troutspinner’s Budget SQ 2014 Crew Cab Build

[troutspinner]

I always enjoy reading about other people’s builds, they are very helpful so I thought I would share my own. Hopefully it can help others and keep me organized.

I am approaching this as a “budget-SQ” build. Unfortunately for me, my ears love expensive equipment but my wallet does not! I am however hoping to demonstrate that a entry to higher end audio is not as expensive as some might think and can be achieved with little to no customization.

The truck is a 2014 Crew Cab Big Horn with the 8.4a/RA3 HU. The HU will remain. Listed below is the equipment and the cost (all prices include shipping and taxes)

Focal Access 165 AS Components (front door driver - dash tweeter) $260 from local audio shop
Focal Access 165 AC Coaxial (rear) $155 from local audio shop
JBL MS-A1004 & Stinger 4 GA. Amp Wiring Kit $267 from Sonic Electronix
100’ 14AWG CL2 Rated 2-Conductor Oxygen-Free Pure Bare Copper Speaker Wire Cable $34 from Monoprice
Four (4) 1/4” PVC Door Speaker Adapters $32 from car-speaker-adapters.com
Two (2) 1/4” PVC Dash Speaker Adapters (made by me with a cutting board laying around)
Peel and Seal $17 from Lowes
Posi-Lock & Posi-Tap Connectors $23 from J&P Cycles

Total Spent = $788

I am still waiting on the wire and connectors but should have that by Monday.

Thank you to Power247 for the Peel and Seal idea. It's not as thick as dyna-mat or roadkill but it will serve it's purpose and costs a fraction. Since we have a plastic shroud at the door speakers, there is not much to do to the face of the door. Like Power247 did, I will reach in and skin anything I can reach.

Here is a pic of what I have on hand right now in the boxes and another pic of all of the equipment unboxed and the speakers prepped in their adapters.

As you can see, I have no sub yet. I am not 100% sure of what I am doing for that and following some other threads here closely to give me some ideas. I really like the look of the JL Audio Stealthbox but the price is $600 +/- and I think it is over kill for my needs. In my previous crew cab pickup I was running a 10” shallow sub at 200 RMS and it was plenty for me. I am looking for SQ, not boom boom.

I could go with the Net Audio “Dodge Ram Quad Cab Sub Box Single Low” for $300 as it looks like the Stealthbox. If I couple that with a JL Audio 10W0V3-4 for $110 it keeps me $200 +/- cheaper than the Stealthbox. Any thoughts on this setup? I am trying to keep things as cheap as possible but I also want a good sound and look.

I intend to rewire all of the speakers, bypassing everything factory and leaving all factory wiring and connectors in place. The only thing I am going to touch factory is the 8 wires feeding the stock speakers. I will cut them from behind the radio in a convenient spot and use the Posi-Lock Connectors to mate with new wires running to my amp. I did buy Posi-Taps as well but if I tap those lines, there is still a line going “no where” that could induce noise so I think a cut is the best solution. In the event I ever want to go back to stock, I unscrew the one side of the posi-lock connector and re-mate it with the existing wiring and put the stock speakers back in. Nothing noticeably touched if I ever trade or sell. I doubt I ever will though, I consider this my death truck. It or I will die before I buy another new truck.

I also am going to put the tweeters in the dash. While I have discussed this on this forum, I am going to give it a shot as the audio shop I deal with says they have done many dodges this way and they sound great. My ears will be the judge but while I am wiring I am also going to bring 2 extra pairs of wire to each side of the front in the event I want to go active. I already know I’ll probably move the tweeters to the sails but for now I just want to try the dash, maybe I will be pleasantly surprised?

Thanks for reading, if you have any input on my equipment or advice on installation, please speak up! I “get” a lot of this stuff but it is sometimes the little things that you don’t think of that make a huge difference.

 

[Etroze86]

Can't wait to see how this will progress. Following for sure

 

[troutspinner]

I wasn't going to not do anything today just because I do not have my wiring or connectors yet so I made an amp and crossover mount.

The rear wall for mounting is a no-brainer for space but access to the equipment for tuning leaves a little to be desired. I know about the seat mod but still I wanted easier access. Since the amp is so small, I thought maybe I could slide it way back under the seat so I did some measurements and my thoughts were confirmed, so off I went.

With some MDF and carpeting I had laying around, I made up the mounting board pictured below. Fortunately the carpet I had matches my interior main carpet (not the under storage carpet), not that anyone will ever see it but it's the little things that make me happy.

Below is a picture of it sitting under the driver's side rear seat. That will probably change to the passenger seat as I am almost certain I am going to pull the trigger on a Fox Box for that spot. I don't want to do the passenger side enclosure as that side blocks the cup holders, plus it leaves me plenty of room for the sub amp on the passenger side.

If you notice those two small bolts doing nothing on the seat braces, they are stud and bolt from the fold flat floor that I removed from the truck. I initially thought I would make a brace that went from the underside of the board to those bolts to secure it but on a whim, I grabbed some industrial velcro and the hook side of that sticks to our carpet VERY well so I'll just stick some to the underside of the board and call it a day.

Hopefully I'll get to do some work inside of the truck this week.

 

[troutspinner]

Spent more money today, I sure hope my wife never finds this forum j/k

I ordered a Fox Box for the rear driver's seat, a JL Audio 10W0v3-4 Sub, a JBL GTO-501EZ Amp and a Stinger distribution block. Total was $409 for all of it with tax and shipping. Not too bad and I am very confident it will give me the sound I am looking for at a reasonable price.

So my grand total is $1,197.00 for this build. There may be a couple of bucks here and there for terminal crimps, MDF, carpet and such but I already had that stuff laying around. If you had to buy it yourself, maybe an additional $25 bucks.

I also checked to see if I had room to work with the harness behind the radio. It does not have a lot of play but I've worked in tighter situations so it will work for me. I created a instructional thread here about removing the radio in a Big Horn which can be found here. http://www.ramforum.com/f51/2014_big_horn_8_4_ra3_radio_removal_instructions-56899/

 

[Cummins H.O.]

Awesome. Love the small footprint on those amps. Look forward to seeing your progress and how everything sounds when your finished.

 

[popjim52]

I have the same amp,same sub and same box...I will be watching this thread as I just cant get no sound to come outta my system...thought maybe somehow someway I fried HU but when I disassembled and rewired back to stock all six speakers work just cant get the sound to come through that JBL amp!!!! I am so lost.....

 

[troutspinner]

I have the same amp,same sub and same box...I will be watching this thread as I just cant get no sound to come outta my system...thought maybe somehow someway I fried HU but when I disassembled and rewired back to stock all six speakers work just cant get the sound to come through that JBL amp!!!! I am so lost.....

I replied to you in that other thread you mentioned this problem in but here is what I said.

This is an excerpt from the manual of your amp.

Note:
If you have connected the GTO-5EZ or GTO-3EZ amplifier to your factory audio system’s speaker outputs, the audio system may show a “speaker disconnected” message, or may fail to play with an amplifier connected to its output. If this happens, set the GTO amplifier’s Input Level switch to the “Hi2” position. The “Hi2” position includes a circuit designed to fool this type of factory system into “seeing” a speaker connected to its output.

Let me know if that works for you.

 

[troutspinner]

Ran my amp wire and my signal wires today. I am realizing that 14ga is way overkill for the signal wires but nonetheless, that stuff is done. I'll do my final connects after I get speakers installed, don't want to have no tunes.

 

[troutspinner]

Received my Sub and Sub Amp today, the only thing left to receive is the Fox Box. Can't wait till this weekend to get it all installed. I doubt the Fox Box will be here by then but soon enough.

 

[troutspinner]

Fox box shipped yesterday, should be here Monday. From what I have read here, there is some final assembly for the Fox Box so I guess I'll install it Tuesday. Today however I had time to put the passenger side woofer and tweeter in today and run the wires to the amp. Tomorrow I'll do the driver's side and maybe even tackle the rear doors and get it all done....except for the Fox Box.

Here's a pic of the door speaker. Running the wire wasn't as tough as I thought it was going to be but it wasn't exactly a piece of cake.

The 1/4" PVC door adapters I ordered worked out really nice. Hat's off to car-speaker-adapters.com for them. I didn't take a pic but I sound deadened behind the speakers, a little tricky but I got some pretty good coverage. Very happy with it.

Note to the lower right that I bundled up the old speaker connector and wrapped it in cellophane then tie-wrapped it of to prevent any little noise it could possibly make. It's the little things that make me happy.

Here is a pic of the tweeter.

Hat's off to me for making the adapter plate , they worked out really well. When the dash cover is on, you see the tweeter and some of the plate. The plate has a neat texture to it and it looks awesome. I tried to get a pic of the plate on but I could not get a good pic because of glare from the windshield. I'll get one in the future, it really does look good.

Just a little tidbit. I learned that "Left" on the wiring diagram from techauthority does not mean driver's side speaker. They view it as standing outside in front of the vehicle.

Nuff from me for now.

 

[BradKnob]

Nice work man. Nice and neat. Those focals are some damn nice looking speakers.

If I may make a suggestion, you probably already put the door panel on but I would play those speakers and feel around that pvc baffle for flex and air leaking out around it. And if so, seal em up. It sounds trivial but will certainly hurt the output of those speakers.

 

[Etroze86]

Nice work and thought adapters are so convenient.

 

[troutspinner]

Good suggestion Brad. I won't have everything wired up until this weekend, maybe tomorrow if all goes right but tearing a door panel off again to take a look is easy enough. I know all too well about speaker flex from my last vehicle. Proper rings make quite a difference and I "think" these are rigid enough to stand up to the task.

And thank you for the compliments Brand and Etroze, every aspect is done with this type of detail in mind to hopefully achieve the best in quality. I know this is going to sound "odd" to some people but I can't tell you how excited I am knowing this build is coming together and I can enjoy it soon. Everyone loves music but when you hear that same music out of a well thought out system, the music is brand new, you hear every nuance, every pick of a string, brush of a cymbal and from directions that make you feel like you are on a live stage......without a contact high! Ok, that could be a negative for some.

troutspinner

 

[BradKnob]

Doing it yourself and doing right def adds an extra sense of satisfaction to the end product for sure.

You have some nice gear, I'd like to see you get as much potential out of it as possible.

 

[ramdude916]

Nice work and thought adapters are so convenient.

What adapters did you buy?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Etroze86]

Made my own out of 1/2in mdf

 

[troutspinner]

I was able to get all of my other speakers in today and wired. The only thing left to do will be to make the final connects at the HU and the amp tomorrow and I should be listening to quality tunes.

Here is a pic of the driver side front door. This one was a pain in the neck! I could not pass through my whole cable with the outer covering so I had to strip the main casing off and pass the wires separately. Once I did get it done, running the wire out of the way of the e-brake and all metal edges took some time and thought but nonetheless, it got done.

Here is a pic of it finished.

The back doors were easy compared to the front doors. Here's a pic of a completed back door. Notice the Focal lettering is upside down, this is because the tweeters are angled so I twisted them so they point up. I'll have to give a listen and see if they are good like this or need another direction.

Here's just pic of sound deadening inside the door. I was surprised to see there was already some, and I do mean minimal in there already and it looks just like Peel and Seal.

Here is an image with the door panel on if you wanted to know the overall look.

 

[troutspinner]

Finally, here is a pic of what I am left with. A nice bundle of wires ready to be final connected tomorrow morning after I make my final connections at the HU. A couple of hours and I will get to hear my hard work.

 

[BradKnob]

One step closer!


Chrysler/ram didnt put much consideration to the audio guys when pitting these trucks together. Mostly in the kick panel and door areas. So
Much crap to contend with down there.

 

[troutspinner]

I hear ya on that Brad.

Forgot to mention. If you notice my wires I made them all different. White for the mids, orange/black for the tweeters and black for the rear. This was kind of by design except the back doors were supposed to be white like the fronts. Since I ran out of wire for one rear run I had to make a trip to the local audio store and bought enough to do both rears in black. I like it, easy to tell what is what and something I see doing in the future if I ever do it again.

All tolled, 160 feet of speaker wire for ins and outs. I have a feeling more will be needed, I already know a 3 way active setup and DSP will find its way into the future budget.