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Custom spare tire subwoofer enclosure (one 10" sub)

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I'm new to writing tech articles, so I'll give this one my best shot. Mods: I'm not sure if this goes in the body mods forum, move it if you'd like). Onto the good stuff...

Things you'll need:

- Two 2'x4' boards of 3/4" MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard). You can use 5/8" too, but you might as well use the thicker density. Plus, the dimensions for this box come out perfect for the JL sub I was putting in.

- Cheap carpet from home depot. I bought a 4'x6' sheet for $6. I only covered the top portion of the box, but I had enough left over to cover it all.

- Elmers wood glue.

- Silicone sealant (in the caulking bottle) as well as a caulking gun.

- Staple Gun with staples.

- Drill with 1 small bit and phillips head.

- A jig-saw or saws-all. Doing this without powertools would be tedious.

- 1.5" Drywall screws (you'll probably need about 30).

- 3M Spray Adhesive

- Whatever speaker grille you want, I got the really solid Kicker one (in case I needed to put stuff on top of the sub).

- One of those speaker connectors from Radio Shack. You really only need this if you plan on taking it in and out, you can hard wire the sub to the amp if you'd like.


Notes:

You're probably asking why all this work for only one 10" sub? Well, I had 2 JL 10w3s in a JL Powerwedge box, and the thing was DAMN heavy. I'm no weight freak, but when I drove the car without the sub box in it... it made a hell of a difference. Plus the box had ripped out the securements for the original carpet, so when I'd take a corner, the sucker would slide around. I didn't like that all too much. Also, 2 10's was a bit overkill for all that indie rock/hip-hop I listen too :)



How to build it:

1) Essentially, you're building two boxes and joining them together. I did this because when I took out the spare tire, I wanted to leaving the mounting equipment there in case I wanted the sell the car, or whatever. So the smaller box will fit in the forward lower gap between the main brace and the front of the well. Then the larger one will slot in perfectly above it.

2) Cut out the wood like it is shown in the drawing. Note: The sides for the bottom box should be 3.25" all the way around, NOT 3.5".

3) Assemble the bottom box by using glue first. Let the glue dry, then secure the peices together with the drywall screws. Then caulk the inside joints with silicone (be generous, might as well do a good job now to avoid shitty sound later).

4) Do the same to the top box by gluing, screwing, and then siliconing.

5) When the top box has set, you should be able to fit it in snug (take out the spare tire and the jack...). You should put two small pieces of 3/4" wood together (your MDF is 3/4"... how about that?!?) on top of the main brace for the spare tire, and the box will sit snug on that.

6) If it fits snug, pat yourself on the back. Only 4 more hours to go :)

7) Figure out where the small box should line up below the bigger box. You dont want it touching any sides of the well.

8) With some crafty measurements and excellent geometry skills, cut out an insert in the bottom of the big box to join the small box to it. Glue it together, then screw and silicone, etc. You want this sucker airtight.

9) You might need to sand down the edges of where the opening of the small box meets the big one, to fit the magnet of the speaker. It all depends on which sub you used. I had to shave probably 1/8" off each side (top and bottom).

10) I don't really have any measurements for the top panel, I just cut it to fit where I wanted it to go with the jigsaw.

11) Match up the big box to the top panel. The pictures below will give you some idea on how this pig is supposed to look.

12) Cut out the diameter for the sub in the top panel (it must be right over the smaller box, so the magnet will fit in it.

13) Roll the carpet out, then spray the top surface of the box with the spray adhesive. Then lay the carpet on top of it, and using a ruler or something, rub out the top so its nice and smooth (no bubbles or creases please!).

14) Shave off the excess carpet, leave about 2-3" on the sides so you can fold it under the top and staple it to the bottom for the clean look.

15) Cut out the hole for the speaker connector at the bottom of the box (or wherever). The package will have the exact measurements you need to cut it perfect. Push the connector unit in halfway, then silicon right under the sides before you push it down. Then screw it in and connect it to the speaker.

16) Hook up that sub and drop it in. Screw it in and put the grill on.

Connect that sucker to your amp and DON'T turn it on yet! This sounds sucky, but you can't bump it or else the silicone wont have enough time to dry. Just test it to see if it works and your getting some thump and then let it sit overnight.

Here is your (my) result!

Enjoy and feel free to ask me any questions.
 

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