Well guys, I've made some decisions and well the title says it all. It's an ambitious plan but hey.

So to start it off, here's my general plan. I'm currently driving a 2002 xlt Supercrew 2wd with the 4.6. Currently with the split bench front and rear seats.

To start things off, I've begun modifying my factory radio bezel to fit an iPad mini. So that will be the centerpiece of this build. It's a tight squeeze but it'll fit. I plan on a single din head unit with a good equalizer and with time alignment. This will be located in a center console, tucked out of the way. I'm going to build a center console for front and rear. The rear portion will incorporate a Toby Speakers bandpass subwoofer box with sub. This center console will be tucked between two sets of racing bucket seats. The bucket seats will be my first portion of this build so then I will be able to build center consoles around them.

Pictures and lots more posts to come!

 

For those that were wondering on the audio specs, here's a list of planned audio upgrades

Alpine CDE-HD149BT
Alpine PDX-M6
Alpine PDX-F6
Hertz energy 6.5 component
Hertz energy 6x8 or 6x9 (whatever I can find, fit and afford)
Toby speakers bandpass box

 

I have Hertz MLK/Mille fronts, Audison AV 5.1k amp, Bit Ten D, and JL Stealthbox setup in my 08. Instead of a manual equalizer you should get the Audison Bit Ten or Bit Ten D digital processor. My installers hooked up a fancy mic in the driver seat to get some frequencies then adjusted the Bit Ten/system to make everything sound amazing. Not sure if you have an installer that has experience with one but once you have it setup the right way you can't beat it.

But let's be real here for a second. For F150's you only need one set of "component" speakers (now I personally buy my mids and highs separately cause most component packages are not usually the best companies have to offer), one amp, a digital processor, and one subwoofer of your choosing preferably in a ported box. Your sound stage should be coming from the front so anything making noise behind you is distracting to the setup. You have no tweeters in the rear so if anyone does sit back there they won't get the full effect anyway so who cares about rear speakers unless you drive a limo. I've done systems in 4 of my F150s' various years/cabin sizes so do what you will with my advice but if you are concerned about quality over being a bass head then do yourself a favor and save up some cash to do it right. Of course my tweeters alone are almost $400 but you can manage to get a okay system for the money you seem to be wanting to spend. Maybe instead of spending money on subs which would over power your speakers take the sub money and get even better speakers. You can always add a sub later but if your speaker game isn't tight then your system is going to be out of whack. Who wants a system where you hear more of the sub than the music?

Keep it simple but make the quality better! A great set of mids/highs will always sound better than decent fronts and rears together. My advice to you is;
- Don't get rear speakers
- Don't get a sub
- Forget two amps and just buy a nice 5.1 channel amp

The 5.1 amp will allow you to add a sub later and by getting rid of the subs/sub box you can upgrade the actual speakers. Hope this helps.

 

Only reason I'm getting rear speakers is because well my rear ones don't work. They will be coaxial for sure.

As far as wiring goes, I've already wired the truck for two amps, 0 gauge to the back splitting to two 8 gauge wires. And I can get the two Amps fairly cheap. But I will definitely look into those processors.

I also know the guy who makes the subs and boxes I want to get so I'm going to get them for next to nothing but yeah. I'm not looking to spend tons and tons of money on high high end stuff, just a good mid-high end setup that I can enjoy while cruising is all. But I want it to look fancy lolol

 

Understood. You still don't need rear speakers though...I don't run them so why waste your money?

 

I figured if I was gonna spoil the rear passengers with nice new bucket seats that I'd at least give them some sound back there. The rear speakers will definitely be near the cost or quality as the front, just something so that the rear passengers can hear the music better. None of this is going in all at once so im okay with the extra cost.

On the other hand, soon as I get to my computer, I'll post pictures of the racing seat I ordered to test fit that finally came in!

 

Going in another direction, anybody know what that hump in the floor at the back of the cab is? The part that has the U hook for the bench seat to clip in to. If that's it's only purpose can I have a shop remove it so it's cleaner looking back there? Or is there something under it?