johnnydefacto
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2016
- Posts
- 62
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- California
- First Name
- John
- Truck Year
- 1989
- Truck Model
- C30 Dually 3+3
- Engine Size
- 454
I just completed the stereo build for my square Dually (89 C30). It was many firsts for me. I have never built a complete system, I have installed speakers before and an amp or two, and I have installed a couple head units, but that is where my experience stopped.
I had a 1.5 DIN aftermarket head unit that came with the truck from the previous owner, it was non functional. The stock 3.5's and 4x9's and wiring were all there. I pulled out everything. The dash was cut for the 1.5 DIN head unit, so I had very few choices for a head unit unless I wanted to weld, or use the mounts that fill the gaps. I didn't even have to consider plan B as I found the RetroSound Newport 1.5 DIN head unit was a perfect fit.
I decided to stick with the 3.5"s in the stock location and went with the Kicker KS 3.5's 2 ways. I know they are not great, but what 3.5's are? I am running these off the head unit. They are louder and better than I was expecting after reading about everyones experiences with the 3.5's.
I chose to go with 2 10" subwoofers, found these Kicker Comp VT 400 watts that are low profile and in a sealed box (which is what I like) they only need 0.6 cu/ft of airspace each. They are SVC at 2 ohms, powered by ARC Audio xdi 1100.1 wired parallel at 1 ohms.
Since I had 4 of the 8 speakers all Kickers, I decided to get the 6.5's and 6x9's Kicker as well as they will be seen.
a pair of KS 6.5" 2 way coaxial and
a pair of KS 6x9 3 ways.
I am powering those 4 speakers by an ARC audio xdi 804 4 channel.
After sitting in my truck with the 6.5's in my hands I decided to go with the kicker panels that are sold on this site. They definitely look the best and were so easy to install. I will have to mess with my parking brake a little bit but I am happy with how they turned out (when I re do my interior next year they will get painted to match). Also played with the idea of cutting the OE 4x10 brackets to fit the 6x9's and then put them back in the stock location, but after measuring how big my box would be and looking at the angle the 6x9's would be at, I was not happy.
FYI, I was able to cut those mounting brackets bigger to hold the 6x9's, and they will fit in that corner...
Instead I decided to expand my sub box so that i could put the 6x9's with the subs. i kept them separate because with them installed would have made it near impossible to get the box into the back.
I have never built a box before, so I am pretty pumped on how it turned out. Trying to get 7"s on each side of the box in order to mount the 6x9's and leave enough space for the 1100 and 804 amps in the middle AND get as much airspace as possible for 2 10s was tough. I think I maximized the space as much as possible. The amps are in there really tight, I made the space as narrow as possible so that I could have the as much airspace as possible.
I ran the amp power under the chassis and up into the cab directly below the amps. I also have the 3' ground coming up directly under the amps. I was concerned about running them in the cab, there is not a lot of room in the rocker channels and I did not want either power or ground anywhere near the components or speaker wires. The 6 components are running along and under the passenger side rocker panel, as well as the speaker wire for the front 6.5. The front left 6.5 speaker wire and remote wire is running the driver side rocker, along with the factory cargo light wires (white and orange)??? idk.
This truck was unmolested except for a mickey-mouse electric trailer brake system that I pulled out, so all the speaker wires were un touched. I pulled it all out and went with 14 gauge wire for my 6.5s and 6x9s.
There is very little room behind the seat as you all know, so I maximized it as much as possible. the 6x9's stick out the farthest, about 3/4". I was going to set them into a sheet of MDF so that they would be flush with the subs and look really cool, but i decided to leave them sticking out farther than the subs so that when people are sitting in the back seat, the seat will be pushed against the 6x9's protective grill and not my subwoofers.
Running all the components, speaker wires, power(s) and ground(s) was touch because of the tight amp rack I left myself with and the very small space behind the amp rack. I was/am really concerned with getting interference so I was sure to keep all the wires from touching each other, the best I could. I get the fuse and fuse holder tomorrow so I can fire her up then... I will update you on how it sounds.
Here are some pictures....
I had a 1.5 DIN aftermarket head unit that came with the truck from the previous owner, it was non functional. The stock 3.5's and 4x9's and wiring were all there. I pulled out everything. The dash was cut for the 1.5 DIN head unit, so I had very few choices for a head unit unless I wanted to weld, or use the mounts that fill the gaps. I didn't even have to consider plan B as I found the RetroSound Newport 1.5 DIN head unit was a perfect fit.
I decided to stick with the 3.5"s in the stock location and went with the Kicker KS 3.5's 2 ways. I know they are not great, but what 3.5's are? I am running these off the head unit. They are louder and better than I was expecting after reading about everyones experiences with the 3.5's.
I chose to go with 2 10" subwoofers, found these Kicker Comp VT 400 watts that are low profile and in a sealed box (which is what I like) they only need 0.6 cu/ft of airspace each. They are SVC at 2 ohms, powered by ARC Audio xdi 1100.1 wired parallel at 1 ohms.
Since I had 4 of the 8 speakers all Kickers, I decided to get the 6.5's and 6x9's Kicker as well as they will be seen.
a pair of KS 6.5" 2 way coaxial and
a pair of KS 6x9 3 ways.
I am powering those 4 speakers by an ARC audio xdi 804 4 channel.
After sitting in my truck with the 6.5's in my hands I decided to go with the kicker panels that are sold on this site. They definitely look the best and were so easy to install. I will have to mess with my parking brake a little bit but I am happy with how they turned out (when I re do my interior next year they will get painted to match). Also played with the idea of cutting the OE 4x10 brackets to fit the 6x9's and then put them back in the stock location, but after measuring how big my box would be and looking at the angle the 6x9's would be at, I was not happy.
FYI, I was able to cut those mounting brackets bigger to hold the 6x9's, and they will fit in that corner...
Instead I decided to expand my sub box so that i could put the 6x9's with the subs. i kept them separate because with them installed would have made it near impossible to get the box into the back.
I have never built a box before, so I am pretty pumped on how it turned out. Trying to get 7"s on each side of the box in order to mount the 6x9's and leave enough space for the 1100 and 804 amps in the middle AND get as much airspace as possible for 2 10s was tough. I think I maximized the space as much as possible. The amps are in there really tight, I made the space as narrow as possible so that I could have the as much airspace as possible.
I ran the amp power under the chassis and up into the cab directly below the amps. I also have the 3' ground coming up directly under the amps. I was concerned about running them in the cab, there is not a lot of room in the rocker channels and I did not want either power or ground anywhere near the components or speaker wires. The 6 components are running along and under the passenger side rocker panel, as well as the speaker wire for the front 6.5. The front left 6.5 speaker wire and remote wire is running the driver side rocker, along with the factory cargo light wires (white and orange)??? idk.
This truck was unmolested except for a mickey-mouse electric trailer brake system that I pulled out, so all the speaker wires were un touched. I pulled it all out and went with 14 gauge wire for my 6.5s and 6x9s.
There is very little room behind the seat as you all know, so I maximized it as much as possible. the 6x9's stick out the farthest, about 3/4". I was going to set them into a sheet of MDF so that they would be flush with the subs and look really cool, but i decided to leave them sticking out farther than the subs so that when people are sitting in the back seat, the seat will be pushed against the 6x9's protective grill and not my subwoofers.
Running all the components, speaker wires, power(s) and ground(s) was touch because of the tight amp rack I left myself with and the very small space behind the amp rack. I was/am really concerned with getting interference so I was sure to keep all the wires from touching each other, the best I could. I get the fuse and fuse holder tomorrow so I can fire her up then... I will update you on how it sounds.
Here are some pictures....
