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91 K5 interior subwoofer enclosure - can I cut through the interior side sheetmetal?

Jessie James

Jessie James

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UPDATE POST 35 - I want to put in 8" sealed subwoofer enclosures on each side, can I cut through the interior side sheetmetal and use the space behind the quarter panels? Will this damage the strength of the truck?

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I'm looking at the possibility of putting an amp in my truck. Of course, mounting it under the dash, under the seat, or in the center console seems like a prime place for a thief to find it and remove it.

I'm wondering if I can fit one inside the rear side panels? I'm mostly wondering how large the holes are - if any - and if there is any space in there to do this.

I'm not too worried about cooling, if they get hot I may just install a cooling fan in the stock 4x10 locations.

Whatcha got folks? :popcorn:
 
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i have a Sub, so i mounted both my 1800w and 400w in the spare tire holder and made a piece of metal that holds up the factory spare tire cover. Keeps dust off of them, but the truck is so tall you cant see in the windows anyways. On mine i dont see how you could mount it unless you did some major chopping, but like i said i have a Sub
 
Unless I am mistake, you have an in-floor spare tire well, correct? The K5 doesn't have that. It has the spare tire mounted on a small metal frame on the passenger side rear wheel well, on the side, just in front of the tailgate. I've removed mine anyway, so I don't have any great hiding places.

But thanks for the feedback!

I may have to take mine apart next weekend ... ugh!
 
Mine is an 86, but I can't imagine there is much difference, in my build thread in the very beginning you can see a little of the sides with out the panels, look at post 7 http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=252851 .

I measured the mounting posts and they are 3" tall, so that's how far out the panels are from the actual inner bedsides. Only prolem I see, depending on how long / wide your amp is, the posts are all spaced about 13" or so apart so that may be a problem.
 
That's very helpful, thank you. It looks like it's a big wide open space. I was worried there was a piece of sheetmetal behind the panel, but as I can see there's nothing there. This may be do-able. I guess I'll have to tear into it and do some measuring! Thanks!
 
2011-01-27_02672_DSC_0265.jpg



Here is mine a few months ago. I have since put in the Phoenix Gold amp where the Kenwood is shown in this pic (which is bigger). Works great and have had no over-heating problems.

Link to the rest of the gear:

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=281096
 
Freaking AWESOME. Ok, I'm a go, thank you VERY much!

Edit - how funny, I even replied in that thread, but that was over a year ago so forgive me for forgetting! :D
 
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Good deal. I actually use my 2-10" JL Audio bass box in the suburban and the blazer. Because there is less air space in the blazer, I really get a lot more bass and punch. Amazing that using the same speakers and same amp....I get different results because of the truck's internal volume.

Good luck!
 
wow I'll bet those things get HOT in that location if you were to put the side panels back on covering them...

I would cut a couple of vent holes somehow or another and cover the vent holes with some sort of nice looking mesh vent, mount a computer type fan behind the hole for some air flow through there.

I know mine gets hot and it's under the pass rear seats. It does cut out from over heating at times if I have the rear seat folded down on top of it.
 
If you have to do a cooling fan, mount it so it is pulling heat out of the space and create a vent on one side and a exaust on the other so the fan pulls the cooler air (and across the amp) to it. Had a small install shop 20 yrs ago and found this to be more effective in droping the temp of the amps. If you "push" air at the amps it has no place to really go.

We have done some "diffrent" stuff incuding running A/C ducts to them and even exterior to interior venting all depending on the type of rig. The cooler they run the better they work and sound.
 
I've run these amps hard for long periods of time and have had NO issues with heat or thermal shutdowns. The Phoenix Gold amps that are in the suburban and blazer are probably 15+ years old and are work horses. They have never stopped in all my years. The JL Audio amps have also been flawless and never quit but they are newer (6 or 8 years old).

They do get hot, no question about that....but it's expected. Who knows, maybe I've just been lucky all these years. :dunno:
 
This is in the suburban....3 amps (one is missing). These were all installed by Car Toys and no mention of any fan or heat issues. I know Car Toys is not the "absolute car stereo standard" gurus but they have installed quite a few systems so they know what will generally work or not.

Wholesystem.jpg
 
I've also had no issues with amps in enclosed spaces and overheating, but it's always good to keep electronics cool. Besides, I think car amps are designed to run hotter because they are already in a hot environment, so they have better cooling in the form of the giant case which usually doubles as a heat sink.
 
I have the subwoofer amp behind a back panel - just to save the space. I also have some "free air" 10" subs mounted in the panels (the are MDF). When the amp is driving the actual sub box there are no problems. When the box is out and I use the side panel subs I have to turn up the subwoofer gain a lot and then if I push it for a while it will cut out. This is an old 600W amp. If you used a so-called "class-D" amp there wouldn't be as much of a thermal problem. I also have the crossover mounted in the side panel (so the face is exposed for adjustments). It's a pain to pull the side panel just to check on connections or such, but it also seems like stuff should get messed with less often being tucked away.

A word of warning is to check for leaks. This amp sits just behind the door and occassionally a little water makes it around the hardtop seal. After a number of years, the electrolytic corrosion of on the fuse holder terminal broke the main power connection. I soldered it up and faishoned a "drip-guard" and that old thing still runs. This is an old "freebie", but you should take caution with more valuable equipment. You may not know anything is going on in there until problems develop. On the other hand, mounting under seats isn't always dry either.
 
Jeff, I'm confused. Those amps are actually covered up by the side panels? Why the angled mounting board instead of mounting flush to the side?
 
One thing to consider when covering amps is the heat soak that happens as they can combine and create diffrent areas of heat. One of the things you can do is mount it to the wood like the pic above. When you run multiple amps you can end up with a lot of "heat soak" in enclosed spaces. IIRC there are some lovers or venting in the side panels of cars now a days and some times that is enough. I doesn't sound like you are going compation level, just want better sounds. You should be fine, I always seem to throw solutions for problems that don't exist.
 
Blue85 said:
A word of warning is to check for leaks. This amp sits just behind the door and occassionally a little water makes it around the hardtop seal.
Click to expand...
Very good point. I will have to keep that in mind and put something in there to protect them from drips.
 
Blue85 said:
Jeff, I'm confused. Those amps are actually covered up by the side panels? Why the angled mounting board instead of mounting flush to the side?
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yea, those are behind the panel in the 04' suburban. I told them I wanted as much hidden as possible so they came up with this solution. It does look a little goofy at an angle but everything fits in there. I think there use to be a storage compartment in the side molding but that was removed and replaced with a flat cover. No big loss really to get the benefit of the amps being hidden.

Another note, when I did have some amps sitting on the carpet, they did actually heat up (in my opinion) more because the heat couldn't dissapate very well from the bottom side. Carpet is an insulator....so having it on a flat board behind the trim panel would be a better option.

Just my two cents......
 
Heat issues will depend on what type of amp it is.

Class D amplifier are popular subwoofer amps (they are "new" compared to other styles). They are usually 80%-90% efficient so wont generate as much heat as other amps. (sound quality is least accurate with these amps)

Class AB is usually what older amps are and will generate a LOT of heat. Cook an egg on the heatsink with ease. Phoenix gold and some other high quality amps have built in fans which help with cooling. These amps are usually used for midrange and high. (subs to, but trend is towards class D for sub amps) They are in the middle for power and efficentcy and sound quality.

Class A, Very rare and uses tons of power and are the least efficient but offer the best sound quality. They waste tons on energy and producs TONS of heat.

The purpose of my post. If you don't know what your doing stickng any old amp behind an enclosed panel could be dangerous. Most amps that overheat just shut down or reduce the power levels until they cool down. However I have seen transistors pop and catch on fire.
 
I'm planning on running some Class D amps, and based on testing they are actually very accurate for average use, especially in a noisy ol' truck. :)

I've ordered them already. :D
 
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