Sub woofer

[DennisY]

I went ahead with the rear seat removal, thanks Jamesfg for the info on that used poly fill in the sub box . initial impression ,the lows seem to be a bit cleaner and and better defination which is what I was after. I also noticed a little tidbit I will pass on. The rear seat will fold down. If you put the seat in the recline position there will be enough room to get your hand behind the seat. Once there feel about for a string-rope to pull it opens the latch which locks the seat in the upright position. I attached a longer pull cord on mine to make it easier to grab. a nice thing to know helps when cleaning the back window .

For the life of me, I cannot find that string. Is there one on each side? (Drivers side and passengers side?) The rear seat reclines? How do you do that? I can't find any button or lever to do that.

 

[Edwards]

For the life of me, I cannot find that string. Is there one on each side? (Drivers side and passengers side?) The rear seat reclines? How do you do that? I can't find any button or lever to do that.

On mine the strings are on the passenger's side of the latch. On my 60% seat I couldn't find it because it had been pulled back through the rear fabric. I was able to grab through the latch cutout hole to pull it and release the seat back. Then it was easy to rethread through the hole for it.
Make sure you recline the seats all the way so you can reach back and get hold of the string. Also, the release is to pull sideways, towards the passenger doors, not down. This pic is of the driver's side (40%) seat pulled forward:

 

[YoAdrian]

For the life of me, I cannot find that string. Is there one on each side? (Drivers side and passengers side?) The rear seat reclines? How do you do that? I can't find any button or lever to do that.

It is a teeny string, and yes there is one on each side of the truck. This is from a Laramie Level 1 with reclining rear seat. This pic help?

 

[SpeedyV]

For the life of me, I cannot find that string. Is there one on each side? (Drivers side and passengers side?) The rear seat reclines? How do you do that? I can't find any button or lever to do that.

And you have to make sure you're getting your hand/arm behind that piece of fabric that is loosely attached to the back of the seats (per the awesome pictures others have shared). At first, I was reaching between the seat back and that fabric...until I finally figured out what I was doing. With your fingers, it'll feel like a little piece of flexible wire (I worried I was grabbing some stereo or seat ventilation wiring at first). And note that comment by @Edwards about needing to pull it sideways to have it release.

 

[DennisY]

Awesome pics! Thanks guys! That did the trick. Found the string on both sides of the rear seats. The sub is on the passenger's side, and darn it, it looks to me offhand like they could have put a ten inch sub in there, maybe even twelve!

BTW, I still don't know how to make the rear seats recline but I was able to get my arm behind the seat reaching in from the center console opening.

Now to go back in the thread here to read how to pull that felt cover thing off to get to the sub box.

 

[DennisY]

Couldn't get the felt cover all that far out of the way but was able to use a right angle torx tool to get the six screws out. I used some new wall insulation (R12) that I had in the garage to fill the sub box. (I took the paper backing off of course.) The result? Yes, I think it does sound better. I still think that I want an add on 10 inch powered sub (200 watts or more) if I can find one to fit somewhere in the truck. The JL that was suggested to me by Crutchfield if it would fit, isn't going to fit, unless I do a total kludge and just set in on the back floor in the middle. Don't want to do that though. I think I can live with it this way until I see if MTX comes out with a Thunderform. I might also drive over to a nearby custom audio shop. They custom make sub boxes. They might have an idea for a 10 inch that would fit nicely.

Thanks to those that assisted with my finding the cord and for the suggestion of putting poly in the box. Appreciate it!

 

[DennisY]

More... I did more research on the JL sub that Crutchfield suggested. It's a ACP108LG-W3V3, 250 watt RMS powered sub. Be careful if you research this yourself. The dimensions do not include the speaker grill. They are for the box only. A question posted on the Crutchfield site answered that and said to add about 1.5 inches to the depth measurement to take into account the grill. That said, after rechecking under the rear seat, yes, it will fit. Reviews for this sub are very, very good, even though it's only an 8 inch sub. It's an interesting option, and I may very well try it out. I don't need to have people hear me coming down the street but I do like some punch and like to feel the bass. My MTX in my F150 was perfect in that regard. I'm going to see how I like the stock HK sub this week as I drive around now that I've stuff the sub box. Then I'll decide about an add on sub. May talk to some local custom audio shops first. BTW, the OEM sub is supposedly 10 inch I am reading. It seemed more like an 8 inch when I was back there yesterday. Anyone care to comment? The JL mentioned above is 8 inch but the amp and sub are designed to perform more like 10's and 12's. Plus the 250 watt RMS amp is undoubtedly heads and tails above what RAM is feeding the OEM sub behind the rear seat.

 

[YoAdrian]

more research on the JL sub that Crutchfield suggested. It's a ACP108LG-W3V3, 250 watt RMS powered sub

I own the non powered version of that 8” JL Audio sub box, running it on 200 watts. It is really nice and likely to surprise you in a good way. I didn’t think a single 8 could go that low but they must have designed that little ported box really well. So compact. Highly recommend.

 

[DennisY]

I own the non powered version of that 8” JL Audio sub box, running it on 200 watts. It is really nice and likely to surprise you in a good way. I didn’t think a single 8 could go that low but they must have designed that little ported box really well. So compact. Highly recommend.

Thanks, reading up on the JL shallow subs, they've done their homework to make them perform surprisingly well. Their matching amp supposedly accentuates that performance. What brand amp are you running on yours? How did you get power to the amp?

 

[YoAdrian]

What brand amp are you running on yours? How did you get power to the amp?

It’s not in my Ram. I am using that 8” JL sub in the trunk of my other car (a VW) and am running it off two bridged channels of a JL Audio six channel amp. I ran a dedicated 4 guage NVX brand power line (with fuse) right off the battery to the amp.

I’m not planning on doing much to this system yet until I log some time with it. Might suit my “needs” for now.

 

[mhb1638]

I have a question though...if you are going to install this JL sub and thus bypass the factory sub, you would need an Audio Control hi level converter to clean the source up as well as one that would convert whatever wattage is coming that way to a proper 4 ohm load. Right?

 

[DennisY]

I have a question though...if you are going to install this JL sub and thus bypass the factory sub, you would need an Audio Control hi level converter to clean the source up as well as one that would convert whatever wattage is coming that way to a proper 4 ohm load. Right?

The JL (and many others) have both high and low level inputs. Most also come with a remote (wired) control for varying the amount of bass that the sub outputs.

 

[mhb1638]

The JL (and many others) have both high and low level inputs. Most also come with a remote (wired) control for varying the amount of bass that the sub outputs.

That's what I was wondering! Thanks. So no real need for a line converter

 

[jackpilot]

More... I did more research on the JL sub that Crutchfield suggested. It's a ACP108LG-W3V3, 250 watt RMS powered sub. Be careful if you research this yourself. The dimensions do not include the speaker grill. They are for the box only. A question posted on the Crutchfield site answered that and said to add about 1.5 inches to the depth measurement to take into account the grill. That said, after rechecking under the rear seat, yes, it will fit. Reviews for this sub are very, very good, even though it's only an 8 inch sub. It's an interesting option, and I may very well try it out. I don't need to have people hear me coming down the street but I do like some punch and like to feel the bass. My MTX in my F150 was perfect in that regard. I'm going to see how I like the stock HK sub this week as I drive around now that I've stuff the sub box. Then I'll decide about an add on sub. May talk to some local custom audio shops first. BTW, the OEM sub is supposedly 10 inch I am reading. It seemed more like an 8 inch when I was back there yesterday. Anyone care to comment? The JL mentioned above is 8 inch but the amp and sub are designed to perform more like 10's and 12's. Plus the 250 watt RMS amp is undoubtedly heads and tails above what RAM is feeding the OEM sub behind the rear seat.

Per my tape measure this box (18.5" x 11" x 5") would only fit in one direction which would make it extend far into the available rear floor space (over 18 inches). Is there a different position that you were thinking of?

I see a useful area of about 14" wide x 10" deep x 7" tall (approx).

I would love something with these dimensions with a down throw... so my dogs wouldn't trample on an upward facing sub.

Thanks

 

[Leif_Ram2019]

My truck hasn't arrived yet but figuring this out will be one of my first projects. Perhaps this has already been answered. Can you simply remove your HK sub speaker from behind the seat, run the speaker wire lead through a speaker level -> line-level converters -> into an amp -> a new / custom sub to be installed under the seat, and be good to go?

Would there be any issued with the active noise cancelling? Would the signal meant for the HK sub be the correct signal to feed the aftermarket sub?

 

[DennisY]

Per my tape measure this box (18.5" x 11" x 5") would only fit in one direction which would make it extend far into the available rear floor space (over 18 inches). Is there a different position that you were thinking of?

I see a useful area of about 14" wide x 10" deep x 7" tall (approx).

I would love something with these dimensions with a down throw... so my dogs wouldn't trample on an upward facing sub.

Thanks

With the seat down, my thought was that it wouldn't extend out all that much. Your thoughts?

 

[cruz1996]

Does the bighorn have this string? I can’t get it anywhere. My seats don’t move forward. I just have where they fold up. But still can’t find a black string.

 

[CouchAssault]

Does the bighorn have this string? I can’t get it anywhere. My seats don’t move forward. I just have where they fold up. But still can’t find a black string.

i don't think so. my rebel doesn't. i think the string is only on the trucks that have the reclining rear seats.

 

[wildh24]

Has anyone installed a new sub and disconnected the HK?

If so, did it meet your expectations in terms of better more linear bass response?

 

[bgmshrm]

anyone know the ohm rating on the HK sub ? is it a 10"