Blake Clark

This is a little project I decided to undertake with a little help from a couple of friends and my little brother. I decided to call it Project W3 ( Yeah I know its kinda cheesy but give me a break)

I wanted to build a box to JL specs for my brand new 12W3V2 and 500/1V2 to fit in my Mega Cab and incorporate both the bass amp and my high amp into the box to get them out from under my seat.

I came up with the basic design of the box but the final draft credit goes to my buddy "Chit". The box was designed on SolidWorks CAD to JL specs. Here is the numbers.... The design of the box was made symmetrical to make it easier to work with. Final volume per partition is 1.35618 ft^3. Target volume is 1.321 ft^3 (1.25 ft^3 recommended + 0.071 ft^3 subwoofer displacement). The volume deviation is +0.03518 ft^3. Thats pretty close to what JL had in mind.

The basic construction of the box is out of .75 inch MDF with Liquid Nails being used as a bonding agent. (Anyone who has ever used Liquid Nails knows that stuff is forever). The box was nailed usind 1.75 inch brad nails. It was sealed internally with Liquid Nails and a coat of silicon caulking and externally all seams were sealed with liquid nails and then sanded smooth.

2.5 inch PVC piping was tunneled through the box and and Liquid Nailed into place and sealed to provide a route for the wiring for the amps.

An extra plate was added to the sub mount surfaces to give the subs and flush mount look.

2x2 inch MDF "pucks" were carpeted and used as footing for the amps to assist with cooling, allow for discrete wiring, and in my opinion just looks pretty **** good.

All in all I am estatic with the overall success of my little project. The box came out looking great, has a superb sound quality and a one of a kind look.

Let me know what yall thing about it, questions and comments welcome.

I wanna give a special thanks to "Chit" for all of the CAD work, without which this would never have materialized, my best bud "Worm" for help with the construction, and my lil brother "Peck" for help me do all the finish work and get everything installed. Couldnt have done it without yall.

Blake Clark

Here are a couple more pics showing the amp mounting pucks, speakers and amps installed and the box in my truck.

Flopster843

Sweet install, looks real nice.

CrashCade

Box looks awesome. It looks like it is really tall though and might impede the rear seat from reclining. Any fitment problems?

rogers259

nice job on the build...I'm thinking the same thing as CrashCade...any problems with the rear seats?

Blake Clark

The rear seat can no longer recline. I knew this would be the case from the start and accepted it as so. The box had to be that deep to get the subs in, the JL W3's require at least 6.65 inches of mounting depth at a bare minimum. I allowed for 7 to insure no clearance issues.

However there is no trouble with the seats clearing the box. There is about a .5 inch gap between the seats and box at its closest point. If you want to retain some of the recline-ability you could build a thinner box and use the new low profile subs. I was just looking for a bit more.

The storage under the box is still accessable, i just have to slide the box forward. Just make sure that you allow for enough wiring to slide the box forward to get to it.

BTW the box is 18 inches tall, just barley above the window, but not even close to reaching the top of the seats.

rockcrawler304

Nice work! How does it sound?

Blake Clark

Oh its sounds incredible. I learned a couple of things during this little project. I learned that if you read the directions that things usually work better than you expect. I actually sat down and read the book on how to properly tune the JL amp as opposed to just winging it by "ear" as ive always done in the past. Well it turned out they know what their talking about. The sound quality is amazing. I have the remote bass wired up to the center console so I can adjust it for moderation or "shake" things up if i want. Couldnt be happier with the outcome.

rock crawler

Very cool! I did something similar, but I only wanted a 10" sub and my gun safe in the middle. I took out the storage box and bolted the sub box to the back wall for security. That way the seats still recline all the way.

Blake Clark

Man that is one hell of a box.....

Makes mine look like an amateur job.... OH wait it is... LOL

Great Job Though, Love the look of the plexi and covers for both cutouts.

Box looks like its covered in a leather (or similar material), I love the finish.

Wish I would have thought of the gun stash.... Im impressed!

Looks like I need a new box and a bigger Mega to fit it all in...

Does it ever end????? LOL

rock crawler

NO!!! IT NEVER ENDS!!!!

NSANE

Very cool, I want to ad a little bass someday.

txfiremedic

Just curious, what kind of head unit are you guys running? I would love to add a box and sub to my setup, just don't want to lose all the space behind the seat or the reclining function. Rock Crawler, if you ever decide to get rid of your box, let me know, I'd be interested.

Blake Clark

H/U is the Pioneer AVIC D3. Nav Bluetooth, Sirius and XM, iPod, does it all. Touchscreen with DVD. Went to the local *********** and got the REK radio bezel for the install.

rock crawler

I'm using the Pioneer AVIC-Z1 Navigation/AM/FM/DVD with Ipod, Bluetooth, Sirius, rear view camera and a PAC adapter for steering wheel controls. I ordered the SRT-10 Nav. dash from dodgeparts.com.