Alright finally got all the pieces to my sound system puzzle and prepping up for the install. This will be going into my 2006 screw F-150 XLT. I've already decided to mount the amp behind the rear seat and mounting it to 1/2" plywood. And mounting the speakers onto MDF in the doors. I was just wondering if I should mount the crossovers with the amp on the back wall or not? I've seen a few installs on here with that setup. I'm just wondering what the benefit of installing them there is or if there is a better spot to mount the crossovers. I was also wondering where the easiest place is to run the RCA's, speaker wire and power wire? And where everyone is mounting the ground wire? the back wall? the frame somehow? Any help or advice to ease install would be great and if you have any pics of how you ran the wiring that would be best. Thanks in advance.


Equipment Being Used:
Front Speakers: Pioneer Premier TS-D720c's
Amplifier: MB Quart DSC 450
Headunit: Alpine CDA-6856
Wiring Kit: Rockford Fosgate RFK4D

 

this will answer most of your questions..http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/...w-install.html

 

wow that was pretty helpful, but i didn't want to run the power wire outside the cab the way he did. I there an easier way to run it inside the cab or is it best to run it outside similar to the way he did?

 

I think on the newer trucks there is a grommet behind the battery that you can get into the cab with. From there go behind the kick/under the carpet and down under the sill panels to the back of the truck.

 

ok....x2 on what ^^^^^ he said, also there is a grommet up behind the brake pedal.either way, you have two options to run power wire. run rcas on opposite side of vehicle from power wire. i drilled a hole through the floor at back of cab to use a bolt for a ground. you can bolt to back wall, just sand metal clean.A nice solid bolt is a better ground. Just be sure to sand all surfaces clean, wherever you put it. mount crossovers on back wall.. there is also a grommet in the passenger floor sill under back door.A wire can be ran through that to bolt to frame. Just make solid grounds at all costs.

 

Alright I've begun the install and all thank you for all the help. I just got the amp screwed onto the back wall and i went to put the rear seat back on to check for clearance and the amp is just touching the back of the seat and the foam. Should I be concerned and try to move the amp? Will the amp get to hot?

 

no concern. mine push against the seat, the 300/4 i have is A/B class amp, it runs a bit warm, i push it more than my sub amp, no issues,also havnt ever heard anyone complain of it.

 

okay didn't know if i would have to worry about the amp overheating or torching the foam or anything. Looks like the install will continue.

 

Yeah. you should be okay. If your worried about overheating, you could always install one or two of those 12v computer fans.

 

I'd be careful with mounting your amp anywhere that it makes contact. To me, this is just a rule of thumb, especially if your amplifier has an external heatsink for cooling. I would try to mount it lower. I've never had a problem with an amp that makes contact with fabric, but I've also had amps that got FRICKIN hot to the touch. I would much rather NOT chance anything if I can avoid it.

 

I might be wrong, but if your amps are HOT to touch then something is wrong. A little warm might be ok, but scolding hot you have issues.

If its just barely touching why not shave a little bit of the foam to make clearance?

 

Amps don't normally run "hot to the touch" but you never know when your amp decides to go haywire. I had a Rockford 550S that decided to kill my older Power HX2 (which I was critically upset about), Punch HX2, and four 10" MTX Thunder 8000s. I had no clue what was wrong, nor did I ever find out. But it was 4 years old when it was doing this, and one day I felt the amp and it was basically a stove. I kinda like to think to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

 

This is another reason to pick an amplifier with greater RMS rating than your speakers. The amp will create much less heat if it is not stressed to push your speakers.

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but the most misunderstood threat of running an amp rated less nominal power than your subwoofer(s) is clipping, which is caused by the user cranking the gain and bass boost. I guess I'm having a hard time seeing how running less than nominal power to a subwoofer is dangerous for an amplifier if a driver doesn't actually draw power, it just recieves whatever is put into it. I ended up sending the 550S amp out because it was under warranty, and it came back working fine. After I sent it out, I installed a 1001bd amp I had laying around. I hooked it up to four 10" Sonys (please don't laugh, lol) and beat the snot out of that system for over a year before I got rid of the truck. It never got hot, I never blew a woofer, I was only putting 500Wrms into the subs @ 4ohms with a nominal acceptance of 1200Wrms for the subs total. Everything was set properly on this one along with the 550S.

 

what hes saying is that an amp thats 400watts rms at 4 ohms, pushing a 500watt rms sub, will work harder then a 600 watt rms amp pushing the same 500watt rms sub.