My friend just gave me two 12" Rockford Fosgate Punch Subs. Maybe I'll stick them in my T/A. I would like to maintain the well beneath the storage cover to...store things. So I don't want to build a big sealed or ported box that fills that entire area up.

Anybody have any advice on whether the cover would rattle like crazy or the subs would act funny? I searched to find out if anyone does this, and it seems rare...maybe because it's a bad idea. I know factory Bose systems did this exact setup, but they were much smaller 6" subs.

I'm not looking for amazing sound with HUGE bass, just no rattles and a little better than factory. If the subs are free, I might as well use them!

And please, no one ask to take these subs off my hands. I already know they're nice equipment.

 

you REALLY should make a box. i just installed that same lid you have and will be builting a stealth box to go below it. this way my car will appear stock. i would realy recomend somthing like this.

but if you wont do that you CAN use the locking deck lid as a baffle board. to reduce the rattle i would get those little padded sticky things (the kind on the inside of the doors of your kitchen cabinet) and put a few of those along the lip of the cargo cover.

one other thing you may want to consider is removing that locking lid and making a baffle board out of MDF. this way if you hate it, you did not ruin your lid.

 

I took a piece of fibre board and cut it to measure slightly bigger than the cargo cover. Cut my holes for 2 12" Cerwin Vegas, so probably a similar sound. Carpeted the new lid and secured the speakers to it. Bought a 'speaker cover'...its some fabric type thing with velcro. Its a solid frame which comes up over your speakers and velcros to the carpet around them (I can take it on and off whenever I want - velcro). I got a grey one to match my interior. Hides the speakers very well (No one would know they were there unless you knew exactly what you were looking at. My cargo area is used for my changer and my amp, which I also mounted to a piece of fibre board, which is mounted to the bottom of the cargo area. Two pieces of advice if you go this way...
Make sure to leave enough slack in the wiring between the subs and your amp, otherwise you won't be able to lift out your lid...
Second, its something that I haven't done yet, but everytime I go to change the CD's in the clip I'm swearing at myself...put two nice handles on it for easy lift. One on each side. The way mine sits right now, I have to squeeze my fingers into a crack that isn't really a crack and jam them underneath. The handles would be so much easier.

The sound is not as good as a box. Not close. No detectable rattle - yet...However, it is more than adequate for drowning out a 350 with 3" tubes...cruising anyway. Full throttle, well, who wants to hear a stereo over that beautiful Chevy rumble anyway?

Hope that helps a bit.

 

I was reading - Canadian emissions, no cat (Is Manitoba different from Ontario?)


How does that work? Do I not have to have a cat to pass the test? I thought it was standard equipment.

These are just things that I thought, so please clear up anything that I'm not right about.

Late,

Chris

 

Thanks for the replies so far, the more experience from others the better.

91Z,
Cdn emissions required a cat from factory, I just took mine off. For the early thirdgens with carbs, the Canadian models did not have computers, and had far less smog equipment. By the later years, any fuel injection models were just like the US cars.

And there are no emissions test in Manitoba. My car is originally from Ontario and it passed there. I doubt it would pass now.

 

DO NOT USE THE REAR COVER!

It will not turn out well, it will not seal, you will not be happy.

These are not freeair subs and they require a sealed/ported box. If you do run these without the proper air space, you risk blowing the voice coils (overheating) or possibly ruining your amplifier. What amp are you running? What are the ratings on it, what are the ratings of the subs, how many voice coils do they have and what are the OHMs of those voice coils?

I'm not trying to crap on this board (I come here for some tech advice...I repeat some) but if you want a quality walkthrough from a licensed installer, PM or email me.

As I said, I don't know the qualifications of the moderators here (I'm a mod for the OTher board ) but if you need advice, I'm here.

 

Hmm, I'm not interested in massive amounts of bass, but damaging the speakers is not in my plan. If I'm not playing it at 100 decibals, would the speakers be OK then? (assuming I get a properly matched amp, etc.)

Amp is not chosen yet, this is not something I'm installing right away.

 

if you have freeair subs, it works great. i had a setup just like that with a freeair sub and it sound pretty good actually:
OLD pic

 

...I can't believe someone would actually do that. You actually cut a freakin' hole in the rear cover.

I can't believe that would actually sound good. I guess if you're one of those people who likes duct tape and krazy glue to fix stuff.

kanuck-

100 decibles? I don't know anyone that uses that as a term of noise. As in " don't turn it up past 100 decibles or it'll blow!"

I think that you'd be fine if you just built a small covering that went back there. Measure out a piece of 1/2" MDF and carpet it. If you're using freeair subs and don't plan on entering any SPL competitions, the weight of the subs will be more than sufficient to keep the board down. Once you have in mind what kind of amp you're running, post that. My only real main concern with the "conversion" above would be the SQ and the re-sale value of the hacked up piece...I guess I'm just not one to make it work, I've gotta have it right.

If you're really interested in fabrication or fiberglassing something, talk to Jim85IROC from this board. He's very knowledgable about that and car audio in general.

 

while i think using the stock plastic cargo cover is a bad idea structurally and performance-wise for mounting a sub, I wouldn't worry too much about the "hacking a stock part" factor. They aren't very rare parts and can be found in a junkyard pretty easily. I picked one up for $3 just in case it ever comes in handy.

 

unless it is one made to fit a ppd (power pull down) like mine. once the switch was made too the ppd style rear hatch the locking storage cover became a RARE option, and would not be somthing to cut up.

the non ppd ones are a dime a dozen.

 

My car never had a rear cover. I already got one from a junkyard so you can already say it's hacked up. I have welded the hardware in place and it needs to be painted and carpeted. All in due time.

Since these are not free air subs, I guess I won't do this option. That's fine, I'll find another use for them. They were free.

What's wrong with decibals/decibles? Last time I checked, it's a measure of how loud something is. I suppose you wanted to show your car audio expertise, but you should have simply read between the lines as to my question of whether "no box = damage at high volumes/output/whatever technical term you wish to use". Thanks for lording your knowledge over me.

 

Basically, if the subs are NOT free-air, powering them outside of a box could be damaging. You can actually overpower most every type of speaker on the market as long as it's clean power. I gave a Ford Contour's 20W factory speakers 65W continuously for about two years. What finally blew them was a particular tom drum beat on a CD I was given. The first time I heard the track, I knew it sounded wrong -- not properly mixed. After listening to it about 5 or 6 times, the speakers were buzzing.

This is not the first time it has happened to me. Aftermarket components are more forgiving, but none of them like clipping.

 

I know some people dont like this set-up,but i dont really care.Im not so obsessed with having the "best" set-up.Anyway i used my original lid as a template.Then made a door out of particle board.Those are very old free air C.V.subs & pretty heavy too & work w/out a box.So i took an original hinge(keeps board from flexing) from a busted lid at the junkyard & made a hole for the original lock on the lid(so i can still lock it).I covered the board to match & wrapped the material around the edges to about 2in on the underside.This way it seals a little better.At one point i had my CD changer between the subs.There is a handle on the top w mesh cloth on the grills.The bass is very good with the amp running them ,cant complain.At one time i had a board between the subs & amps.Just where the plastic trim stops & carpet starts.The are (steps) there that will support the board.This reduced the area for the subs making the "box" smaller.It improved the bass ,but only by a small margin.

 

I think it's pretty cool. You can still use the hatch area if you need and since the subs are of a free-air/IB design, I can't disapprove of the mounting.