Mounting an amp behind my rear seat, recommendations for materials?

[borborygmi 10+ year member]

I'll be mounting my amp behind the passenger seat. I'd rather not screw it into the back of the seat. Can anyone give me pros and cons of various materials (ie. plywood, MDF, particle board). MDF is pretty heavy and since I'm not using it for a box, I'd rather not use it, any suggestions?

Also, does anyone have any tricks as to accurately cutting a board with the same shape as the wall between the trunk and the rear seats? (besides making a template with a piece of cardboard and then cutting the board out with the template)

TIA

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[imral3 10+ year member]

maybe it is the vicodin i am on, but... what? if you are not using MDF for your box what are you using? you already answered your question for an easy way to cut the proper shape for your amp board. you can use plywood for the amp rack. the screw holes will not deteriorate with vibration.

 

[borborygmi 10+ year member]

Let me clarify...I am NOT mounting my amp to a box. I will be mounting it against my rear seat. I would rather not screw the amp into the back of the seat but rather to a piece of MDF/plywood/hardboard, etc. which in turn will sit against the back seats. Thank you for your recommendation regarding plywood.

 

[chris229 10+ year member]

how are you going to mount the MDF

 

[borborygmi 10+ year member]

I would attempt to cut the MDF/plywood or whatever to the exact shape of the wall behind my rear seats and push the board up against the wall. I could attach brackets between the board and my rear deck. The main reason I don't want to attach the amp straight to the back of the seat is so that I can remove it easily.

 

[imral3 10+ year member]

but instead of installing one thing (the amp) you now have to install two things (board and amp). and you say that you want to be able to easily remove it. what makes it easier to remove from a board as opposed to the seat back? and why do you want to remove it?

 

[borborygmi 10+ year member]

imral3,

You are right. I will be installing 2 things instead of one. Here's the reason: I have folding rear seats and 2 young kids. Sometimes I need to fold the seat down to accomodate the junk we carry around. Also by mounting my amp to a board then bracketing the board to my rear deck (2 brackets). All I need to do is unclip the 2 brackets, unplug the connectors and take out the board (with the amp) - shouldn't take more than 10 seconds. This is opposed to unscrewing 4 screws and then trying to line everything up when I want to reinstall the amp. I think I'm going to use 3/4" plywood. I may be making more of this than it really is.

 

[imral3 10+ year member]

ah, now i see said the blind man... now that i know why you want to be able to easily remove it... a suggestion so you can remove the amp and box in one fell swoop would be to mount a board to the top or side of sub box with some legs/spacers and then mount the amp to the slightly elevated board. that way you only have to mess with the power and ground wires and dont have to worry about the speaker wires or any screws!

 

[borborygmi 10+ year member]

Good idea. Now I just need to find some connectors that will accept 4 gauge wire.