CK5
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1973 C10 "The Purple Truck"

Basic build
Why not use a pair of square body specific speaker enclosures that fit in the corners of the cab behind the seat? I need to replace the center speaker on my 74 too.
 
I was just going to suggest what @Truckman4life said. Put some tweeters up by the visor mounts. @500$k5 did that in his '81 C10 and did the rest of the system to be somewhat hidden.
 
My Ford had these little inch and a half looking tweeters just hanging out from the A-pillar trim by the speaker wires. They made a lot of difference in how it sounded.

I was just going to suggest what @Truckman4life said. Put some tweeters up by the visor mounts. @500$k5 did that in his '81 C10 and did the rest of the system to be somewhat hidden.
LMC makes the pillar trim with a built in tweeter but they say it has to be modified to work in my vintage truck.

My crew cab has component speakers with the tweeters on the dash. They are on little L brackets so they point at the seats. This is the only picture I have from before the DIY dash. They are pointed the same way, but they're mounted on the dash now.

2014-08-30 20.41.31.jpg

I've been feeling like I don't like having the tweeters that close or pointed right at me which is another reason I was shying away from the a-pillar.

My thinking was dash speakers would be more to my liking because they would pointed at the windshield.

Why not use a pair of square body specific speaker enclosures that fit in the corners of the cab behind the seat? I need to replace the center speaker on my 74 too.
I actually pulled all of that stuff from a junkyard truck a few years ago. I was going to put them in the crew cab but the component speakers do just fine for the rear seats. Probably because of how I have the tweeters mounted like I mentioned above.

In the C10, I wasn't sure I'd like having all the sound behind me. But it might be a good supplement to replacing the single center dash speaker.

As I mentioned, there's a lot of thinking going on.
 
I think I've seen a bracket that allows the use of two 3" speakers in the center speaker location. Problem with two speakers that close or the dual voice coil single is not much separation for good stereo sound. But it's the easiest install so you need to weigh out if you want better sound quality or quicker install.

Might have been a custom autosound part.

My 91 has the speakers in the corners. While better for separation vs two in the center, they can't handle any serious bass. Duh, right? First set of cheap speakers I put it n there shelled in 6 months of minimal use. I put in much higher quality set and still had an issue with heavy bass even when I played with the fader and tone controls. That was not running through an amp, just the 45w per channel the radio puts out. I didn't want to shred the new speakers so I added a pair of bass blockers to them and it has allowed the new speakers to survive a lot longer. Something to think about regardless what way you go up front.
 
I think I've seen a bracket that allows the use of two 3" speakers in the center speaker location. Problem with two speakers that close or the dual voice coil single is not much separation for good stereo sound. But it's the easiest install so you need to weigh out if you want better sound quality or quicker install.

Might have been a custom autosound part.

My 91 has the speakers in the corners. While better for separation vs two in the center, they can't handle any serious bass. Duh, right? First set of cheap speakers I put it n there shelled in 6 months of minimal use. I put in much higher quality set and still had an issue with heavy bass even when I played with the fader and tone controls. That was not running through an amp, just the 45w per channel the radio puts out. I didn't want to shred the new speakers so I added a pair of bass blockers to them and it has allowed the new speakers to survive a lot longer. Something to think about regardless what way you go up front.
I think that has to do with the speakers being in "free air" versus a sealed box. The free air speaker can move a lot more so that tears them up quicker than if they were in a sealed compartment. At least I feel like I read that somewhere.

I'm kinda leaning back to doing component speakers. I was thinking I could experiment more with a tweeter location I like better. I have some universal speaker pods that I could mount to the bottom of the doors to put 6.5" round speakers in. The pod saves me from having to hack a big hole in the doors.

Currently I use a JBL bluetooth speaker linked to my phone thru an Echo Auto. The JBL speaker creates an impressive amount of sound in the small regular cab. It's not until I drive the crew cab with the full stereo system that I remember what I'm missing out on. Anyway, I was experimenting with locations for the bluetooth speaker, and I was interested to note that it sounded a little fuller when I set it on the transmission tunnel versus on the dash.

I vote for a roll bar in the bed, with marine speakers turned up loud enough to hear them in the cab at 65mph.
I would definitely rock a roll bar. Really want one for the crew cab.
 
Made an interesting observation this morning. When I push on the brake pedal, the RPM's increase by about 100. Could this indicate a vacuum leak in the brake booster?
 
Haha! I actually made sure I wasn't overlapping my foot on the skinny one while pushing the brake pedal. :p:
 
Made an interesting observation this morning. When I push on the brake pedal, the RPM's increase by about 100. Could this indicate a vacuum leak in the brake booster?
Usually that's what it is
 
I've never liked the pedal feel in this truck, but then I've always chalked it up to being used to the hydroboost in the crew cab. Now I'm wondering if it's a failing booster.
 
Pull the booster vac line at the source and cap it. Re try. If no rpm increase, I would look at the booster.

If you have a hand vacuum pump, you could apply vac to the booster and press the pedal engine off and listen for the leak...
 
Nice! I do like the hydroboost braking, but probably way overkill on a C10.
 
Nice! I do like the hydroboost braking, but probably way overkill on a C10.
Not overkill! Just better. My K5 had it stock with 1/2 ton drivetrain and capabilities. But if you want easy and budget friendly then just grab a new vac booster.
 
Not overkill! Just better. My K5 had it stock with 1/2 ton drivetrain and capabilities. But if you want easy and budget friendly then just grab a new vac booster.
Yeah diesel gets it regardless, not enough vacuum to work
 
Yeah diesel gets it regardless, not enough vacuum to work
Yep on the GM's. They do run a vacuum pump for the cruise and ac. Ford didn't go to hydroboost with diesel engines until the super duty chassis. All the OBS stuff still ran a vacuum booster with them. Kinda weird how the oems each went there own way on stuff like that.
 
Yep on the GM's. They do run a vacuum pump for the cruise and ac. Ford didn't go to hydroboost with diesel engines until the super duty chassis. All the OBS stuff still ran a vacuum booster with them. Kinda weird how the oems each went there own way on stuff like that.

I pretty sure Ford still uses Vacuum on the 17+ Superduty oddly enough.
 

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