Joem1cha3ls Double Cab Audio Build

Well, its finally time. I've decided to pull the trigger and get this going. Im tired of the shitty radio in the truck. I'm going to be starting by installing a new head unit, which ill retain all the factory steering wheel controls, rear view camera, etc.

I'll then be installing an amp, a custom subwoofer enclosure and a sub. Speakers will be done at a later date. This custom box allows me to retain the storage on the driver side of the truck.

Equipment:

Kenwood DDX374BT Head Unit
Sundown Audio SD-2 8 D4 8" Subwoofer
MTX Road Thunder RT500D 500/1 Mono Block Amp
EFX PA4BX Amp Wiring Kit - 4 Gauge
Net Audio Down Firing Passenger Side 8" Sealed Subwoofer Box













Ordering everything today - install of everything except for the sub/box (wont be done in time)
will be done the last week of this month. Cant wait!

 

Im going to be using a high quality 8" sub because im looking for tight, clean bass. Not looking for anything ear drum rattling - I just want a nice sound quality build. If you guys aren't familiar with Sundown Audio - they make a very high quality sub for the price. I chose to locate it on the passenger side because my daughters car seat is located there and I cant access that storage anyway. That being said, I've also purchased a remote bass knob so its easy for me to turn the sub down/off when she's in the vehicle. That was important to me.

MTX Audio Remote Bass Control for MTX Thunder/Wet Series Amplifiers

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LGN9C0E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1



I'll also document the costs of the build. So far:

Kenwood Head Unit (Crutchfield) - $229.99
Installation kit for Kenwood - $79.98 (flat black was $15 cheaper, but I wanted the gloss black trim)
Amp Wiring Kit - $79.99
NetAudio Custom Sub Box - $185.00
Sundown Audio Subwoofer - $169.99
Kenwood Road Thunder 500/1 Amp - $139.95
Amp Bass Knob - $19.95

Current Total - $905.85

 

Right on bud, looking good!

 

I’ve heard sundown subs. They hit hard and clean. You doing the install yourself?

What about the rest of the speakers? Plan?

 

yes sir - doing the install myself. Still researching speakers. I want to make a sound decision there (no pun intended)

 

Running it at 4 ohms - 250 watts

 

Oh man, I apparently have misunderstood this whole thing. Thanks for the heads up Gino! I will keep the amp turned down.

 

Radio showed up last night. I took 30 minutes this morning and wired everything up from the Crux harness for my Truck to the Kenwood harness. If I can do this, ANYONE can do this. I haven't wired a new head unit in 15 years or so.

I had it all about perfect. Had one question that I was able to call Crutchfield on and they answered it right away. For that reason alone, I didnt really price shop them. Their customer service on something that im not familiar with is priceless.

New unit is all installed and im pretty happy with it. New speakers will be coming sooner than later.

Ill be running my amp wiring kit and bass knob next week. I plan to remove the driver side seat and mount the amp under there for a nice clean approach. Ill be mounting the bass knob on the lower dash, right hand side of the steering wheel. It'll be relatively concealed but easily accessible. Im actually pretty excited about wiring all that. In my eyes, the real pain in the ass part is done. Wiring subs and an amp is something I can still do in my sleep probably.

 

Looks great! I'll be following to watch the progress!

Edit:
sorry, i forgot the obligatory

 

Good you fixed it!

 

Good ol Breakfast at Tiffanys. Head unit looks good in there.

 

Ok, I decided to just order the door speakers and be done with this so I can complete this build and move on.

I had lots of dialogue with Tech12Volt in regards to a speaker solution and he made me a deal I couldn't refuse. This is what I went with:

Hertz EKS 6.5's (Front)
Hertz DKS 6.5's (Rear)
Infiniti Kappa K4 Amp - 4 x 100 RMS
Speaker Adapters
Amp Rack
Entune Plug (for factory signals of speakers and such)

Next, I'll be ordering a power distribution block so I can run both amps off of the one wire. This Kappa amp will be mounted under the passenger seat. The MTX will go under the driver seat.

 

I've been struggling with where I want to mount the amp remote gain controller. Its not a very small box, so I wasn't sure where I could live with seeing the thing. It needed to be easily accessible because I want to turn the bass down easily when my daughter is in the car.

I decided to remove the components from the case and mount it in the cup holder area. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and it'll give me my "fix" of working on this build until I can get some real work done next week.

 

Box showed up today from Tech12Volt. I went by his recommendation and man am I impressed with what I received.



Just put my daughter to bed and finally had a chance to look at these things out of the box and see what I thought. These Hertz EKS (left) are pretty bad ass. I cant wait to install them. The HKS are a pretty solid little speaker too.





This Infiniti amp is SOLID and its definitely a quality unit. Its making me second guess using my cheap MTX Road Thunder 500/1 amp for my Sundown Audio sub. That may end up getting upgraded in the future.

 

Nice! Bet you can’t wait for install eh?!

 

what was the deal you couldn't refuse if you don't mind me asking?

How do you plan to install the amp for the speakers? Does the entune plug have something to do with this? I haven't heard of it before...

 

Well, I tore into everything a few days ago. Removing the door panels was incredibly easy and they all went back on without any issues. For some reason I decided to start this in 8 degree weather....



Mounting of crossover and new 6-1/2" Woofer in the custom speaker adapters.



Rear Door Mount

 

Next, I was able to get her into the shop and finish everything up.



Passenger side seat removed, and the factory amp before removal



Mounting of the new amp rack:

 

I didnt think to bring a vacuum with me to clean everything up. Rookie mistake.

New Amp mounted and up and running



Rear door panel removed, new speaker and crossover mounted. Still haven't figured out how im going to mount the tweeters back here.



Front crossover wired up

 

I had factory sail panels that didnt have tweeter mounts. I ordered replacement sail panels from Roman with the tweeter locations. I still needed to drill the new ones out to fit the new tweeters but decided to practice on the original sail panels first to confirm fitment and such before drilling the new ones from Roman.



Everything ended up fitting perfect.

 

I was able to get all of that for $600.

Entune adapter is below. You have all the speaker wires that go to the amp. The rest gets plugged into the factory adapter. No splicing at all. Well worth it IMO.

 

Now that all the fun stuff is posted. A few things.

Running the power wire through the firewall was definitely the biggest pain in the ass. It was very helpful having a second hand for this. Its a two part boot.

Im also now having issues with the amp, but its -7 degrees out so its going to have to wait. I have no sound from any the speakers. I have power at the amp so im not sure whats going on. Remote connection seemed fine and I checked the ground. We will see what happens....

I want to document everything on this so that someone contemplating doing all of this can make an educated decision.

 

Looks fun, Joe

 

And you will be offering this service to tundras.com brothers for the discounted rate of........

Seriously, awesome job in adverse conditions. Appreciate the post. I won't feel bad now for paying someone to do this if I upgrade my stereo.

 

Well, I figured out my issue with my amp. Went outside in the 8 degree weather, tore the seat out and realized I accidentally hit one of the crossover switches. One flip of a switch and it was all working again. Wish I hadn't unbolted the seat for no reason....lol

Anyway, I think im going to remove the center console and mount my distribution block under there. I'll run my wires to each individual amp from there. I dont want to have to go through the firewall again....

 

So im still waiting on my custom sub box from Net Audio WF. I opted for a sealed enclosure built to .25 ft^3 to optimize my sub in a sealed enclosure. I want nice, clean, tight bass.

Im not considering asking him to change this to a ported box so I can make sure I get enough out of my sub for my bass head. Downfall is I would then lose all the under storage space on the drive side. The sealed enclosure I ordered mounted under the passenger side rear seat.

Thought??

 

Well, I was able to get my Alpine MV500 amp installed on Monday. Along with that, my Sundown Audio 8” sub in the standard box I had laying around. This was while I wait for my custom box to be made.

I’m glad I did this before my box was built because the 8” sub just isn’t enough for me. I was at least able to get the Hertz speakers tuned and I’m very happy with them now that I have some bass.

I spent about 2 hours tuning my head unit. The capabilities of the thing are incredible for $250. I set speaker timing, crossover frequencies, input my actual setup and all.

My speakers shut off again yesterday while driving. This was fixed from the previous time I had the issue by tightening the ground. When I installed my Alpine amp, I borrowed the same ground so my thought is that’s the issue again. I’ve placed an order for new ground wire/terminals for individual grounds for each amp. I think that will solve it.

 

Distribution block and subwoofer RCAs were run to the infinity amp under the passenger seat. I may clean this up with some wire loom, not sure.

It began alerting during the middle of the install. My dedication is top notch to tackle this install during this shitty weather, ha.

 

I'm following your thread...Do you have another fuse block near the battery? I ask because all the wire between the battery and the fuse block in the your picture acts like a fuse too.

 

There is another fuse at the battery as well on the Amp power wire