success... the perfect subwoofer box

[NickD85]

As a lot of you guys know I've been trying to make a sub box to go in that little corner storage area, In order to avoid losing any space in my truck, which is used first and foremost as a work vehicle. Anyway, over the past few days I put together a custom fiberglass box to fit right behind that panel (after cutting most of the plastic out). I just measured the volume of the box... it holds 11 and a half liters of water- or 0.41 cubic feet of air: just big enough for the kicker sub I want. And the best part, I did't lose a single square inch in the cargo area. More pics soon- all you can see here is the plywood face, screwed into brackets that I bolted right to the metal framework that was back there. Everything is insulated with this great foam tape I found. I'm not going to make the hole any bigger, or cover the box until I get the sub. Let me know if you have any tips/suggestions to help with the rest of the installation.-Nick

[KyooX4]

Nice job! Can't wait to see what it looks like all done!

[Qxxx4]

stealthy! wheres the amp goin

[Empty V]

Nice job bro, looks slick!

Billy

[NickD85]

oh and I have some black material to cover the box... I think it would look fine black, but do you guys think I should try to find some beige carpet to match the interior?

[NickD85]

Q, the amp is going in that other little storage area- the one under the carpet

[nnorton44]

Which kicker are ya going with?

[NickD85]

either the cvr8 ( one of their round ones, 200 watts) or the L5 (300 watts). Not sure though- like I've said, I'm not trying to do anything crazy here; I think its downright unpleasant when things are TOO loud. I'm looking more for an improvement in the quality of the sound rather than ridiculous volume or overpowering bass.

[JHC828]

Great idea! I've been wanting to do something like this for a while now... the big box I have takes up WAY too much room and I have to remove it ever time I need to carry more than a little cargo.

Keep us posted!

[korbeano89]

you can also put the amp in the back of your seat there's a lot of space just unzip and see, well there is in my 97 qx4 i know, thats where i put my 1000 watt amp in and hooked it to my two twelves memphis subs

[nnorton44]

I would go with the L5 because it is only an 8" sub, also make sure you get the dual 4-ohm model so it produces a 2-ohm load

[Qxxx4]

yeah nnorton is totally right, people always focus on power when impedance is the most worthwhile feature

[NickD85]

the cvr8 is also available as a dual 4ohm... but I guess you still recommend the more powerful L5?

[Densetsu]

Nice! I was looking to do the exact same thing, very interested in this, let me know how it goes. I just want to add a bit of kick without being overpowering and letting me use all my cargo space... hockey gear takes up a lot of room.

As a work vehicle I don't know if you keep the tonneau cover on, but if you do I wouldn't worry too much about how it looks. If I were doing this, I'd bring the plastic cover that used to be there into a paint shop. Have them match the colour and mix up some paint. It won't look exactly the same just because of the texture, but it'll be better than nothing.

[volp]

Out of curiosity, do you think it would be better to make a series of smaller holes as opposed to one large hole to better let the sound through? Or does it not really matter?

[NickD85]

no the thing you see there is the front plywood face of the sub box- behind it is fiberglass molded to the shape of the car, but all part of the same box. There is no "hole to let the sound through"... the sub is getting mounted into the wood just like any normal box

[NickD85]

and I'm definitely going to carpet the box rather than paint it... I think it'll look much cleaner if I do it right

[02pathy]

do u have any pics with the panel off, i am curius as to how u got .41 cu ft of space if u don't mind posting them up or taking more pics thanks, nice job by the way

[NickD85]

yeah, here's a couple with the box out... you can see that I ended up cutting most of the plastic out. The box is gray because I ended up spraying the whole thing with primer for really no reason.

[Mariach]

Very nice!Great success!

All of you guys with you awesome skill with fabrication and wiring make me jealous as hell just to be a lowly banker

[02pathy]

thanks for the pic, really nice job, i wanted to do the same thing but have no experience with fibreglass and no place to make the mess or work in privacy

[black2blackQX4s]

great looking job!

When do you start selling these ?!

I would say go with a tan carpet if you are looking to go stealth.

[korbeano89]

isnt that going to rattle like crazy

[NickD85]

that blue piece you see is a sheet of EVA foam, that the box sits right up against. The box itself gets screwed very firmly to metal brackets that I bolted to the metal framework of the car... not the plastic. In between all points of contact, and between the brackets and the car is this black foam tape... I think it'll be fine but if anything does rattle it'll be no problem to pull things out and add insulation where needed.

[Qxxx4]

im really looking forward to you telling us how it sounds! of course it wont be crazy bass like alot of our setups, but i got a feeling youll be pleasantly surprised....dont newer nissans come with 8" subs anyways?

you really have my respect, you've been contributing a lot to this forum, and things like this really push our imaginations. Its a shame your truck is for work or else I could only imagine what you'd think up.

[nnorton44]

Quote »the cvr8 is also available as a dual 4ohm... but I guess you still recommend the more powerful L5?[/quote]I would go with the L5 just in case, if it is too loud you can always turn the amp down

[Empty V]

I haven't checked the specs for air space or woofer depth but if you're running a single 10 then I'd go with a full range 10 like the JL Audio 10w6v2. They're expensive but will definitely out perform any other 10 on the market. I've got 2 much cheaper JL 10's and my friends who, like myself, have been into mobile audio for 12+ years swear that they have the depth of 12' with the punch of 10'ss.

Billy

[NickD85]

a ten won't fit... both the cvr8 and L5 are 8's

[longhornsqx4]

Go with the L7 8" like someone else mentionned, its like $50 extra but youll be very disappointed with the l5. Give the L7 300+ rms and itll be decent.

I was disappointed with 2 L5 10's, there weak subs. The L7 series is what you want. You do only have one single 8", dont be expecting a bump in your chest even with the L7

[Empty V]

a ten won't fit... both the cvr8 and L5 are 8's

My bad, they make an 8w7 but it looks like it would be way too deep.

Billy