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First off I want to thank everyone on bronco6g for all the guidance. All the threads and posts helped a lot with this install from suggestions on what speakers to use to how to pop the panels off every little bit helped.
This install was full of trial and error, and trust me there was a LOT of error. I decided to make a write up to help people so they can learn from my mistakes.
I knew before I even took delivery of my basesquatch that I was going to upgrade the audio. I took a LOT of time reading through all the threads here before I decided on anything. Eventually I decided to take somewhat of a different route that I’m sure others will try but haven’t yet.
I did upgrade all the 4” speakers to kicker KS series. I was between these and the infinity reference. I had the infinity in my jeep and liked them but the highs were a bit too much sometimes. I’m glad I chose the kickers as the highs are nice but softer as well. I did put boom mat and poly fill in all of the 4” speaker locations. It definitely seems to keep the speakers from sounding hollow and keeps the sound directed outward. I was very happy with the sound all said and done.
Now I knew I wanted to add some sort of subwoofer as well, but also didn’t want to lose cargo space. At first I thought I’ll just get a powered sub I can shove under the seat. Well there’s really no room for that in the two door. Then I thought maybe I can fit one behind the rear panel where the factory B&O sub would be. Maybe I could even build a custom box and put my own sub amp combo i wanted. When I tore into it I was thinking ya a powered sub would probably fit back here no problem. After reading some reviews I wasn’t sure the powered sub would give me the sound I was hoping for. So back to building my own box….but after taking measurements I realized I didn’t want to spend weeks trying to fab up a box to fit perfectly.
Im usually a do it right the first time kind of guy and I didn’t want to have any regrets about the whole thing, so after seeing a few threads about the B&O sub I decided I was going to buy the enclosure that is actually made for the bronco. I went to my dealer and ordered one as I was picking up some accessories I had ordered previously. I was kind of shocked at the price ($325) but I was all in at this point lol. It came in a week later and if anyone is wondering it does come with the factory B&O sub.
For my sub and amp combo I went with the kicker compRT 8” shallow mount paired with the key 500.1. Everything was coming together…or so I thought. My sub wouldn’t fit in the factory enclosure. Kind of a bummer but I figured I could make it work somehow. I did end up cutting a small bump out off of the enclosure to get the sub to fit. I used a dremel with a cutting wheel and shaved off the very top layer so I could reinstall it after I cut the rest of it off. I used some JB weld plastic epoxy to attach the slim piece I cut off so it would be flush with the rest of the box. You can see kind of what I’m talking about in the pictures. After the modification the sub fit great.
I mounted the kicker key in the same spot as the factory amp. Obviously the holes didn’t line up for mounting so I made a mount for the amp out of HDPE board. Then mounted that to the sub enclosure using the factory holes. I did make a mistake with the amp mount Multiple times. I put it up too high and away from the sub so It was hitting the panel on the corner of the amp. I tried moving it down and closer to the sub, but it was STILL rubbing on the panel. Finally I decided to mount it at about a 45 degree angle. That proved to be the answer. This definitely took some time as I had to re-fab the Amp mount every time. You can see in the pictures the different ways I mounted it. The Key is pretty small but if you could find something smaller it might benefit you if you do a similar install.
The only issue I may have is if I ever have to adjust any settings I’ll have to take the panel off again. I plan on getting everything set where I like it so I won’t have to do that down the road. I do have the bass control knob up front so that should really be the only adjustment I’ll need.
Now as most of you know the interior panel without Lux has a cubby hole instead of the speaker grill and will have to be removed if you decide to add the factory enclosure. It was fairly easy when I figured it out but I did make another mistake here. The insert appeared to have the plastic melted “rivets” that I’ve seen in the front grill letters. I thought I could carefully drill them out with a drill bit. I found out quickly that didn’t work and did make a hole in the panel. What did work was my dremel with a plastic cut off wheel. It neatly fit underneath the lip (see pictures) and I was able to remove the cubby easily after that.
I’m still in the process of fabbing up a speaker grill. I have some expanded metal that I bent up at work and I’ll plasti dip it black and it should look pretty close to factory.
I’m very satisfied with the way the sub sounds. With the new speakers it really rounds out the low end which the bronco really needed. I still have a little adjusting to do with the key algorithm which I’m still learning about but I was still very impressed with the initial sound. For an 8” sub it has plenty of punch.
Anyway I hope this will help anyone with the same idea I had for adding a sub that doesn’t take up precious cargo room. If you have any questions feel free to ask!
EDIT:
Still on this project believe it or not
, but wanted to share some info as I’m closing in on completion. After test fitting the panel about 20 times now I’m almost rattle free. It’s a tough task as the panel is basically right on the sub enclosure.
I didn’t realize it but the lower lip of the cubby hole will also need to be cut out(see photos) as sub travel definitely hits the plastic making a terrible rattle. After I did that I decided to make a ring out of some left over hdpe board and added some foam on the outside of that as well to allow the speaker to travel freely. Worked out great. Some of my process didn’t get pictures so i apologize.
my remaining rattles I’ve determined are coming from the plastic clips that hold the panel on. Any light pressure stops any noise coming from the panel. My plan is to change the clips and I think I’ll wrap the round part that contacts the panel in some cloth tape. I think this will take care of my issues. Really the rattles only happen when I turn the sub all the way up which I’ll rarely do but I don’t want any rattles. It will drive me nuts haha.
my home made speaker grill I think turned out Nicely as well. Gives it a finished look that appears factory. It’s just some expanded metal that I bent up at my shop and I hit it with a few coats of plasti dip. Youll see it in the picture and don’t mind the green tape. I was just marking where the panel clips are.
UPDATE:
Well I ended up going all the way with my audio upgrade. Installed the kicker 200.4 from plug n play with new Memphis audio MJP6’s for the kick panels and Wow….I thought I was happy with the way it sounded with just the 4” kicker speakers and the sub. This was a game changer when it comes to the sound. Really brought the new speakers to life and centers the sound stage perfectly. The sound is amazing now!
just a note if anyone plans to install the kicker key 200.4 make sure you tap your high level inputs BEFORE the new kicker key 4 channel. I had them still tied into the kick panel wires and my sub sounded terrible. Best way to describe it was it sounded sloppy especially when turning the volume up higher. The amplified signal that was being sent was determined to be the cause of the issue. So tapping before the 4 channel is necessary and also per recommendation from PNP a resistor was also installed for the sub speaker input. Basically tells the factory head unit to keep sending signal to the speakers.
Im extremely happy with how everything sounds now if you’re debating going all the way do it. Definitely worth the money. I’m in over 2k now but damn it sounds good so no regrets.
Also thanks to some sticker fab leftovers I came up with a clever way to hide the hole I made in the rear panel.
good luck to anyone else taking this route if you need anything feel free to ask. Thanks!
This install was full of trial and error, and trust me there was a LOT of error. I decided to make a write up to help people so they can learn from my mistakes.
I knew before I even took delivery of my basesquatch that I was going to upgrade the audio. I took a LOT of time reading through all the threads here before I decided on anything. Eventually I decided to take somewhat of a different route that I’m sure others will try but haven’t yet.
I did upgrade all the 4” speakers to kicker KS series. I was between these and the infinity reference. I had the infinity in my jeep and liked them but the highs were a bit too much sometimes. I’m glad I chose the kickers as the highs are nice but softer as well. I did put boom mat and poly fill in all of the 4” speaker locations. It definitely seems to keep the speakers from sounding hollow and keeps the sound directed outward. I was very happy with the sound all said and done.
Now I knew I wanted to add some sort of subwoofer as well, but also didn’t want to lose cargo space. At first I thought I’ll just get a powered sub I can shove under the seat. Well there’s really no room for that in the two door. Then I thought maybe I can fit one behind the rear panel where the factory B&O sub would be. Maybe I could even build a custom box and put my own sub amp combo i wanted. When I tore into it I was thinking ya a powered sub would probably fit back here no problem. After reading some reviews I wasn’t sure the powered sub would give me the sound I was hoping for. So back to building my own box….but after taking measurements I realized I didn’t want to spend weeks trying to fab up a box to fit perfectly.
Im usually a do it right the first time kind of guy and I didn’t want to have any regrets about the whole thing, so after seeing a few threads about the B&O sub I decided I was going to buy the enclosure that is actually made for the bronco. I went to my dealer and ordered one as I was picking up some accessories I had ordered previously. I was kind of shocked at the price ($325) but I was all in at this point lol. It came in a week later and if anyone is wondering it does come with the factory B&O sub.
For my sub and amp combo I went with the kicker compRT 8” shallow mount paired with the key 500.1. Everything was coming together…or so I thought. My sub wouldn’t fit in the factory enclosure. Kind of a bummer but I figured I could make it work somehow. I did end up cutting a small bump out off of the enclosure to get the sub to fit. I used a dremel with a cutting wheel and shaved off the very top layer so I could reinstall it after I cut the rest of it off. I used some JB weld plastic epoxy to attach the slim piece I cut off so it would be flush with the rest of the box. You can see kind of what I’m talking about in the pictures. After the modification the sub fit great.
I mounted the kicker key in the same spot as the factory amp. Obviously the holes didn’t line up for mounting so I made a mount for the amp out of HDPE board. Then mounted that to the sub enclosure using the factory holes. I did make a mistake with the amp mount Multiple times. I put it up too high and away from the sub so It was hitting the panel on the corner of the amp. I tried moving it down and closer to the sub, but it was STILL rubbing on the panel. Finally I decided to mount it at about a 45 degree angle. That proved to be the answer. This definitely took some time as I had to re-fab the Amp mount every time. You can see in the pictures the different ways I mounted it. The Key is pretty small but if you could find something smaller it might benefit you if you do a similar install.
The only issue I may have is if I ever have to adjust any settings I’ll have to take the panel off again. I plan on getting everything set where I like it so I won’t have to do that down the road. I do have the bass control knob up front so that should really be the only adjustment I’ll need.
Now as most of you know the interior panel without Lux has a cubby hole instead of the speaker grill and will have to be removed if you decide to add the factory enclosure. It was fairly easy when I figured it out but I did make another mistake here. The insert appeared to have the plastic melted “rivets” that I’ve seen in the front grill letters. I thought I could carefully drill them out with a drill bit. I found out quickly that didn’t work and did make a hole in the panel. What did work was my dremel with a plastic cut off wheel. It neatly fit underneath the lip (see pictures) and I was able to remove the cubby easily after that.
I’m still in the process of fabbing up a speaker grill. I have some expanded metal that I bent up at work and I’ll plasti dip it black and it should look pretty close to factory.
I’m very satisfied with the way the sub sounds. With the new speakers it really rounds out the low end which the bronco really needed. I still have a little adjusting to do with the key algorithm which I’m still learning about but I was still very impressed with the initial sound. For an 8” sub it has plenty of punch.
Anyway I hope this will help anyone with the same idea I had for adding a sub that doesn’t take up precious cargo room. If you have any questions feel free to ask!
EDIT:
Still on this project believe it or not
, but wanted to share some info as I’m closing in on completion. After test fitting the panel about 20 times now I’m almost rattle free. It’s a tough task as the panel is basically right on the sub enclosure.I didn’t realize it but the lower lip of the cubby hole will also need to be cut out(see photos) as sub travel definitely hits the plastic making a terrible rattle. After I did that I decided to make a ring out of some left over hdpe board and added some foam on the outside of that as well to allow the speaker to travel freely. Worked out great. Some of my process didn’t get pictures so i apologize.
my remaining rattles I’ve determined are coming from the plastic clips that hold the panel on. Any light pressure stops any noise coming from the panel. My plan is to change the clips and I think I’ll wrap the round part that contacts the panel in some cloth tape. I think this will take care of my issues. Really the rattles only happen when I turn the sub all the way up which I’ll rarely do but I don’t want any rattles. It will drive me nuts haha.
my home made speaker grill I think turned out Nicely as well. Gives it a finished look that appears factory. It’s just some expanded metal that I bent up at my shop and I hit it with a few coats of plasti dip. Youll see it in the picture and don’t mind the green tape. I was just marking where the panel clips are.
UPDATE:
Well I ended up going all the way with my audio upgrade. Installed the kicker 200.4 from plug n play with new Memphis audio MJP6’s for the kick panels and Wow….I thought I was happy with the way it sounded with just the 4” kicker speakers and the sub. This was a game changer when it comes to the sound. Really brought the new speakers to life and centers the sound stage perfectly. The sound is amazing now!
just a note if anyone plans to install the kicker key 200.4 make sure you tap your high level inputs BEFORE the new kicker key 4 channel. I had them still tied into the kick panel wires and my sub sounded terrible. Best way to describe it was it sounded sloppy especially when turning the volume up higher. The amplified signal that was being sent was determined to be the cause of the issue. So tapping before the 4 channel is necessary and also per recommendation from PNP a resistor was also installed for the sub speaker input. Basically tells the factory head unit to keep sending signal to the speakers.
Im extremely happy with how everything sounds now if you’re debating going all the way do it. Definitely worth the money. I’m in over 2k now but damn it sounds good so no regrets
.Also thanks to some sticker fab leftovers I came up with a clever way to hide the hole I made in the rear panel.
good luck to anyone else taking this route if you need anything feel free to ask. Thanks!
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