96 XL cheap install

[sandness]

I recently purchased a 96 Ranger absolute base model from a gentleman retiring at work for $350. Since that's basically scrap price, I couldn't turn it down.

Being the base model, it didn't have a factory radio. The guy I bought it from put in a Pioneer CD player from the 90's and 2 JL 6x9's in half boxes behind the seats. By half boxes I mean a normal carpeted 6x9 box had the back side cut off for unknown reasons. This sounded like yelling into a pillow. And, being an early up 90's deck I soon missed having Bluetooth- which I decided was essential for a 5 speed.

Since this is a cheap spare vehicle, I opted to be cheap wherever possible. I bought a cheap single DIN Belva media receiver as it had Bluetooth and 2 sets of preouts. I reused the dash kit and even mounted it properly this time (there was duct tape on the old Pioneer). Also, since there was no antenna, he had an aftermarket antenna laying horizontally behind the dash- seems to work ok at least.

I had to run speaker wire into the doors as there was nothing from the factory. I then had to cut the 6x8 holes bigger to fit the JL 6x9's I already own. Normally I would have just bought some 6x8's for an easy drop-in install, but I'm being cheap. On a side note, I was pleasantly surprised by how the door cards are held on by 2 screws and zero plastic self-destructing clips. Its a good thing I looked up how to remove them rather than just start prying. Also, since this is a base model truck, the white inner door seals were in perfect shape as no one has ever had to cut them to access window regulators or door lock actuators.

In running RCA's to the amp I mounted behind the seats, I found the passenger side airbag was an optional extra, so there is a nice sized space behind that panel. Unfortunately, my 4 channel Kicker amp that I saved from a previous vehicle was a bit too big to fit in there. A newer class D 4-channel would have fit nicely and been a slick place to hide an amp. Perhaps I'll come up with something to make use of that area.

The RCA's, remote turn-on, and right speaker wire ran down the passenger sill to the amp. I had to replace the screws with bigger due to rusted holes.

I forgot to snap pics of the drivers side. That had a few fist-sized rust holes, so I slide some galvanized sheet metal scrap I had under the rubber to cover those up and provide something for the screws to bite into.

I've got the door speakers on the front channels of the amp. The rear channels are bridged for an 8" sub. Being a cheap build, I decided to recycle my Logitech Z560 sub from 20 years ago that has been sitting in my basement as it's control box died many years ago. I opened it up, unwired the plate amp and wired directly to the sub. I slid the seat all the way up to test it in the truck.

It sounds great. I took internal measurements and it appears there is about 0.6 ft3 tuned to about 43Hz. Since its an 8 ohm sub, it is getting 80w bridged from the amp (exactly it's RMS). I am going to build a ported box behind the seat soon. And if it dies, I found some Skar IX8's for $39 to swap in. At 4 ohms, those would get the 150w they need from my amp (also it's exact RMS). Hopefully my weekends clear up so I can begin building the sub box. I'll probably tune it a little lower as I've never had a ported sub tuned that high.

 

[sandness]

I finally had time this weekend to work on a sub box. Keeping up with my cheap theme, I am building it from 1/2" OSB scraps I already have. I have previously only used MDF, plywood and fiberglass for box building, so I wasn't thrilled at the idea. But I had to remind myself that it is just a cheap 8 that won't see more than 150W, it'll be fine.

After coming up with a plan (about 0.8ft3 tuned to about 34Hz), I cut all the pieces on Friday that I had off for Easter.

Wood glue and 1" narrow crown staples are doing all the work.

All but the bottom is assembled. I originally planned the middle brace to be in the center, but opted to move it next to the driver for support. As an afterthought, I should have made another brace. So, I just cut an oak 1x2 scrap for a little extra support in the open area.

The port is a 3"x18" PVC pipe. I roughed up the areas where it passed through the wood and used JB Weld for glue.

Assembled.

A little black paint around the subwoofer mount.

I think I should run the router around the port to round off the edges, but I'm hesitant as I've seen PVC chip badly before and it would be a pain to replace with the JB Weld holding it.

I didn't find any terminal cups laying around, so I'll probably just drill a hole for the wires and caulk it. I have some grey carpet scraps that should look ok- that's my plan for today.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

A bastard file and sandpaper to round the edges?

 

[sandness]

I think I'll test another piece of PVC to see how it behaves. I used a file and sandpaper on the other end of the port inside the box. Hopefully the test goes well as the router would make a perfect round over in 10 sec...

 

[sandness]

It turns out I had nothing to worry about. I set the router to about 18k rpm's and it went fine. I proceeded to round over all the box edges too.

 

[sandness]

I decided to order a Skar IX-8 anyway. Here it is beside the Logitech sub- pretty similar dimensions.

That fit perfectly.

I just had to trim some plastic for it to fit.

It was a great fit behind the seat. It is 29" wide x 12.75" tall x 4" top depth x 8" bottom depth. It has a net volume of 0.8 ft3 tuned to about 34Hz.

I was a little irritated as I thought I ordered the dual 2 ohm version, but the dual 4 arrived at my door. The website shows a pre-order on the dual 2 that I didn't remember seeing. Since my Kicker will only bridge to 4 ohms, this wasn't going to work. However, the dual 2 has a few weeks delay and I feel bad returning something that is relatively cheap and heavy with free shipping, so I decided to come up with another solution. I've got a few other extra amps sitting in my garage, I pulled out the smallest to run the sub separately. It's a Sony XM-GS100. At the 2 ohms that my new sub will be wired, it puts out 600wrms so I'll keep the gain low. One advantage here is that the Sony also has a subsonic filter to protect the sub from damage below tuning frequency.

There's everything in place. I'm very happy with the performance.