ForOffRoadDriving's 94 Ranger Build

[ForOffRoadDriving]

well now that my gas gauge is workig properly again im back on the audio kick and ive been slowly collecting components. so far ive got 2 mtx rt202 amps, 1 mtx rtp202 amp, 4 mtx xt573 speakers, 2 pyramid audio 8" subs, a kenwood kdc-119 head unit and a kenwood kdc-x759 excelon HU that i need to send in for repair. i also got a 600w kenwood amp from a friend that i may use, but its not currently in the plans. ive been spending quite a bit of time in the audio forum picking their brains over there and theyve been very helpful so far (except for the flaming incident, but i guess i kinda set myself up for that). heres a link to that thread if youre interested in reading it http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74314.
and now on to the pics!

And heres a couple pics from todays paint prep on the mtx rtp202

 

[Andres629]

Whoa, that's going to be a kickin' system I think!

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

heres some more pictures of the painting process:

and a couple of possible wiring diagrams that i messed up my speaker wiring on (they should be wired in parallel to get the wattage im after).

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

i bet that system is gonna sound so awesome!
i really like the rollbar on your truck man
maybe u could post a couple night pics with the roll lights on?
im planning to fab one for mine

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

thanks ranger sport honduras, i think it should end up turning out pretty bad ass as well. ive been putting alot of time into planning the layout and gathering materials, you can bet ill have pics up when its done! as for the lights, theres a couple pics farther back in the build but ill see if i can link them for you
over head lights in the icy cold:
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37621&page=27
back up lights in the drunken night
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37621&page=17
over heads and other lights in the fall
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37621&page=15

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

thanks a lot man!
i wont be doing mine any time soon, but i deff gonna get one, i think i posted a sample pic of the one i like on my build thread
those backup lights look so cool too man

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

thanks ranger sport, the back up lights are a life saver when its dark out especially with the rear windows being tinted. i have them wired so when i put it in reverse they come on, as well as on a toggle switch so i can turn them on for tailgating ass holes. its a good thing theyre on a toggle too, as my reverse circuit has grounded somewhere (at the begining of winter i might add) and every time i put it in reverse i would blow the fuse and lose my turn signals since they share the same circuit.

 

[livetoride21]

wow, i just spent over 3 hours reading your build thread, and I can say you've got be even more inspired for my next project on my 93 XL. Glad to see more people keepin these gens alive.
Amazing restoration man! keep it coming, I want to see what you do with your rear bumper!

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

well i finally got started on it yesterday, so here are the pics from day 1. i ran my power wire from the battery though an existing grommet to the back of the cab (i still dont know where im going to put my inline fuse of circuit breaker since im out of room around the battery), i installed the rear speakers which required me to drill 2 new holes in both mounts since the new speakers didnt have the same mounting configuration, and i cut the plywood for the back wall and secured it in place with a tube of liquid nails. ok heres the pics:
i start by getting a bolt slightly smaller than the diameter of the wire im going to run through the grommet and then heat it up with the torch so that it melts a perfect circle for the wire to pass through.

here are a couple of interior shots from before the tear down

now i start the tear down process

i was able to fit the 2ga. cable inside this wire protector and run it past the door sill which will greatly decrease the risk of the wire being damaged down the road.

the bracket for the jump seat was in the way of running the cable cleanly, so i decided to drill a hole through it, install a grommet, and then run the wire straight through it

this is where i had to drill the new holes in the bracket in order for the MTX speakers to get fastened down

i got all three amps in the truck and took my measurements for the mounting board

things had been coming together pretty fast all day, and then a couple of my friends showed up with beer and the work slowed down pretty fast

that liquid nails is some sticky, messy shit!

after gluing the mounting board to the wall i had to remove the same amount of sound deadening material from the cover panel that the amps will be screwed through

ive got to gather up a few more supplies before i start tomorrow, but hopefully ill be able to get my amps mounted on the wall and then get the power and gound wires ran to them and tacked up out of the way.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

heres the pics of my progress from the last few days, things are almost finished until i get the rca cables and the distribution blocks that i ordered from www.tti-plus.com.

here im mounting the amps for the first time, using a level to make sure they are straight

i removed the carpet again so that i can run the power and ground wires and keep them tucked up tightly to the mounting board

these are going to be my grounding locations for the amps (theres one on each side)

all the wires are now ran and im just going through and putting larger wire retainers on the wires that are ran close together

here im making my marks for the wires to come through, then using the pneumatic cut off tool i cut the plastic away and then using a razor blade i cut slits in the carpet for the wires to go through

the impression from the cargo net is still very visible, so using a brass brush i ruff up the carpet to try to make it blend better

everything is back in place and looking clean!

this is the start of day 3, where i work on making the enclosures for the sub woofers. ill be making a mock-up box out of card board to verify my dimensions will work, then i will make it out of wood.

using 1/2" MDF i lay out my pieces to cut and then come up with a plan of which cuts to make first so that i dont end up cutting into my other pieces

1 box down, 1 more to go

i remembered i had bought some speaker box terminals years ago, so i dug them out and got the dimensions layed out on the box and then drilled the corners and cut it out with the jig saw.

tomorrow i plan on mounting the subs back in the boxes and reinstalling them in the truck so that everything will be back together while i wait for my parts shipment to finish this thing up.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

ive got more pictures of what i got done today, mostly just mounting the subs in the boxes, but the holes were really close to the basket of the sub so i ended up using rivet nuts and #8-32 slot head bolts to secure them with. im happy with how its looking so far and i really havent lost any space (my jack and wheel chocks still fit inside the cubby holes behind the speaker boxes). TTI shipped my parts today, so i should see them by friday. now i need to focus on coming up with a plan for running the speaker wires from the doors to the amps. heres the rest of the pics:

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i went home for lunch and found a package with my name on it, all my parts from TTI-Plus came in! ive got pictures of the components for you guys, since i havent completed any work yet (im brain storming and planning still).

i think i found a solution for my fuse mounting problem, i went out to my parts truck and pulled the cruise control bracket off, which i think ill end up mounting my fuse block to once i find some grommets to seal it up with, or ill use the 100A circuit breaker i ordered a while back?

 

[Flash Gordan]

Interesting place to put your subs. I just hope you have enough air in those boxes for the subs to move completely without it trying to create a vaccum in the box. I used to work for a car stereo shop and we would get some really crazy subwoofer boxes built, mostly ported, but there were some sealed. And depending on the sub, most of the boxes had to be at least 2 to 3 cubic feet for the sub to work correctly. Check the specs for your subs.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

im pretty sure theyll be fine, i already did the math for these boxes subs and im a litttle short on air space, but i plan on putting some poly fill into them and maybe cutting a mounting ring out of some 3/4 mdf so that the sub will sit farther out of the box to give me a little more space, but thanks for the heads up flash gordan. i worked on it some more last night (i was out in the garage from 7:30pm until 4am!), and hopefully i will manage to get it finished and buttoned back up tonight. heres some pics

since ill be running all my door speakers from an amp i decided to do some pruning to the harness so that my rca cables would be more comfortable back there.

im using a relay to operate my remote wires to the amps, so that i dont draw too many amperes from the HU and burn out its circuit. i got rca cables with a remote wire molded in so ive got them "chained" together after they leave the relay.

im using a cruise control bracket for my power cable fuse block, it just barely fits over the existing relays and is easily removeable by taking out 1 bolt so i can still access the relays incase i need to change one or trouble shoot the circuit.

heres a really blurry picture of the amps powered up, i had to turn the falsh off to take the pic and my camera didnt like that!

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

wow man that looks awesome