Subwoofer and Amp mount ideas?

[ticopowell]

Sounds like a great idea with the weed eater line! I went and looked at it today and I think i know how to get the rear seat off, there were lots of ideas that people told me, from unbolting the bottom part and getting a crowbar to pry it up(sounds fishy to me), then some car audio installer said i just need to get my hand back there and find a little latch and unhook it. But ill see what i can do, probably easies to do it after removing the plastic side panel in back. and with the sub i went to a place and asked and the guy said that my current box should work, I just need wont have a center seat, and I just need to add some "legs" to make sure the sub isnt hitting the ground when its going. I will also have to add something to it so there isnt a gaping hole next to the armrest. Ill take a pic tomorrow to show what it looks like now, and then highlight what I think might work for at least a short term install .

[ticopowell]

So i guess i forgot to take a picture lol... But i did get the Amps installed, and the subwoofer "installed"... well temporarily at least. There was a small car show here at the academy today, and I was playing my stereo in it and I guess the amps heated up a little back there... so the sub stopped working... I am guessing/hoping that it just overheated the amp and didnt do any real damage, but if it did I guess I will have to buy a new amp sometime soon, so any ideas of a small, COOL, amp with maybe even a fan that would work for my 500 watt sub? I am also considering using a 5 channel amp to power everything but IDK how much that would be, or if its even worth it since my door speakers seem to be working just fine. Also that was the first time the stereo was playing anything decently loud for an extended period of time so it looks like it needs a cooler area. I really dont want the amps under the back seat, but If i have to I guess i can do that. Any other ideas for amp placement?
On another note here are some pics from today!




now you all know what it looks like here... if anyone is around and they want a tour then by all means let me know!

[Longshot270]

How did you have the subs hooked up? There are 2 popular ways to do it and one has more power but will overheat an amp QUICK.

+1,-1 is positive and negative connections for sub #1,
+2, -2 is positive and negative connections for sub #2

This is for a 2 channel amp but I'm not sure if thats what your using. the tabs to connect the wires are this little symbol, [. A 2 channel amp has 4 little tabs, 3 channel has 6, etc.

For standard hookup, this will generally work the best.
-[...-1
+[..+1
-[...-2
+[..+2


This is for "bridging". Bridging will have a slightly higher output but the amp will heat up WAY faster. Also, not all amps are bridgable.
-[...-1,-2
+[
-[
+[...+1,+2


To help keep the amp cool a friend of mine made a small box that fit around his amp and he mounted computer fans on it to move air.
What watt are the subs(is it one 500 watt sub or 2 250s) and what watt is the amp? You said 500 watt sub but I thought you were running two subs.

[ticopowell]

It is a mono amp, an orion cobalt 800.1, so 800 watts max, 400 watts rms, the sub is a memphis 12" shallowmount 500 watt rms 1000 watt peak, it also is a dual voice coil, but im not sure if its a dual 4ohm or a dual 2 ohm, i know both exist with this sub. the amp has 2 speaker outputs even though it is a mono, and the sub is hooked up with the positive wire in the output for 1, and the negative in the output in the other. I hooked it all up just like the place that first put it in did, so IDK if that is bridged, or how the sub is exactly wired. I want to say that the sub is a dual 4 ohm wired in parallel so the amp sees 2 ohms.
let me know if this helps, im still fairly new at this whole car audio stuff, but i researched a lot before I put this system in, but i still dont know too much haha Thanks for the help.

[Longshot270]

Dont worry, your already smater than the average bear just for knowing that much. Since it is a mono amp hook the (-)(+) on the outside of the speaker output. I dont think that amp is considered "bridged" unless you hook it up to another...or thats at least what they say. How was it hooked up originally?

For the speaker resistance, they should have something like 2, 4 or 8 ohm stamped into the housing or on a sticker on the back. I have always just tried to keep the total speaker rms close to the amp's rms. For example, my amp is 250 watt rms and I have 2 subs, a 100 and a 150 (or something similar)

How long and how hard did you have it going?

[ticopowell]

I havent changed how it was hooked up before, when I took it out of the old truck I didnt unhook anything from the amps except the power, I just cut the wires so they I could take them all out of my old truck, so of the 4 speaker wire outputs, -+-+ the wires were hooked up to the middle 2, the +-. I will look at the manual for the amp and see what it says.
I had the volume at about 75% with the sub gain up fairly loud... basically i provided music for half of the cars there haha... til it stopped working that is I know the amp got pretty hot because i started feeling back there to see and it almost burned me... so yeah... I think i need to either move it to a different spot, or get one with a fan that will fit into the same spot behind the seat.

[Longshot270]

Yeah thats what I do. Whenever I get together with a group of people out side I crank up the stereo. But so that I dont kill my truck battery I have a marine/RV deep cycle battery. It actually has more amps than the regular battery so it'll last longer and louder. You should also check the Hz that it is tuned for. The higher frequencies tend to produce less heat while still having good sound.

[ticopowell]

yeah when i need a new battery I will get a really good one like that. I brought my sub into the place where I bought it, and it blew... so they are replacing it under warranty , but it will take a few weeks to get here :/, but I did get a security system/remote start system ordered as well as some nerf bars. So once the sub gets back, and I get all those installed, my truck will be pretty sweet! oh and I put a backup camera in too!

[Longshot270]

Yeah I installed a remote starter in my truck and its pretty sweet, especially when its cold, have yet to try it when its hot. Only gotten over 80 a few times down here.

There are isolater systems that use 2 batteries. One for the stereo and another for the engine starter and basic systems and the stereo battery doesn't kick on until the engine is putting out the 14 volts.

I actually got my speaker amp because the owner thought it was blown. Turns out the fuse was only burnt and so it hadn't worked in over 5 years. FYI, the amp is so old the line was discontinued in 1994 and this thing is still working nicely.

[ticopowell]

haha that is a great way to get an amp!, I got both of mine for $100 each because they are B-stock, only 1 problem so far with those, but the place i bought it from replaced it for free because it happened only like 2-3 months after I bought it.
I want to get an isolator like that because Ive noticed my lights dim a little when the sound is up, but ive only noticed it when the engine is running slow, like less than 1500 rpm's. When i do get the underdrive pulleys I will for sure have to increase the Idle speed so I dont drain my battery!
And I cant wait for my remote started to be installed, that will be great in summer and winter! and we get pretty harsh for both of those! lol