Okay, so I'm finally giving in and getting my stereo put in. I mainly wanted a new deck with an aux in and usb. My truck is an 06 screw xlt. Deck is pioneer 7300(Bluetooth, aux in and front usb, other stuff as well but those are the important ones to me), amp is mtx 942 (around 1000 watts rms), sub is a pioneer premier (1000 watt rms, 2000 max), cap is a 2 farad off brand unit, and a 4 gauge amp kit. Had everything except the deck and this amp kit in my old truck. I realize the box is ghetto, but it fit perfect in between the center console and back seat on my 04 crew cab gmc. Well I just test fit the box and it doesn't fit in the Ford in the same spot, so I will probably have to get a new box or build one and actually carpet it. My two questions are, 1) where is the best place to mount my amp (its about 18-20 inches long) and 2) does anyone have a single 12 setup to recommend to me? It is a deep sub with large magnet, so behind the seat isn't an option. Sorry such a lengthy post, but need ideas. I'm going to install the amp and cap, but have the deck done as I don't want to scratch the dash. Thanks in advance.
Jerry

 

Can the amp fit behind the seat? There's a lot of people on here who have built some pretty nice amp racks for behind the rear seats. Otherwise I'd imagine it'd fit under a seat. And if space is an issue I'd skip the cap all together it's not really needed unless your having dimming issues in which case the big 3 should fix that.

And not to be that guy but I would expect to see more around 800rms from that amp over 1000. Don't get me wrong it's a definitely a quality amp, mtx has just started to go a little down hill in the past couple years from what they used to be. Also after some searching on it it say it needs a 1/0 gauge power and ground but I think you'd be alright with 4 gauge because it isn't putting out enough power to really need a big wire but I was just gonna throw that out there in case you run into any problems later on like constantly blowing fuses or the amp not powering on due to a burned out wire somewhere.

Oh and nice choice of a sub, I owned a pair of those a year or two ago and loved them! I still kinda regret selling them haha.

 

I don't even know how the back seat folds down. I will have to look into it. I did some searching and saw some pre 04s with them behind the seat. My back seat, the bottom folds up. The amp is from 03-04, but u could be right that its closer to 800. Either way it pushes that sub pretty well. I have the cap, so probably going to throw it in there. My lights dimmed without it in the past. I went with the 4 gauge as it worked previously without blowing many in line fuses. Yeah, may have to do some Jerry rigging. Haha.

Amp specs 700rms at 12.5 volts, 940 at 14.4 (hence the name 942). Like I say, had this thing forever. Been through 5 vehicles counting current. 99 150, 97 Yukon, 03 tacoma, 04 sierra and now this. Damn I got to quit switching rigs.

 

Haha yea, jerry rigging never hurts. As many times as I change the system in my truck I'm sure I've installed things in less than decent ways haha. I don't think I've ever kept my system the same for more than a couple months haha, but hopefully after my next build it'll be exactly the way I want. And if you still have dimming issues I'd definitely consider doing the big 3, it doesn't cost too much and it'll make the system perform better at a more constant voltage.
http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/...TID~73496~PN~1
That's a pretty good write up for it.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/am...amp-racks.html
Look through that, it might give you some ideas on amp mounting.

 

Skip the cap.

 

Why skip the cap? Always thought it was a good thing to have a "buffer" between the amp and electrical system. They aren't that hard to install and I thought it was a good idea for anything over 500 watts rms. Enlighten me.

Thanks for the link pizzaman. Looks like behind the rear seat should work for the amp.

 

Not needed. Just bling. Very little benefit and the no name brands usually have a very high ESR which renders them useless.

 

ESR is what? Just trying to see if I should actually leave it out. Will it negatively affect the system if I put it in. I don't want my lights to dim bad either.

 

ESR is Equivalent series resistance. The higher it is the worse the cap performs because it acts like a resistor in series with your amp causing a voltage drop. If you already have it you might as well try it. They are easily removed. Just leave yourself enough wire length. You won't break anything by trying it but you are unlikely to gain anything by using it.

 

Just hadn't ever seen that acronym before. I will see how it all fits in there Sunday when I install the amp, and decide whether to put it in or not. If I remember correctly if was still reading around 14 volts on the digital display in my previous rig.