Need Amp Install Advice Please

I am going to start my install of the new head unit, speakers, cameras, and amp. I am not sure what to do with the amp. I know it is going to go under either the front or back seat. Do I bolt it through the carpeting or do I pull the carpet up and drill into the frame for the bolts? Any advice on bolt type - self tapping or something else? Can the amp go right on top of the carpet? It is a JL Audio 300/4 that I got off of Craigslist. It will be powering the four door speakers. I may add a subwoofer later. Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

@GNTundra should be able to help with this. If memory serves right he installed his in his truck.

 

I did the backseat mod, screwed the amps to a black painted board then bolted the board to existing holes.. Is always best to avoid drilling through walls if possible.

 

I like this idea but I am having trouble figuring out how the slit carpet works. Do you have any pictures? Thanks.

 

I just velcro'd mine right to the carpet, didn't want to cut anything up. Again industrial strength velcro is the key, don't skimp get the 3M or velcro brand velcro not the dollar store shiz.

 

Personally I like to use through bolts and locking washers to make it harder for a thief to get them. The bottom floor pan on your truck has several holes in it that are plugged with just simple rubber grommets. So I personally don't mind having a new hole through my floor pan. I always use stainless hardware and seal everything afterwords. When I had my 2010 Tundra I mounted the Amps on the wall behind the back seat. I used the under seat area for my subwoofers. Keep in mind you will probably run your main power wire along your drivers side of the truck. So if you mount the amp on the drivers side you can use less linear footage of wiring.

 

quite the artist i see!

 

I cut some 1" x 1" HDPE (fancy talk for a cutting board) squares. I slide them under the carpet and lined them up the the mounting holes on the amp. Screwed through the carpet into the plastic squares.

 

Do you think the industrial velcro would hold the amp up on the back wall behind the seat?

 

i think it would....I've used it in a state Trooper vehicle to hold a regular desk top size printer and it never moved from where i placed it even in high speed chases

 

Yes, I have mine mounted that way currently and its mounted to the black sound deadener panel and not the actual wall. I also wedged my amp box up against it as well but it was tight enough with the seat and without the sub box.

 

I placed an order with Amazon for the Velcro brand industrial strength stuff. I hope that it is as good as the 3M.

 

It is, i've used it for years in my job the stuff is nasty in a "good" way as in its a bitch on wheels to get off. We use it in a tamper application for art tracking with RFID tags on the back of high dollar paintings, been doing that for about 10 years now and never had a velcro failure. In the beginning the client complained because they were being overzelous when trying to remove the velcro from the picture frames and were damaging the wood frame backing. In the end they decided to leave the velcro on lol.

 

I have mine under the driver’s seat mounted on some aluminum stock that was bent to fit in place and then sprayed black. @TundraTex figured this one out. A couple of small cuts in the carpet and it lays perfectly flat.

I used some 1” zip screws to attach to the metal floor. I did dab a bead of silicone in the holes at final install. If I were to remove the amp, I would fill the hole with silicone and lay the carpet down and you’d never know. It is rock solid.

 

Lemon essential oil takes it off....just for future reference. it's also better than peanut butter to get gum out of hair

 

I think the hook and loop would hold just fine. It’s the adhesive attaching the pieces to the amp that I would worry about. Audio amps generate a lot of heat that could melt the adhesive and even over time weaken the Velcro fibers. I would see if there is a heat rating for whatever product you wind up purchasing.

 

Nice work, Mikey!

 

Are the bolts mounted completely through the floor pan?

 

Originally I was going to bolt everything down, I took a few hours and cut a mounting plate out of some 1/4" plywood I had, shaped it real nice and painted it black. Mounted the LC7i and the amp to it and then went to bolt it down. Wasn't real happy with the way it sat so I scrapped that idea. I may revisit when I get the Katzkin seat covers and have to pull the seats out again but for now i'm more than happy with the job of the industrial strength velcro.

 

I really don't have room on the back wall of my DC to mount the amp there so I need to mount it to the floor. I'm still debating between the Velcro method or bolting it down.

 

Yeah I should have clarified. The original plan was the mount under the seats only. Drivers side was a no brainer as the amp is huge so the choice was very limited. However the passenger side I was going to use the 3 mounting holes for the factory amp and just fabricate a plate to mount the LC7i and the sub amp to. I made the plate and just didn't care for all the finangling I was going to have to go through to get it mounted to my liking and ease of use. I still have some thoughts on making a slide out panel but in all honesty haven't had to touch the system since final adjustments so its probably going to be shelved as its unnecessary. The seats come out in minutes, it takes longer to remove the ground from the battery than the seats lol. So I ended up moving the sub amp behind the seat, ill take some pics later but its all still temp wired as I just haven't had the time to circle back around and i'm not "ready" as I want to knock all the final issues out in one shot (ie; rear door sound deadening, bolting the crossovers to the door, final wiring, etc).

 

I ended up mounting the amp by bolting 1.25" aluminum square tubing through the floor. It was easy to drill through the floor pan. The bolts will be sealed with silicone caulk. The amp was then mounted to the square tubing and the carpet was cut to fold it back from the tubing. Thanks for everyone's advice.

 

This was exceptionally helpful! I just went back and mounted my JL 500 like this. I had just laid it under the seat prior until I could figure out where to put it. Thanks!