Another half baked writeup: cubby sub

[lilredwagn]

After the overwhelming success of my instrument cluster modification *cough*, I felt for sure that "half completed, fully untested" method was the best way to go. Hence, the subwoofer mod:

Templates sized for 8.5x11 @ 300dpi so you can print on any old printer. Use a light coat of spray adhesive to stick them to a 3/4" piece of MDF. Cut out the 3 rear patterns and connect them into one piece (like shown).

The fit is great in a '96 with rear seatbelts, and presumably all other years. If someone with a '97+ wants to print them out and try a cardboard mock up and report back, that would be cool.

I can't report on sound quality yet, but had been following the "cubbyhole" thread. Several people have successfully gone this route, but no one had any templates.

I tried cutting cardboard as I went, but I'm a spaz, and it was slow and unsuccessful.

I tried foam-in-a-can inside a plastic bag to make a mold, but ended up with a bag full of unexpanded goo. I tried it again and left the bag open on one end, and ended up with a bag full of unexpanded goo plus a messy fenderwell.

I called dental supply shops, but dental alginate for that large a space would have been $40+.

One day while taking a leak, I noticed that the cellulose sponge I had used to clean my shower - and now lay on top of the toilet - had become rather crunchy once dry ...


aha! Not perfect, but good enough to trace out on cardboard...


and then make a couple minor adjustments before putting it to MDF:


If you have a rear seatbelt, the front board will need a little dremel work

To fit the bolt:


The rear piece may need to be cut in half to fit, but I don't think it needs to be. I would recommend cutting it as a single piece and then halving it if necessary, and I definitely would not recommend cutting it as three separate pieces (i.e. assemble the 3 templates into 1 before cutting).

The washer hose and taillight wires need to be rerouted. It is a lot easier to do this BEFORE you silicone the board into the fender (oops).


I thought I would be clever and run the wires THROUGH the board. This is just a bad idea all around. Buy a couple feet of 3/16" hose and a barb connector (I used a vacuum connector) and a roll of ~20 ga wire and some shrinkwrap or quick-connects, extend the lines over the fender and outside the well.

Despite the concern of silicone causing rust while curing, I used permatex flowable silicone to make sure it got into all the cracks. I've since removed the wire and plugged the hole. You can see where I cut the board in two to accomodate the wire, which is why I can't tell you for sure that it will fit in one piece.


There will still be a small opening above the board, up in the rear pillar. because of the angle, I couldn't see a good way to block it with MDF. If you have particularly small hands and lots of patience, you may want to try fiberglass or somesuch, but it is too far in too see without a mirror, so I used foam in a can.

I haven't got a template for the face yet, and I've no idea on sound quality or if I'll even run into some snag that will make these templates worthless.

No warranties or anything else, just a head start for lazy people like me. I don't expect I'll be posting final results for a month or two.

Templates:




The three above images should look like this when combined:

 

[raypla]

I'm getting ready to do this also. What brand of sub and how many watts RMS are you putting to it?

I already purchased an Infinity Perfect 10" sub w/about 360w RMS going to it. How air tight is it really suposed to be?

 

[lilredwagn]

I spent all my money on sound deadening, so I picked up an RE10. $60 shipped and from the advice I got over at sounddomain it's the best I could do without going to something like the Perfect or IDQ, which were running ~$150 at the time. It's also a little shallower, which is very helpful. There should ideally be an inch of airspace behind the back end of the sub, and the cubby depth is only something like 5.5" (I measured but forgot).

The RE10 is supposed to be best at 180w, but apparently somewhat sensitive to being overpowered, so I'm actually going to wire it at 8ohms, since the amp is rated 275@4ohms, which ought to be almost perfect.

I don't really know how airtight it has to be. Intuitively, I would say "completely", since any leakage - even out the back - ought to cause muddiness. How many leaks and what size they need to be before you actually hear a significant reduction in sound quality, I don't know, so I decided to err on the side of caution, which is why I tried to get the mdf as close as possible rather than making up the difference with foam. I

'm leaving the rubber drainplug in for the time being, though I've siliconed it. I wouldn't expect there's enough flex in it to be a problem, but I filled the back of the plug with silicone too, to add some rigidity. Used GE Silicone II for Kitchen and Bath, and it's good stuff. If you don't use the flowable, check it out, make sure it's Silicone II and not Silicone I, and get the small tube, as a caulk gun won't fit inside the cubby.

Have you started sizing up the cubby space yet?

 

[asatxj]

If anyone wants a panel that has the cubby removed I have one. Light Grey in color. I cut it as an experiment and don't need it any more. Make me an offer including shipping from 49330 and it's yours.

(no hijack intended, but trying to help save panels for people who want to keep their sub when they get a new jeep)

 

[raypla]

Does anyone have pics of a cubbyhole setup done on the one that has seatbelts? Looks like I am going to have to get krafty, the infinity sub is like 6.5" deep+ the inch of space, I'm going to need 7-8" give or take. Anyone have pics of the built out box?