Subwoofer in Place of Spare Tire

Maverick6587

Original poster
Member
Dec 16, 2018
730
Sterling Heights, Michigan
Has anyone cut out the area where the spare tire is/was? They make a few boxes for subwoofers to be placed spare tire holders.

I'd like to cut it out and then either put a box with undercoating on the bottom and screw and glue it in place. Or cut out another spare tire holder from a car truck and weld it in place to make sure it is sealed very well.

I just can't remember if there was anything sitting against the metal above the spare tire that I would have to worry about. I know the gas tank is fairly close and the EVAP system is right there, but I think I should be able to move most of those pieces and just get longer rubber hoses for those parts.

I use the back of my vehicle a lot and don't really want even a small box back there in the way of transporting things.
I also had a thought of putting 8" or 10" subs in the top back right/left-hand corners of the very rear of the rear windows and mounting them to the pillars. Not sure if that's even possible.

1572526709527.png
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
The well and spare was cut out for a battery relocation by one of the offroad guys I think. Someone else did a fuel cell for some none gasoline setup there I believe. l

I dont think the pillars would work well, but some people make stuff happen. They have cheap lil boxes to fit on sides of cargo area that do not take up much room. Tuck amp behind side panel or in the cargo well and you lose little with not much fab work.
 
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xavierny25

Member
Mar 16, 2014
6,323
Staten Island, N.Y
20190313_160321.jpg

Not worth the work, theres a chassis frame brace going across. JL Made a stealth box for the passenger side, which are rare and hard to find now. I actually have 1 and took it apart to make a mold. Its sitting in my brother shop now collecting dust. I did make a similar replica for my brother-in-laws tbss and it was cool for a while. Then he went big with his current JL anniversary 12w7.20140914_183251.jpg
Fiberglass mold.20140921_165615.jpg
20140921_185752.jpg20140921_192252.jpg

20150628_210026.jpg

I think he may be willing to sell it if your interested. Its black carpet wrapped and really does good with a jl 10.
 

HARDTRAILZ

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Nov 18, 2011
49,665

Maverick6587

Original poster
Member
Dec 16, 2018
730
Sterling Heights, Michigan
@xavierny25 Wow, impressive build. Thank you for the offer. I'll think about it as I'm figuring out the best option. I'm clearly not going to be cutting a hole in the floor now, thanks for that information as well.
 
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HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
If it suits your needs better I think they also have the dr side wood box in same style available.
 

Maverick6587

Original poster
Member
Dec 16, 2018
730
Sterling Heights, Michigan
Jackpot! I was just looking for speakers on pillars and low and behold, the very first one was on a trailblazer.

This looks to be a pretty good setup. I think I'll put mine up a little higher though and make sure the color matches better.

1572541615326.png
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Big difference in that speaker and the size and weight of an 8 or 10 inch sub...

I can only imagine the vibration and rattles from hanging a sub from a lil angle bracket off some pop in clips.
 

Maverick6587

Original poster
Member
Dec 16, 2018
730
Sterling Heights, Michigan
I agree!
I'm going to bolt it right to the pillar behind it. I'll drill a hole into the pillar and weld the nuts or bolts to it.

It looks like I should have enough room to drill through without hitting anything behind it.
1572542019847.png

EDIT: I think I'm stuck with an 8 inch even if I move it up higher I don't think I'm going to gain 4 inches of space.

So, I'll try an 8 inch tube box and see how it looks.
1572542516178.png
 
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HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Have you seen how big those tube boxes are compared to that 6.5 he mounted in the pvc? Prolly 3 times as long. Most I have used or seen would have the sub right behind the ears of the 2nd row passengers.

Ever looked at something like this for under the the existing compartment in the floor. Replace the carpeted cover with a nice tight weave mesh and even some thin material if you want stealth.


1572544592064.png
 
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Maverick6587

Original poster
Member
Dec 16, 2018
730
Sterling Heights, Michigan
I was afraid of how long they would be. I might just try to squeeze the 10 inch in the cargo hatch. Thanks @HARDTRAILZ
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
I like the creative thinking, but subs take different care to install than regular speakers. I love my bass and had from 1-4 subs in my truck over the years in many sizes. When I started trying to get more usable cargo space and less music filled area, I ended up with a single 12 in the smallest square box I could use tucked right up to the dr side of rear seat. The amp mounts to the box and tucks between the sub box and seat back. I had 2 10s in a truck box that left a bit more room, but I did not like the width and the 10s did not hit as deep for me.
 

Maverick6587

Original poster
Member
Dec 16, 2018
730
Sterling Heights, Michigan
I saw the pic below. it's built to fit a single 10 inch or dual 8 inch subs. I'm not trying to blow my ears out here. I just need something with more thump than stock.

1572546432987.png

I'd love to throw a 12+ inch sub in there but, I'm really trying to stay away from throwing in a 1,000w amp. The current plan is to use a 400 mini/micro amp in place of the stock amp. So there will be little to no rewiring.

I might jump to some more power and bass next spring, but this is my last upgrade to the 97x. I need to start saving more money for the rat rod.

Something like this:
1572546054863.png

Current Audio components installed:
ATOTO A6 Pro 10 inch screen
PAC GM1A-RST
6 1/2 inch Infinity 165w speakers in front doors.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,660
Tampa Bay Area, FL
I'd love to throw a 12+ inch sub in there but, I'm really trying to stay away from throwing in a 1,000w amp.

There's also nothing that says you HAVE to go with a high powered system. I have a 5 channel amp, and I think mine's setup to send 300W split between a pair of 12"s and that's worked fine for me for years now. :twocents:
 
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Maverick6587

Original poster
Member
Dec 16, 2018
730
Sterling Heights, Michigan
Ever looked at something like this for under the the existing compartment in the floor. Replace the carpeted cover with a nice tight weave mesh and even some thin material if you want stealth.


View attachment 91496
Are you talking about the cargo area in the rear? I absolutely love your idea with the amp included in the box with the speaker. That is probably going to be exactly what I use now, thank you!
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,660
Tampa Bay Area, FL
I had to actually go and look that up, I've had them so long, I couldn't remember what they were rated at :laugh: They are 150W RMS, peak of 400W.

I've actually considered doing what @HARDTRAILZ did, and downsize to a single sub, in a smaller box. I don't blast my bass very often either, and the large box does get a little annoying when I have a lot, or long cargo to load in the back. My amp is already hidden behind one of the cargo panels, couldn't use the other side, due to the HVAC system being in there, plus the EXT is a little longer, so the JL copycat boxes wouldn't fit right.
 
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HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
You don't need huge wattage for good sound by any means. In fact most of the rating are inflated to look like they are something special when they are junk. Get something matched up properly and you will be miles ahead.

I have had 1000 plus peak rated amps that actually put out less performance than a good 200 rms rated amp. Same with subs...if they say big watts on them, stay away.
 
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Maverick6587

Original poster
Member
Dec 16, 2018
730
Sterling Heights, Michigan
Ok, I think I've made my decision, for installation ease at this point.

I'm going for the Rockford Fosgate P300-12 Punch as it has a built-in amp as suggested by @HARDTRAILZ . I doubt it will fit in that cargo bin, so I'll just set it in the back and bolt to the floor or something.

Next year I'm going all out for two 12inch or two 15inch subs and do a full rewire. I really like the box below as I could still stack items on top of the box if needed.

1572623943853.png
 

Maverick6587

Original poster
Member
Dec 16, 2018
730
Sterling Heights, Michigan
After two incorrect purchases because speaker manufacturers tend to size speakers however they see fit. I always thought the standard was cone size. I was sadly mistaken. It seems that at least the two brands I bought were measured by mounting screw locations.

Anyway... Almost every site I went to said that the 9-7x has 6.5 in. speakers. This may be true, as not ALL Trailblazer SS's had 8-inch front door speakers or Bose. My 9-7x has Bose which comes with 8-inch speakers in the front doors as well as dash tweeter speakers.

My question is... Would the radio's sound be horrible to put 8-10 inch subs in the two front doors? The tweeters are quite loud, so I don't think I'll lose any of the high-end of sound. I've only sat in cars with subs in the rear/trunk. I have no idea what subs in the front door would sound/feel like.
 

xavierny25

Member
Mar 16, 2014
6,323
Staten Island, N.Y
My question is... Would the radio's sound be horrible to put 8-10 inch subs in the two front doors? The tweeters are quite loud, so I don't think I'll lose any of the high-end of sound. I've only sat in cars with subs in the rear/trunk. I have no idea what subs in the front door would sound/feel like.

Horrible in my experience. I put mb quart 8" shallow mount in my doors at 1 point and scraped that Idea. The sound of everything vibrating behind the door panel was just not what I wanted to hear.

I made my own adapters 20150905_181308.jpg20150906_184103.jpg20151009_115605.jpg20151009_115649.jpg
I also had to cut away at some plastic on the door panel so I can get the panel back on.

I'm currently just running a set of Infiniti components and I'm pretty happy with that now.

In the future if I decide to switch up I'd go full active with 3.5 speakers in the dash location, 6.5 in the door and directional tweeters on the door panel. Morel, audiofrog, hertz and a few other company's have these type of component sets. Pricey but if your looking for hi-res sound quality it just the way I'd go.
 
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Maverick6587

Original poster
Member
Dec 16, 2018
730
Sterling Heights, Michigan
@xavierny25 Thanks for saving me days of frustration! Subs in the rear it is.

Has anyone had any luck squeezing those under seat subs in the back seat? I was thinking of putting one under the rear seat and the other in the rear floor compartment as suggested by @HARDTRAILZ

1574100683607.png


I'll work on installing that 10" maybe later in the winter/early spring.

At what point in RMS Watts do I need to worry about upgrading to an alternator with higher amps? I have a 50 amp alternator right now.
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,039
Brighton, CO
TollKeepers "Emotional side" said:
Grumpy grumpy.... Why cant I install a sub in the XUV.. Oh thats right, its special, GRRR!!!:argue::hissyfit::mad:
 

Maverick6587

Original poster
Member
Dec 16, 2018
730
Sterling Heights, Michigan
@TollKeeper I put that ATOTO A6 HU in and that boosted the speaker's volume/bass pretty amazingly! It only puts out an additional 29W RMS - 4 channel (29W RMS on each channel) but, it's very noticeable. God knows what that Bose amp is putting out.
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,039
Brighton, CO
Not sure that would work without modules. I have BOSE, with NAV. I just want a sub! LOL
 
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Maverick6587

Original poster
Member
Dec 16, 2018
730
Sterling Heights, Michigan
You could try my initial thought of just swapping out the Bose amp with a cheap class D mini amp and adding a 8"-12" sub in that rear floor compartment. I think I calculated a total cost of around $150-200 for that idea.

Anything is possible, if given enough thought.
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
You can add a sub to the XUV...They really aint special it that regard. Add a simple line out to a speaker level and you are set. I did it to Bose system nearly 20 years ago.

50 RMS is less than my head unit and I dont know what my amp is offhand cause its a shitty one labeled at like 1000 peak but it sure seems like less than my old 350 rms. I never needed an upgraded alt. You should be plenty fone for everything you have talked about adding.
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,039
Brighton, CO
Would work if I never used the XUV function of the truck. But I do, with the mid gate down, there is zero space in-between the floor and the gate. I thought about attaching it the the underside of the seat, I used some tape and stuck it to the seat, mid gate won't clear the seat bottom with the low profile sub/amp installed.

Believe me I tried lol. I don't want it under the front seats.
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Same as with anyone putting a sub in the rear. Nothing to do with the XUV being special. You give up rear function for sound. I had my system is 5 simple quick connects and all mounted as one unit to remove for camping or hauling stuff. Its easy peasy to do if you really wanted it.
 

Maverick6587

Original poster
Member
Dec 16, 2018
730
Sterling Heights, Michigan
I am a man that loves function more than what things look like. Ease of use is key to me. If you really want a sub... There are ways. You could tie into the sunroof frame (or add one of yours doesn't have one)

I couldn't fine a trailblazer with such modifications but, the attached pic gives you an idea of my thoughts.

You could also lift a front seat for an under seat speaker. The area in front of the rear seats might serve for some small 8" speakers as well.

I could go on for days with ideas but, it's your vehicle and you're the one who hadt to deal with the outcomes.
 

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HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
I really would like one in my Trans Am but being a convertible the only good way I found was to put it in the rear seat back. Saw it done and looks basdass, but a bit above my skill level and I can't justify the "want" vs other needs. I debated sourcing some old school bass shakers to put under the front seats and pretend I have subs. For now the note of the exhaust is my music.
 

Maverick6587

Original poster
Member
Dec 16, 2018
730
Sterling Heights, Michigan
I'm going to have to double check this on the 9-7x this weekend. It looks like under the rear compartment, under the body. There is actual room to put a very large, possibly 15" speaker.

If this is true... Then I'm going to ah the 10" underseat sub. As to as 12-15" sub under the vehicle.

I know @xavierny25 mentioned the chassis frame brace but, it looks like there's enough room for at least a 12".

After A LOT of measuring this weekend... Somehow... a 10-15" sub is finding it's place in my vehicle. If there's a will, there's a way. I'd rather be proven wrong... than wonder/guess.
 

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