Yeah I've found some of the stuff like that is better when you can walk away and come back another day to work on it. Much more motivated when you come back to it. At least in my experience.
CK5
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y5mgisi
1 ton status
I often find myself cursing this hobby on those kinds of days.
Oh, yeah... I hate those days.
Back when I was dealing with the driveshaft and transfer case noise I decided to handle it the way I did in my 20's... get a louder stereo system! 
Sure, I handled it the right way as well, but old instincts die hard, so on with the stereo install update!
One of the biggest issues I've had with sound systems in the past in this truck was that the wind noise would drowned out anything mounted in the rear unless it was turned up stupid loud. I wanted to come up with a good solution for mounting some speakers in the front and I finally had a good idea.
I picked these up in the junkyard for about $5 and set about modifying them to fit 3" speakers.
How they look stock:
After modification:
I had to use a dremel tool to widen the hole just a touch but after a few minutes of work they mounted in nice and solid.
The finished product:
I'm using a JVC head unit with built in bluetooth and satellite radio ready... no cd player.
Since I plan on using my phone for music a lot I decided it was time to add a built in charger:
There were a few options that would have just replaced the cigarette lighter but there are still a few things that plug into it so I didn't want it gone. Mounting inside the glove box seemed like a nice solution.
I also added a couple of 6x9's:
And a 10" woofer:
It's hard to tell from the pic, but the woofer box is built into the side panel in order to get it as out of the way as possible.
The 6x9's and woofer are being powered by an amp mounted under the drivers seat.
Overall I'm pretty happy with the set up. The head unit came with a mic and it does hands free calling which is a nice bonus. So far, as long as I turn the stereo up nice and loud I can hear callers even on the freeway and they claim that they can hear me just fine with the mic mounted on the steering column.
Now if I get any more weird noises from the truck I can solve them with a simple turn of the knob!
Sure, I handled it the right way as well, but old instincts die hard, so on with the stereo install update!
One of the biggest issues I've had with sound systems in the past in this truck was that the wind noise would drowned out anything mounted in the rear unless it was turned up stupid loud. I wanted to come up with a good solution for mounting some speakers in the front and I finally had a good idea.
I picked these up in the junkyard for about $5 and set about modifying them to fit 3" speakers.
How they look stock:
After modification:
I had to use a dremel tool to widen the hole just a touch but after a few minutes of work they mounted in nice and solid.
The finished product:
I'm using a JVC head unit with built in bluetooth and satellite radio ready... no cd player.
Since I plan on using my phone for music a lot I decided it was time to add a built in charger:
There were a few options that would have just replaced the cigarette lighter but there are still a few things that plug into it so I didn't want it gone. Mounting inside the glove box seemed like a nice solution.
I also added a couple of 6x9's:
And a 10" woofer:
It's hard to tell from the pic, but the woofer box is built into the side panel in order to get it as out of the way as possible.
The 6x9's and woofer are being powered by an amp mounted under the drivers seat.
Overall I'm pretty happy with the set up. The head unit came with a mic and it does hands free calling which is a nice bonus. So far, as long as I turn the stereo up nice and loud I can hear callers even on the freeway and they claim that they can hear me just fine with the mic mounted on the steering column.
Now if I get any more weird noises from the truck I can solve them with a simple turn of the knob!
Well done dude! I have had similar ideas about the factory ac vents for small speakers. It's on the to do list! I also plan to go all bluetooth, and ditch physical media for good. I might go with a 64gb thumb drive loaded up, or just use the phone... Either way, tunes are one thing that's always been lacking from my rig. It'd be nice, that's for sure!
yup, all digital is the way to go. I finally got around to ripping all my cds so I don't need them anymore. My phone has a 64g flash card in it so I can just use that but the head unit does take usb if I decide to go that route at some point.
Right on. Your setup looks very much like what I want. Nothing crazy, just be able to hear it with good sound. Unfortunately it's pretty far down the list for me. Need a new rear floor and a cage/seats before I worry about the radio
AC vent speakers. Brilliant!
I have to admit, when I saw sound system install in the title I thought it would be boring, but it wasn't! Nice job implementing the stereo speakers and charger while making it look like it belongs there.
Thanks! That is what I was going for.
I've been wanting to put some front speakers in for years. I can't believe it took me this long to think of using the AC vents.
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Pretty sweet!
Looks good. I contemplated doing my subs the way you did, with a box in each rear corner like that. But, I am running 3 10's and couldn't come up with anything that made sense for me. I built a box that holds my 10's, both amps, cap, and wiring that is all enclosed and mounted in behind the back seat. I need to update my head unit in my K5 badly, it's 15 years old. I have bluetooth in all my other vehicles and it's great, jump in and boom, Pandora or Amazon player without doing anything!
Systems are fun to build/install, it's a job that doesn't involve grease on the hands for a change.
Systems are fun to build/install, it's a job that doesn't involve grease on the hands for a change.
Lol, yup that was a nice change.it's a job that doesn't involve grease on the hands for a change.
I'm sure your system pumps out the sound a lot better than mine but for me the priority was keeping as much usable space in the back as possible. That meant I couldn't have anything on the floor or behind the seats. That really limits your options though.
Overall I'm pretty happy with the setup. It's out of the way and sounds pretty good to my. At some point I need to figure out how to tune the amp and it'll probably sound even better. 
Lol, yup that was a nice change.
I'm sure your system pumps out the sound a lot better than mine but for me the priority was keeping as much usable space in the back as possible. That meant I couldn't have anything on the floor or behind the seats. That really limits your options though.
Believe me, I completely understand. I used to have a HUGE box in the back that held everything, and it even went rolling once and slammed into the tailgate doing a hill climb back in my wheeling days as a kid. I racked my brain for weeks on how to inconspicuously mount two huge amps, and 3 10's into the k5 without something behind the rear seat. I finally gave up and my solution was simply a smaller box than the first one.
I finally got the last of the PCM stuff done. The VSS signal is reset to read the stock 241 output correctly and a couple of missed error codes were deleted.
I've been driving around for a few weeks now without any more issues showing up so it's time to call this swap done!
Before:
After:
I tried to keep track of all of my receipts so that I could report my total cost for the LS swap.
383 sold -800
6.0 engine dressed for conversion 1445.18
steel plate for exhaust flanges 12.36
drive shafts resized 250
Dakota Digital VSS 39.95
lower radiator hose 20.99
hose adapter 2.99
upper radiator hose 17.99
exhaust manifold gaskets 13.99
steel fuel lines 22.29
spark plugs 55.92
serpentine belt 25.99
rear main seal 23.99
oil pan gasket 47.99
plug wires 49.99
oil cooler block off plate 9.95
valve cover gaskets 13.99
catalytic converter 71.72
fuel filter 5.65
steam vent tubing and tee fitting 6.81
50 series muffler 127.15
fuel hose 2.78
wire conduit 5.49
wiring connectors 12.78
heater hose 4.47
antifreeze 25.98
PCM reprogram 100
exhaust flange gasket 13.99
flange bolts 21.23
metric flywheel bolts 6.41
exhaust erg blockoff plates 24.95
misc steel plate 15.17
flywheel 69.46
exhaust elbow 2-1/2" 90* 29.91
junkyard tailpipe 9
engine crossmember 360
junkyard y-pipe 15
pilot bearing 12.78
fuel pump 115
fuel line fitting and hoses 137.81
total 2447.1
I may have missed a few items, but overall I think that list is pretty accurate. Being able to sell my old engine for a decent price put a nice dent in the overall cost but I also spent quite a bit on a few things that weren't strictly necessary.
~$100 on plugs and wires that I probably didn't need right away.
$40 on a VSS I ended up not using.
$138 on the fuel lines was way more than needed. I've since learned about nice cheap factory style fittings that would have saved me a ton of time and money.
I decided I didn't want to use a BFH on my firewall so I moved the engine forward a few inches and that ended up costing me $250 in resizing driveshafts.
$70 on a catalytic converter. Not needed but I gotta say driving around all day and never smelling exhaust is F'ing NICE!
I'm happy with the total cost. It ended up cheaper and cleaner than I expected and I learned a lot. If/when I do it again I'll be able to do it a LOT faster and I think cheaper too.
...Now to start looking into all that aftermarket support for LS go faster stuff.
I've been driving around for a few weeks now without any more issues showing up so it's time to call this swap done!
Before:
After:
I tried to keep track of all of my receipts so that I could report my total cost for the LS swap.
383 sold -800
6.0 engine dressed for conversion 1445.18
steel plate for exhaust flanges 12.36
drive shafts resized 250
Dakota Digital VSS 39.95
lower radiator hose 20.99
hose adapter 2.99
upper radiator hose 17.99
exhaust manifold gaskets 13.99
steel fuel lines 22.29
spark plugs 55.92
serpentine belt 25.99
rear main seal 23.99
oil pan gasket 47.99
plug wires 49.99
oil cooler block off plate 9.95
valve cover gaskets 13.99
catalytic converter 71.72
fuel filter 5.65
steam vent tubing and tee fitting 6.81
50 series muffler 127.15
fuel hose 2.78
wire conduit 5.49
wiring connectors 12.78
heater hose 4.47
antifreeze 25.98
PCM reprogram 100
exhaust flange gasket 13.99
flange bolts 21.23
metric flywheel bolts 6.41
exhaust erg blockoff plates 24.95
misc steel plate 15.17
flywheel 69.46
exhaust elbow 2-1/2" 90* 29.91
junkyard tailpipe 9
engine crossmember 360
junkyard y-pipe 15
pilot bearing 12.78
fuel pump 115
fuel line fitting and hoses 137.81
total 2447.1
I may have missed a few items, but overall I think that list is pretty accurate. Being able to sell my old engine for a decent price put a nice dent in the overall cost but I also spent quite a bit on a few things that weren't strictly necessary.
~$100 on plugs and wires that I probably didn't need right away.
$40 on a VSS I ended up not using.
$138 on the fuel lines was way more than needed. I've since learned about nice cheap factory style fittings that would have saved me a ton of time and money.
I decided I didn't want to use a BFH on my firewall so I moved the engine forward a few inches and that ended up costing me $250 in resizing driveshafts.
$70 on a catalytic converter. Not needed but I gotta say driving around all day and never smelling exhaust is F'ing NICE!
I'm happy with the total cost. It ended up cheaper and cleaner than I expected and I learned a lot. If/when I do it again I'll be able to do it a LOT faster and I think cheaper too.
...Now to start looking into all that aftermarket support for LS go faster stuff.
Nice feeling to cross it off the list, looks fantastic! There is nothing like driving a lifted 4x4 on mud tires down the highway at 80 with pedal to spare!
Sweet! When can I drop my truck off?
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2000
- Posts
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I call third so how much cheaper will mine be? 
Scott's is crew cab so he pays extra and since mine is a first gen like yours it will go really quick.
Scott's is crew cab so he pays extra and since mine is a first gen like yours it will go really quick.
As soon as I get a longer garage!
I call third so how much cheaper will mine be?
Scott's is crew cab so he pays extra and since mine is a first gen like yours it will go really quick.
Weekend job from what I hear from some guys...
I have all my receipts, but I quit keeping a running total a long time ago. I don't think I wanna know.
