them out for a bit to make sure its just how you want it to sound before putting it all back together


There's so little room behind the back seat there's no way my amps will fit back there. They're perfectly safe where they're installed and will stay there until I pull them out to return the truck to stock. I tend to not worry about stuff that doesn't need to be worried aboutI also use the storage space under the seat and behind it since the seat back folds down now. BEHIND the seat I keep rope and an old coat. If I can keep a piece of fishing gear in there I do it. When you go as often as I do lugging hip boots and other stuff to and from gets old REALLY fast. The high dollar rods and reels are the only thing I don't carry with me all the time.

As for changes that have been made since I last updated this thread I have an 880prs in the dash now, H-Audio Soul mids in doors, and H-Audio x2 wideband tweets in the dash. Also have a Dayton ho10 under the back seat in .7 tuned to 30. I think I liked my DD 510 in 1.5 tuned to 30 better but that box was effin HUGE. Took up too much room under there. Mark Brooks from H-Audio will probably be glassing me a box for a single sealed 12 under the back seat so I can drop it back down to a respectable height. The 4" lift on it now is just rediculous. It's completly useless for hauling passengers so good thing three adults can fit up front comfortably.


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## DAT (Oct 8, 2006)

so your using H-Audio speakers now?


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

DAT said:


> so your using H-Audio speakers now?


Yup. This setup works really well in a Chrysler product with dash locations. Just can't cross the tweet too low because if you split the vocal range with drivers that far apart you run into phase issues no matter what you're runningThe sound is laid back and detailed. Honestly it's a setup you'll either love or hate. People that are used to something from Dyn or Scanspeak usually don't like the squeaky clean goodness of the X series but uaually love the Harmony series that favors Scanspeak and Dyn in a way. I tested a pair of Ebony mids but they weren't a good match for the x2 so the review isn't accurate.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

Here's the Soul compared to a Polyglass mid. I loved the polyglass and still do. They have an incredible smoothness to them. The sound was a little overly damped at times though. The Soul is a better sounding mid all the way around imo.
















Installed. That ensolite on the mounting ring is an example of what NOT to do. I did it so it would blend in with the surroundings and it does a good job but once screws hit it all bets of it looking clean are off.








Need to get pics of the x2's installed in the dash since someone requested them.


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## trigg007 (Feb 24, 2010)

where are you crossing your mids & the x2?


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