My first upgrade - Audiofrog!

E30shooter · Aug 21, 2024

Being a 1st poster, figured you guys would cut me some slack.

I'm one of the probably countless that are laser focused on improving the worst part of the bronco... the stereo!
For those that have 0 experience in this arena, and spend countless hours reading threads, I'm here to say there's no silver bullet (at least from my perspective).
Figured there may be a person or two that could find some useful information, please ignore if you are a pro, or have more experience than a guy and his teenage son unconcerned about making mistakes!)

My office inventory (vis-a-vis Crutchfield):
Audiofrog GS42's (for the front)
Audiofrog GS60's (for the kick panels)
SSV Works BR-B65U rear pods
Audiofrog G62's (to load the pods)
Stinger (Audio Control loaded) tailgate sub
Metra 72-5603 Speaker Wiring Harnesses (for the dash)
Crutchfield 300Hz Cut-off Bass Blockers (for the dash)
Kicker Key 200.4 and 500.1 Amps.
Kicker 46CXARCT Bass Level knob
Crutchfield CK8 Sub wiring harness
Metra 72-5602 Speaker Wiring Harness (for the kick panels, ordered separately since Crutchfield does not see this build as plug and play for kick panels)
vLinker FS USB Forscan device. I'll follow-up with my experience on this as the build continues.
*Wiring Harness - Hoel Wiring Harness for Kicker Key 200.4 w/ install kit and upgraded 16 ga line.

My first install - The Rear Pods:
1. If I took my top off, it would have been MUCH easier. Took a driver bit and a wrench to slowly cranked the 2 top screws out for each pod.
2. G62's don't come with a speaker grill. Speakers are exposed for now, and will look at fitting my GS60 grills onto them as a possible fix.

After day 1, wow. No Forscan tuning yet, just rear pods. The car sounds surprisingly better. There's no doubt there's pods back there now.

As the build goes on, I'll comment on feedback I get from the kids (2 in booster seats with 6 1/2's aimed at their heads). And all the parts and pieces I found useful or wished I had considered before opening up things like the dash. Also, may tackle the question if running the kicker key bi-amped will it heighten the driver's audio experience while possibly saving the kids' eardrums?

*Ordered Thursday afternoon out of sheer willpower and semi-blind to what I really wanted. Not an easy item to select from any of the vendors, always questioning if I messed up something, and checking every option box along the way. So far I've sent 2 correspondence (Friday Morning) and will patiently await response or shipping notification knowing that these companies are probably overwhelmed at times.

Again, I appreciate the opportunity to share on the forum, I have thick skin, and would be happy if I saved at least 1 person from wasting money on an unnecessary part, purchase or puncture.

Brian_B · Aug 21, 2024

If you got the rear pods on without pulling the top - kudos to you!

Of all that work, getting at the sub in the back (even though you have a tailgate sub, you will still need back there to mount the amp and run the wiring to the tailgate), between that and running power cables for your two amps through the firewall - those are the hardest parts of this job.

I would plan to do the kick panels, the 200.4 install, the 500.1 install, and at least get the wiring back to the tailgate in the same day - you need a lot of the same trim panels off for that work and it will help you from having to go back in. That's a full day, maybe even a full weekend of work right there. You will have half of the interior pulled apart, but better to do it once and be done with it -- those damn plastic clips are fragile and the more you monkey with them the more they break.

Get some of these, it will help. Make sure these come out of the metal body panels and stay on the plastic. If any get stuck, replace them.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CMWY5MP5/

These are nice to have too - the stock ones can get mangled, then they rattle, or if your Bronco still has the older 2-piece button type of clips. These are identical to the TSB upgraded clips (for the rear cargo panels)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09NWBV764/

And get a set of trim removal tools. This one comes with random panel clips, which may be useful for other various trim pieces and it doesn't really cost you anything more
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L6FJGR4/

Mounting the tailgate sub, and replacing the dash speakers - that's ... 30 minutes total right there. Do that, Forscan the thing up, and rock out!

Word of warning - the metra adapters for the 4" speakers can be wired backwards from convention (white is (-), black is (+)) - make sure to check yours against the wiring diagram for the speakers. If you follow convention and they are wrong, they will sound tinny/harsh/horrible.

Sounds like a fun project!

Johnny Mo · Aug 21, 2024

I loved the sound of the AudoFrogs - just couldn't justify the 2x cost vs the Infinity. Sounds like it'll be a sweet setup.

Switchworks_Kyle · Aug 21, 2024

Thank you for the business John and glad you are happy with the pods!

E30shooter · Aug 21, 2024

Thanks for the input Brian_B! Got the goods ordered! Definitely some nuanced pieces that should keep me from full stop mid-project.

E30shooter · Oct 19, 2024

It's been 2 months and the project has been sitting about 90% complete for close to a month. If I could just dial in the 500.1 amp feeding the tailgate sub I'd have it done.

Some quick updates from the remainder of the install:

1. GS42's fit with little effort in the dash. The sound is great, not tinny AT ALL. To the point that I almost wish there was more scream to the high.

2. GS60's in the kick panels - I went a slightly different install route than I had seen others do. Curious what the group thinks about this, and if it can impact the sound volume/quality from the nether regions of the pant legs!) I utilized the adapters that came in the box with the speakers. I had purchased the Metra kick panel speaker adapters, and left them unopened. This is all primarily to other reviews I read that mentioned woofer travel could contact the speaker grills. See Pic #1 & 2 below on installed kick panel speaker.

3. Kicker 200.4 Install - EZ PZ thanks to the wiring harness. Tucked excess wires under the shifter area, and ran the power (x2) and Ground through the rubber grommet on the drivers side (Us Automatic Transmission owners have a MUCH easier time with this). Ran the Kicker Key DSP and it was pretty painless. Not as bright as the speakers pre-DSP... The only wierdness I found is that turning up the rear gain even 15% got some major distortion. So my back soundstage is a bit weak IMO.

3. ForScan - The biggest headache was with the OBD2 adapter. Luckily found a thread on how to update the device driver on my computer... Then the firmware on the OBD2 adapter... Then, once registered, the software worked like a champ. In 10 minutes had my Bronco reprogrammed for the annoying key out of car honk, seatbelt chimes, disabled factory EQ, and set rear speakers to "Speaker, Tweeter(, & Sub)".

4. Kicker 500.1 Install - Using a sheet of aluminum, I created a mockup and used washers as spacers to install the new amp to the old amp location. Since I'm not using the existing sub, I haven't noticed any vibration coming from that direction. See Pic #3 for my NON PROFESSIONAL install. PS, if anyone needs a template, I digitized it in Cad, to-scale, and can email you a pdf on 8 1/2" x 11" paper. PPS, note the low-level feed connections... looks janky, but I believe sufficient.

5. Tailgate Sub - Using the socket technique for the nut-setter was a PITA, but 20 minutes later, and thanks to my son's extra pair of hands, we had the sub installed nice and snug. See Pic #4.

Here's my problems thus far, basically all revolving around the 500.1 setup:
1. Bass knob (Kicker 46CXARCT) has no effect on the sound coming from the sub... At ALL.
2. When I ran the sweep tone for the amp, I set volume at 23, and the gain light came on at 20%... While the sweep was running I thought for sure I blew out the Audio Frog 2-ways in the pods.
3. In order to keep bass boost off on the amp, I need to set gain at 90%. This worked for a couple weeks, but last week I was seeing that at high and even at very low volumes the sub would clip out for a bit. It has "self resolved" for the last couple days...

I would love to get the 500.1 dialed in correctly and the bass knob working the way I would envision, to add heavy bass when needed and solid bass the remainder of the time.

Input is ALWAYS welcome!