Sub box for a ranger?

[MaicoDoug]

Listening to KHJ on youtube. The bass is non existent, so it's time to do something. Looking at what is available as a sub enclosure, and or building something. I have never wanted to change much with this truck, but installing an amp & sub is allowable. The jump seats will never be used and I need the space. I will keep the seats for the next owner, whoever that may be, not looking to sell the truck anytime soon, so her I go.....

My old 83 had a long bed and a 2.8 V6 w/ high speed tires, she was a fast truck with 4wd caster wedges and at least 4 degrees of negative caster. Was able to fit face down 2 each 12" wolfers on half inch standoffs. With this truck I believe I'll be sticking with the stock 6 x 8" ovals and simply upgrade with a sub. I scrounged a Bose 6 x 8" sub, hopefully will try it out in it's current mound-O-plastic pulled from some mid 2000 escalade with the 5 channel amp intact. Just can't come up with any sort of believable wiring. Except the power & sub output pair of wires going to the sub itself. The current head is really nice, sounds good also, Atoto S8. Line outs for all 5 channels. Pics coming.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I’ve built two sub boxes so far for a Ranger. One was for a single 12” and the other was for two 12” subs. Made them to fit on the ledge in the back of an extended cab and they come up to right under the window. Forget what it worked out to, but I believe it was roughly around 1.2 cubic feet per sub. I built them out of 3/4” plywood, I bought some B/C sanded 7-ply. Thought to do it with cheaper 5-ply but there was too much void space and it just wasn’t solid enough to try. With the trim removed from the back of the cab it doesn’t stick out past the ledge in the extended cab.

 

[superj]

i bet that a small 8 or 10 would be totally fine in a ranger extended cab.

i actually have had two way 6x9s in a box that hit so hard people thought i had 12s in the trunk. old pioneer two ways in a box. i was bored and made it from scrap 2x2s and drywall, ha ha ha. we ran it off the stock radio in an 89 mustang convertible to a cheap jensen 250 watt amp.

 

[don4331]

To reference the OEM solutions:

Is it one of the newer (2010-11) Rangers that has the sub in the console between the front seats? And the speaker wasn't very big for the bass it produced.
And the Tremor has the 'jump seat's footwell'? Again, speaker wasn't that big.

 

[MaicoDoug]

The Bose wolfer is a 6 x 8", but quite stout. Interesting idea of hanging a box, but it would be on a door, this truck is a 4 door. I think I will carefully approach using this little wolfer. I am thinking that I should find another maybe.

LiL Blue, the door rattles as is. Haha! I just bought a tiny little thing, class D, LdMOS called a Razor I believe. Walmart Amp God forbid, RZR1-2500D.

Well today I removed all the stuff in the back. Seats gone, jack gone, I need to build a tool box for important things like a tire jack & tools, plug kit & air pump. - More soon.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

@MaicoDoug here is the two sub boxes I made to sit on the ledge…

 

[MaicoDoug]

I think I'll have me a snack & head out to the junkyard for more crawlin looking for another Bose GMT 820 sub speaker, it's a small 6 x 8 " but beefy. Think I'll pull it out of the box there. The amp I'll leave there also. Need to stop by the Snapa and get some of those plastic fasteners to put the rear panel back in place after some 3/4" wood inserts. Wish I knew where to get a decent deal on some dynamat, need some for the underhood project, but that will need some yellow paint first $$.

 

[superj]

the cadillac full size cars have nice factory subs on the back window shelf. they are 12s those, bose. they are those free air subs, i think. they don't have enclosures and are very thin

 

[MaicoDoug]

Found a couple 8" wolfers in good shape at the junkyard. And also one of those 10" thin wolfers. High efficiency with a 20oz magnet, says 50w / Alpine. I believe having a pair of these little things would be preferable. These took some work to remove, 1.2 ohms with 2 voice coils. That's one point 2 ohms. Man~ Their Alpine branded & came out of Ford SUVs. I'm not one to connect any voice coils in series.

Did take out the rear jump seats, lots of room, but real it's noisy now, so it's time for installing some of that "dyna mat" sound & thermal adhesive backed insulation stuff. Found something like it from Home Depot, but had to order it. The plastic center section of course came out easy once the plastic pop in rivets were removed. One shot deal those are, what a pain. Going to install some threaded rivets, 1/4-20 at 7 different places. After I install the wood inserts they will be hidden. That will give me something to drill into.

So now I'm attempting to visualize what exactly the rear will look like. Whatever it will be, it will need not be vibrating. Not into overlanding that much however sounds like fun. Having the outfit for the trail in Colorado is a good thing, maybe not overnight as much. At the top of the priority list for this small but now open area is.....

1) Security for a small tool box & valuables. Maybe 2 boxes, could be flush bringing the floor up to the shelf. The bottle jack will need to be clamped down along with the tire tools & air pump. This will work for intown stuff. So for on the road & trail there are a bunch of other requirements.

2) The sub box is still looking like a long wedge currently sitting on the shelf that I'd build.

3) Thinking about an electric cooler. The "Peltair" type cooling chip is something that I have fooled around with. It draws lots of current and makes heat. But the inside of a small styrofoam type cooler would stay cool with no ice. Lots of camping coolers for big $$ but the assemblies are 30-40 bucks on Ebay. 10 amps would keep a couple cans and a sandwich cold. Would have to be removable for cleaning.

If anybody has already outfitted their extended cab back area please post a pic or two.

 

[superj]

i am a huge fan of those peltier deals. i ahve read tons on them and think a person could make some very useful items using those, once you figure a way to dissipate the heat side.

i always thought it would be nice to make a type of "swamp cooler" set up that hangs on the window of the vehicle, like in the old days. have to outside air carry off the heat and the cool side air being circulated in the cab. i just never got to actually trying it out to see if it would work. it would be nice for vehicles that don;t come with factory air installed though

 

[MaicoDoug]

Going to look for a pre-fab sub box for these 8" wolfers at the local car audio shop. One that goes the entire length of the shelf. Yesterday I installed the 1/4-20 nutserts to replace the pushpins. The only bolt that was long enough was a stainless socket head (SHCSS). Also had some 1" thick wood strand board roof sheathing that fits behind the back seats mounted with liquid nails also screwed into nutserts not sticking out of the cab. All of this ended up fitting behind & underneath the stock plastic back wall interior. I'll finish up the corners somehow with the dynamat. The thing is this is where there is nothing but bare painted metal. Looking at shiny silver will be an eyesore so not that some black vinyl would not be so bad, a poorly executed job won't last long or look good. Need to think more about how to address all of this, right now I'm simply putting the building blocks in place.

Peltair Cooler Ebay parts

I would not run it with the motor off. Design wise, the applied amount of power can easily be too much where the rejected heat crosses over to the cooling side. So air movement is important only across each side indepently and never side to side. Efficiency is not that great.

 

[MaicoDoug]

Check out this website.............. SUB BOX PRO

An idea for a pair of 8 inch'ers I saw recently. 13 inches to the rear of the console is all there is. This may be excessive but need to do the math & see if I can get 2 cubic ft. Been busy with the local festivities. Man, I really want to toss a few $$ for some nice drivers, but.....then there is that real nice 12 SPL unit I have.

What I'm learning is exactly what I presumed....2 smaller drivers will have more efficiency, and less deep bass. I want a wolfer, & a subwoofer. That has less uneven spots, that a pair will deliver. But a 12" right behind me, sheesh. Purchased a sheet of 3/4" sawdust sheet. See what happens.

 

[MaicoDoug]

Pulled the trigger on a decent driver for only $60 ea. With a 2" voice coil and low enough rating it's efficient at my low power listening levels.
DS18 SLC-8S

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I had a bigger sub box in my first Ranger and I didn’t like losing the extended cab space, that’s why I started building thinner boxes.

 

[MaicoDoug]

I'm looking at stuffing these in the rear lower corners and hoping for 1Cu Ft per. Maybe 3/4 Cu Ft if sealed. With a single piece of wood? Too easy, back to the drawing board....