eric416

I was watching an episode of street tuner challenge and liked how they installed a carbon fiber sub housing that went into where the spare tire goes. Has anyone ever done this for the 4th gen? any write ups on how to do it? I have 2 10 inch jl's and the box sits angled because it doesn't fit between the strut towers.

jaila

I haven't done it myself, but I saw an instructional webpage somewhere. I was thinking about doing the same thing. If I could only remember where...

axlline

You just missed one on ebay.

apeek

check out caraudio.com, I had one mach5 audio 15 in my trunk in just a box that I built.

bluedlude

its a very simple concept. you just need to create a very basic base structure to house the subs. once you get that sitting where you want you need to go get a piece of EXTREMELY porous material. kind of like flanel but not really. i dont know what its called so i cant help you there. then you just apply coat after coat of resin. grind, bondo, grind, sand, paint. you get the idea.

kulrevon

If you want a box that fits between the strut towers perfectly. Get a Q loqic Box a type II I think. It fits perfect nice and snug.

like this. http://cgi.ebay.com/Q-LOGIC-by...sting

eric416

is there any difference in sound quality between a box made of wood and a box made of carbon fiber?

2000h22a

if your gonna use wood and not carbon fiber use mdf depending on the sub your prolly gonna want 1/2'' thats what i used for my box and it sounds great

twiztid00002

it depends on the kind of wood. there is special wood that has not holes or grooves, its just perfectly smooth, i forget wat its called. me and my friend made our own box out of plywood and it was pretty good, we put carpet on it with staples tho lol. his subs were too loud for it tho and shot the staples and started to chip peices off the plywood and it maakes it sound raspy. but really theres no difference from that special wood and CF besides the weight.

just dont use plywood =/

M@

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by twiztid00002 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it depends on the kind of wood. there is special wood that has not holes or grooves, its just perfectly smooth, i forget wat its called. me and my friend made our own box out of plywood and it was pretty good, we put carpet on it with staples tho lol. his subs were too loud for it tho and shot the staples and started to chip peices off the plywood and it maakes it sound raspy. but really theres no difference from that special wood and CF besides the weight.

just dont use plywood =/</TD></TR></TABLE>

Don't listen to this guy. "Special Wood" ?

If you have ever used fiberglass that's what you need. If not then you can ask me questions(im).

Carbon fiber isn't really a good material for speaker boxes. What you need is something that doesn't have a resonant frequency where the speaker operates.

One reason for using mdf is that it dampens frequencies better then almost any real wood.

The long and the short is that if your interested in this kind of thing send me an im or look for another forum. I'm thinking this isn't really most folks area of expertise.

PinoyShadow

It is apparent that some people know what they are talking about and some don't. In response to the original poster, I personally do not watch that show so I have no idea what you are specifically referring to, but there has to be someone that has done a write-up somewhere about creating a box for a 4th gen. Now whether or not they used carbon fiber is another story.

As for using carbon fiber in the creating of the box itself, they would have to use a whole hell of alot of carbon fiber to make the box strong enough to be even remotely practical. It was most likely fiberglass or MDF overlayed with cf (carbon fiber). If you are wondering what everyone is talking about when they say "MDF", that stands for Medium Density Fiberboard. It is readily available and is the most common material used in the creation of subwoofer boxes/enclosures, whether mass produced or custom (although custom tends to be fiberglass, but thats because people are having fairly dramatic boxes made). A quick search can give more information then you want on MDF, so just read and see what you find.

A subwoofer requires a certain amount of space/air in the enclosure that you put it in (the key term being "enclosure"... you are enclosing... follow?). Depending on the size of the sub/magnet and other factors, different subs require more or less air to operate "properly" according to the design of the manufacturer. It is important to follow the specs that come with each/any subwoofer that you purchase so that they are given enough air to "breathe", thereby providing you with the most optimal bass and resonance.

Most audio shops carry single/double/triple 10/12" boxes made of MDF for pretty damn cheap, so you should be just fine, just read and measure. Take a measuring tape and measure how much room you have, then find a box accordingly. Simultaneously, read the specs from the manufacturer for your specific subs and measure the depth of the premade boxes sold at audio shops (single 12" boxes made of MDF should be around 40ish bucks) and there you go. Now you could also make a box, which quite is simple as well. Once again, just read and measure. If that doesn't cover the basics then...

eric416

i know what mdf board is but i'm not really looking to make a box. I want to make more room in the trunk by having the subs lay in the spare tire area. I tried searching for the write up you were talking about but couldn't find it. I've never used fiberglass or carbon fiber myself but i've seen it done and have somewhat of an idea of how its used but i would like to read a write up about it and know what i'm doing before i try it.

M@

Alright I don't think this is the forum for that type of stuff, but here goes:

First get some aluminum foil and line the entire spare tire area. If you don't do this well then the fiberglass will get stuck. Next do two or three layers of fiberglass in the spare tire area. This will be the bottom and sides of the box. Let that cure, and take it out. Now you need to cut the top. This will be made of MDF. After you have the top cut you might need to trim the fiberglass mold you made of the spare tire to get the two sorta close. Now fiberglass the two together, and let that cure. Now just do what ever you want to cover the MDF. It might be a good idea to paint the MDF really well before you cover it. MDF expands like crazy if it gets wet.

There are several types of glass matte. I can't really tell you what kind to get, but the stiffer stuff holds shape better. If you get a really open matte you may have some leakage issues. As for getting the correct air space, just make it as big as you can. If its still too small then stuff some polyfill in.

Fiberglass isn't fun, and your car will smell for a few months, but now you have your system. Or.... you could do this


Which was more work, but doesn't smell, and the subs aren't on the bottom of the truck.

Paluce

^^^ nice set up!

A CF box is only for show, nothing else. Carbon fiber is only stong in the direction that the fibers are aligned, and when the pressure waves from a sub push on the box, they act 90 degress from the CF strands. So it will flex like a mother, and sound like crap. Fiberglass matt is much better since the glass strands are much more random.

bluedlude

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Paluce &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Carbon fiber is only stong in the direction that the fibers are aligned, and when the pressure waves from a sub push on the box, they act 90 degress from the CF strands. So it will flex like a mother, and sound like crap. Fiberglass matt is much better since the glass strands are much more random. </TD></TR></TABLE>

you are VERY wrong

M@

Well the thickness is what gives things strength in bending. I think you would be good with 1/4 to 1/2 inch of fiberglass.

Acidcrakker

from what I know is that boxes are made from two diffren materials. One is a fiber glass box and the other is a wooden box.

Fiber glass boxes are more for custom jobbers, and wooden boxes are for basic installation.

Now every speaker espically subs needs a certain ammount of space in the box to work correctly.

The two diffrent type of sub boxes are ported and non-ported.

Non-ported boxes are meant to be air tight and need smaller ammount of space to work.

Ported boxes have ports(imagine that) but need a bigger space to operate.

gniddy

this is a reply for the author of this thread and is really long and somewhat boring, if you already know or don't care to know how to make a custom fiberglass box i sugest not wasting your time.

so do you want a carbon fiber box, or do you want a box molded to fit in your spare tire well? if you want CF i hope you have a fully stocked ATM machine up your *** b/c to get the amount of fiber you will need will not be cheap. however if all you want is a nice looking custom box you should be able to do a fiberglass one with $100-$200 and a weekend or so worth of work. when it's done it could be painted or wrapped to look like CF if you want

you will need:

subwoofer (or 2 or 3)
some MDF from the lumberyard 1/2", 5/8", or 3/4" will all work for this - enough to cut as many mounting rings as you will need

(3/4" is recommended for an all wood box)

at least 1 probably more like 2 gallons fiberglass resin (wal-mart, auto parts store)

a couple packages fiberglass cloth (wal-mart, auto parts store)

plastic mixing cup from paint store (they work perfect and the dried resin comes out easy for reuse and they are only like $0.50

disposable paint brushes (not the foam type) and rubber/latex gloves

large piece of plastic to lay down in trunk before construction
aprox. 1 square yard (3' X 3') cloth (t-shirt material, sub box carpet, fleece it all works)

here is what you do:

1. take all trim/upholstery out of trunk
2. lay plastic down in area where fiberglass is desired (make damn sure everything is covered)
3. put on gloves and brush fiberglass resin directly onto plastic, apply one layer of fiber glass matting and then brush on more resin until all matting is wet with resin
allow to dry or at least mostly dry until somewhat rigid
4. brush on more resin and add more matting now 3 layers thick and wait to dry
5. repeat until you have at least about 1/2" thick in thinest spots
6. take your MDF while you are waiting for dry time and cut out rings to mount your subs in. about 3/4" from inside of ring to outside of ring cutting the inside whole just a little big for the actual sub.
7. arrange rings into position you want them to sit in the box. i usually take long thin scraps of wood and use them as stilts to hold the rings where i want them.
make sure the rings are where you want them and are secure, then make sure your subs fit in the box.
SIDE NOTE - try to stick with the sub manufacturer's recomended box size by approximating the shape of your box as a cylinder. figure out the inside volume by doing this on your calculator - the approx diameter of the circle in your spare tire hole X .5, that number X itself, X 3.14, X the height of your box, divided by 1728. this will give you a volume in cubic feet. the rounded edges in the bottom of the box take space away but the rounded top adds some back and unless you are competeing in sound Q this isn't rocket science anyway. as long as you are within 10-15% your good.
8. if your box is too small raise the rings up higher, if it is too big put a new bottom into it higher up made out of MDF 3/4".
9. once the rings are set and the volume is right take your cloth and stretch it over the rings until it gets to the edge of the fiberglass. attach to the edge with a brad nailer, staple gun or by whatever means necessary, just make sure it will hold for a while.
10. staple or nail cloth to the inside edge of each ring and cut out centers of rings with a knife.
11. apply resin to cloth from the outside making sure to get it all the way soaked in. allow to dry.
12. at this point you can remove the whole thing from your car to make it easier to work on. since the cloth looks prety smooth without much sanding at this point i like to build up its thickness from the inside. so pour or brush more resin into the box and apply matting to the under or inside of the cloth.
13. make sure this area is as thick as the base part of the box and that the seam between the cloth and base is stong and thick with mat and resin. if you want you can remove the rings' stilts
14. sand the outside of the box semi smooth to prepare for carpeting or super ultra perfect for paint. (you may want the help of a body man if going for paint)
15. make sure you drill a hole for your speaker wires and seal with resin. make sure you have enough slack inside the box and enough length outside to reach the amp.
16. finish with paint or carpet and install.

good luck - PM me with you e-mail if you need some pics to go along with any of this