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--- Putting two 15'' subs behind rear seats ---

G

gotscreens

Full Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2004
Messages
23
Location
Vegas
I have two 15'' subs and I am buying a 2004 Avalanche soon and I need to find a place to put the subs. I am sure I will have to remove the rear storage door. I was thinking about doing something like the pics below. Has anyone here done the same?? If so I would like to see some pics and I would like to know how u did it, thanx......

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There is a member with a similar setup but I think there were 4 10" or 12" Kicker L7's. I think all in all it set him back $8,400 doing the system front to back so be prepared to open up the wallet.
There are other options such as the 4 banger, a set of 10's under the seat, stealth box in middle console that are more affordable than a custom glass enclosure. You also have the JL midgate replacement which holds 2 12's. It retains some of the functionality of the midgate. Not sure if they are selling them yet, may want to touch base with EnkeiAvalanche on that one.
There are quite a few threads on the subject. Look for the one referring to the kicker midgate, should give you an idea of what you get for over 8 grand :)

As far as how to do it or work with fiber glass to create a nice looking front .. it is far to much to outline. Do some searches on the net, you should get quite a few hits.


Edited: I slept through the class where they taught us how to spell ...
 
gotscreens said:
I have two 15'' subs and I am buying a 2004 Avalanche soon and I need to find a place to put the subs. I am sure I will have to remove the rear storage door. I was thinking about doing something like the pics below. Has anyone here done the same?? If so I would like to see some pics and I would like to know how u did it, thanx......[
Click to expand...

As some one who has considered this I guess I really did not want to lose any of the midgate functionality, So I built Custom Boxes ect...

There are some other options!

Although I did not do this but certainly thought it through one place you might consider is to build them into the bed sides!

Another choice is removing the rear window and building a custom box that will sit above the midgate. this has been done on an Escalade.

You could get an AV like mine with the two front seats and remove the centre console and build a custom box to hold them.

Another oprtion which I came up with was lifting the rear seats about 2 inches making the space underneath large enough to hold big subs . You could use Aluminum tubing cut to fit then drill holes to remount the seats.

I do not know how this would effect the midgate? This is still something I may do in time!
 
Well since I already have two 15'' subs that pound, a 1,000 watt amp and my new pride n joy Kenwood DDX7015 2-DIN In-Dash Monitor
im-ddx-7015-sml-2004-kusa.jpg
I really don't need more subs aSHP00l, I am really just looking for someone with a similar setup as shown in the pics above...
 
good suggestions whitethunder.... it's hard when you have big ass subs like I do with limited available space :E:
 
gotscreens said:
Well since I already have two 15'' subs that pound, a 1,000 watt amp and my new pride n joy Kenwood DDX7015 2-DIN In-Dash Monitor
im-ddx-7015-sml-2004-kusa.jpg
I really don't need more subs aSHP00l, I am really just looking for someone with a similar setup as shown in the pics above...
Click to expand...
Just trying to give you options before you spend thousands of dollars on custom glass work. I guess another option would be an off the shelf enclosure to fit in the bed and then removing the midgate. Personally I wouldn't go that route as I think it looks like crap.
I also thought about putting subs at the sides of the bed but then we're back at the midgate problem again, it has to go. I know there is a member who had a single 15" in the midgate but I think he sold his setup. There are pics of his install floating around on this forum somewhere. Anyone know who it was??
 
whitethunder said:
As some one who has considered this I guess I really did not want to lose any of the midgate functionality, So I built Custom Boxes ect...

There are some other options!

Although I did not do this but certainly thought it through one place you might consider is to build them into the bed sides!

Another choice is removing the rear window and building a custom box that will sit above the midgate. this has been done on an Escalade.

You could get an AV like mine with the two front seats and remove the centre console and build a custom box to hold them.

Another oprtion which I came up with was lifting the rear seats about 2 inches making the space underneath large enough to hold big subs . You could use Aluminum tubing cut to fit then drill holes to remount the seats.

I do not know how this would effect the midgate? This is still something I may do in time!
Click to expand...
At 2" you definitely will have some interaction with the midgate. Not sure how much but my 0.75 lift of the back puts the MG in a slight angle when in the "truck position" Your biggest problem is going to be making a box big enough volume wise and still fit it under the seat. Not sure what the depth of those 15's are but even with a 2" life that only gives you about 11" clearance in the front and what, 8-8.5 in the rear of the seat. I have a hard time seeing how that would make a difference on a woofer that big. MG enclosure is more than likely the only option ...
 
I thought about putting the subs under the seats, but it's probably going to be more than a 2" lift. I'll measure my box that my subs are currntly in after I get off of work and you can let me know if they will fit aSHP00l
 
gotscreens said:
I thought about putting the subs under the seats, but it's probably going to be more than a 2" lift. I'll measure my box that my subs are currntly in after I get off of work and you can let me know if they will fit aSHP00l
Click to expand...

Don't waste your time on that, its not going to fit.
 
true that, looks like the midgate is going to have to go.... I wish I knew of someone on here who has done it. One of my main questions is once you take the midgate off, how does the rear window stay on?
 
gotscreens said:
true that, looks like the midgate is going to have to go.... I wish I knew of someone on here who has done it. One of my main questions is once you take the midgate off, how does the rear window stay on?
Click to expand...
In the same fashion it stays in place when you lay the midgate down, the cross bar underneith the glass/above the midgate. Not sure if removing the midgate will cause leaks or increase the chances for it. I've laid my MG down at the car wash a couple of times and I don't see any water at all but some people have.
 
koo, thanx for the tip... Leaks from the 3 cover panels that cover the bed are also one of my biggest worries. I wouldn't want to put my subs back there and have water F them up. I hear they are leak proof though...
 
gotscreens said:
koo, thanx for the tip... Leaks from the 3 cover panels that cover the bed are also one of my biggest worries. I wouldn't want to put my subs back there and have water F them up. I hear they are leak proof though...
Click to expand...
Like Yoshi said, they are unfortunately not. Take the Av down to a do it yourself car wash, lay the midgate down and hammer the rear window and plates with the high preasure hose and see what kind of water gets in. I've had my MG down in some of the worst storms I've ever seen while I was laying in the back sleeping and I didn't get a drop of water on me. I figured if I can take a high preasure hose to it and not see any water, rain should not be an issue. But like I stated before, some members have mentioned see small quantities of water down the sides after hitting it with the hose.
 
OviedoAV said:
Mine leak also. That is the main reason I have never done this :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
I havent actually looked to see how the weather stripping is attached to the plates so I may be totally off on this but ... I've used strips of caulk behind the weather stripping on the wife's rice burner to get a proper seal between door window and roof. I wonder if the same solution would work on this.
I've thought about both MG replacement as well as custom box behind the seats. I have 4 10's and the more I look at my behind the seat approach the more I think the woofers are going to hit during excursion. I'm seriously considering doing a MG install instead and just like you, I'm worried about the leaking though I don't really have an issue at this time. I guess if it comes down to it, I could always get some silicon caulk but that's going to make removal a bit more interesting ...
 
I could probably put a thin sheet of plexiglass on top of the box and be ok from minor leaks, but anything ridiculous I'll have to improvise I guess. aSHP00l if you go the midgate route take some pics, I would like to see how it turns out...
 
Do like my guy is doing for me... Line-X the outside of the box thats going to be in the bed!! Very simple fix and completely waterproof.

BTW I am doing 4 tens in a custom midgate that will still open and close.

Bonedog
 
bonedog said:
Do like my guy is doing for me... Line-X the outside of the box thats going to be in the bed!! Very simple fix and completely waterproof.

BTW I am doing 4 tens in a custom midgate that will still open and close.

Bonedog
Click to expand...

I'm almost embarassed admiting this but I never even thought along those lines :E: I did check in to the excursion problem last night and I think I will need to move my seats forward another .25" to avoid this. Unfortunately I can't enlarge the bolt holes any more and still expect the seat to stay in place in the event of a wreck. I'm going to have to rip the midgate out and go that route instead.
How deep is your midgate box bonedog? I'm going to "sink" my subs in to the box along with my Alpine M1001 amp., kind of like the one in the kicker midgate post. I'm looking at about 12" deep on this to get the volume I need.
I'm not going to pursue trying to make it useable though. I'd have to remove the window and the inner most plate to get the box to clear when laying it down. Too much hassle for me and I really only use the midgate once a year, literally.
 
I've never had a chance to actually use my mid gate, but do you get more road noise with it down? I think it would be pretty cool to just remove it and put a box with some 12s in the bed but the road noise may be too much.
 
the box and subs are probably just as good as muffling road noise as the midgate, espically if your bumpin' ;)
 
bonedog said:
I am doing 4 tens in a custom midgate that will still open and close.

Bonedog
Click to expand...

Are you customizing the midgate yourself? What exactly are you doing to it and how?
 
I took the outside dementions of the gate and made a patern to hold the rubber seal, hinges and locks. We are now fiberglassing the whole patern to house the subs, amps and cap. I am taking the factory completly out and replacing it with the fiberglass one.

 
I have used the mid gate so much I broke it. :eek:

got it fixed under warranty and the three covers do leak a little but the leakgae should not effect your sub install what might is moisture
I would enclose the subs!

Good luck :0:
 
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