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margareedaville

Wildtrak
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Howdy everyone, thought I would share my month-long project. The minute I drove my ‘22 Wildtrak 2-Door home I noticed how poor the sound was. Being that music is part of my life and how important good sound is to me, I resolved to upgrade the base stereo.

I started with replacing all six factory speakers with top-of-the-line Kicker components. Then I purchased a T harness and loop back system. The T harness plugs into the head unit, goes out to an Audiocontrol D-5.1300 amplifier then routes back to the T harness, and on to the speakers. I took the seat out, removed the inch of carpet and nestled the amplifier in that spot, using vibration dampening bolts. I ran four gauge wire from the battery and hooked everything up. Then I ran 10 gauge speaker wire to the back.

First of all, the sound of the new speakers without the amplifier isn’t bad I have to admit. However, once I looped it through the amplifier and back to the speakers, I knew I had done the right thing. The sound is much more clear and precise. I would say easily 100 times better. I can crank the volume up to 25 without distortion. Crystal clear. It also solves any question about whether the rear speakers are getting enough power. I can’t tell you how much better it sounds.

Now for the fun part, the subwoofer enclosure. I spent a couple of weeks designing this enclosure using Tinkercad, and I decided to go with half inch birch plywood instead of three-quarter inch MDF. I wanted to see what kind of performance the half inch birch would give me and at the same time yield an enclosure half the weight.

Why did I design this particular enclosure? I didn’t want a typical box taking up much vertical space, nor did I want something someone could look into the window and see a subwoofer to steal. Therefore, I decided to go with the down firing design. The challenge was to keep the enclosure around the same height as the seats when folded down and at the same time, find a shallow mount sub that would accommodate this while ensuring there is enough clearance for the sub and the airflow coming out the bottom.

After a couple of weeks of design, I settled on what you see. I put it together, using wood glue, screws, liquid nails, and special gaskets to seal up a 12 inch sub. I decided to go with JL Audio’s TW3 12 inch shallow mount sub, wired it down to 2 ohm. I followed their recommendations of .8 ft.³ of volume, by giving it .9 then subtracted the volume of the braces and sub itself. Science. I found self-adhesive color-matching carpet for the enclosure, wrapped it up and was astonished at how well it fit. Of course I measured a million times and is a reason why it fit like a glove, with one exception. The rear seat mounts get in the way of the back part of the enclosure. To fix it, just use a router to carve that part out, allowing the sub's sound to come out the front as well as the rear. The open slots on each side are simply for storage and have nothing to do with the sound.

The results? Crystal clear bass. Turn it up to level 5 and you have a perfect balance and blend of sound filling the cabin, but turn it up to 15 or more, you feel the air pressure moving you. My neighbor two streets could hear it!! 😏 Country songs kick extremely hard and tight while hip-hop literally feels like air is being sucked out of your lungs. I’ve never had such amazing acoustical success, but I guess in a two door bronco, one can expect such things. I honestly didn’t expect anything near the power and the feel, it’s really amazing. I giggle every time I turn it up.

Ford Bronco Hardest hitting subwoofer enclosure I’ve ever made (w/ design image and cut list) 1674677973444


Here's the design, and cut list.

PDF File: https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/attachments/bronco-box-12-jl-audio-12tw3-d4-pdf.453622/

Ford Bronco Hardest hitting subwoofer enclosure I’ve ever made (w/ design image and cut list) Image 1-23-23 at 8.36 AM


Tinkercad Copy: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/jYcYAT8yeg5?sharecode=dikVLvVWAKdxF2TbDtn-TGnIP87V2l5aDtuae_EqHuA


Costs:


Amp - $1200
Harness - $150
Speakers - $350
Sub - $425
Enclosure & Carpet - $100
Misc Wiring & Tools - $100

Ford Bronco Hardest hitting subwoofer enclosure I’ve ever made (w/ design image and cut list) IMG_0846
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Billnchristy

Black Diamond
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Birch is actually considered better but MDF is cheaper so most people use it. Great job, looks great, I assume it's downfiring into that little slot in the middle?
 

Oorko

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Looks great, is the enclosure bolted down?
 
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margareedaville

margareedaville

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Birch is actually considered better but MDF is cheaper so most people use it. Great job, looks great, I assume it's downfiring into that little slot in the middle?
Thanks - saving any vertical space was paramount, hence the 1/2" birch. There are braces built inside. And yes, down fires from the absolute center.
 

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margareedaville

margareedaville

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Looks great, is the enclosure bolted down?
I plan to bolt it somehow to the rear seat, via a hinge of some sort. Still want to access the storage compartment.
 

MnLakeBum

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Looks great and I’m sure sounds fantastic!

I’m a big fan of the JL Audio subs and they’ve alway offered some of the best sound for the money.
 

huey

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looks great! I am no audiophile but yes the sound is terrible with stock setup
 

tater_70

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What a great design and well thought out. Being that I have had to drop LUX, if I ever get my Bronco this will certainly be in an upgrade. Thanks for posting.
 

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Classic28

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Looks great, what was the total cost?
 
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margareedaville

margareedaville

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Looks great, what was the total cost?
Amp - $1200
Harness - $150
Speakers - $350
Sub - $425
Enclosure & Carpet - $100
Misc Wiring & Tools - $100

Oh my God, I spent over two grand for all this shit. ...AND it's worth it. I'm literally reliving my teenage years! LOL!!
 

gringoloco

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Looks great! You think a trunk mat would fit and make it disappear?
 
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margareedaville

margareedaville

Wildtrak
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Looks great! You think a trunk mat would fit and make it disappear?
Not too sure. If the mat is deeper than 17 1/2", then I don't think it would be good.
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