Ugh! What to do in a single cab F150!??

[Emig5m]

I have a 2004 (Heritage body style, actually a Ford Lightning) and there's just no room behind the seats for any type of box without losing leg room and comfort. I MUST be able to tilt the top of the seat back so that it nearly touches the back of the cab. The narrow 10" Kicker box at Best Buy "looked" like it would fit the wedge shaped gap the way I have my seats set but really made me lose a good 4" of seat tilt because the top of the box would touch the seat.

Now I'm definitely not going to lose comfort for a sub box. Now would it be more feasible for me to just buy the absolute best speakers to fit the stock locations (two in the doors and two in the rear) and just amplify them? I'm not looking to do bass competitions, but I have really nice sounding and detailed speakers at home (B&W 800 series) and ironically I always seem to be listening to music more in the vehicle than at home and really need to do something to the vehicle. I installed a Pioneer 3300BT and that alone was a night and day improvement over the stock head unit. My main bottleneck right now is bass and bottom end. Is there speakers that will fit my stock speaker locations that will give me a boost in fidelity but also add more bass? They're definitely going to be powered by a power amp if I go aftermarket speakers.

Basically I need to know from people in the know with car/vehicle audio what my best bet is to get the best sound quality without losing leg room. One custom shop recommended a 8" Bazooka bass tube. I know MTX makes the Thunderform enclosure for my truck but I'm still skeptical of both without actually putting them in the vehicle and seeing if I can still tilt the seats back to where they're basically touching the back of the cab. So I couldn't commit to ordering and paying for something without being able to try it out first-hand and nobody around me stocks either the Bazooka tube or Thunderform. Do they make little bass drivers that would fit the stock rear locations? How should I go about this?

The stock speakers aren't too bad with the Pioneer when EQ'd, they get some good tone, but I can tell they start to break up around the volume where you can't easily hear your passenger talk to you. Would this be the more the limit of the speakers or limit of the power of the head unit? Should I try to add a power amp to the stock speakers or would that be a waste if I'm at the limits of both the head units power output and also the speakers capability?

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[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

Pics of truck or GTFO lol

 

[5.3bowtie 10+ year member]

If you have a removable center console you could pull it out and build a sub box there to house a 10 or 12 inch sub. That is what I am doing to mine now.

The stock speakers are probably not rated for the amount of power the aftermarket head unit is giving them even if its only 20 watts. I would not worry about replacing the back speakers especially in a reg cab truck. There is no need for rear fill, just focus on keeping the soundstage in front of you.

 

[KyleBechtold 5,000+ posts]

the center console like ^ said is your best bet.. You make a sub box down firing out of it to fit your needs.. pics of space would be your best help.. words in this situation don't help..

 

[Emig5m]

Center console isn't really removable since the passenger seat goes all the way over to the drivers seat. Would be way too much work for what it's worth IMO. Wish I could find a Thunderform box locally just to try it in the truck.

I would not worry about replacing the back speakers especially in a reg cab truck. There is no need for rear fill, just focus on keeping the soundstage in front of you.

Actually, the rear speakers seem to be the ones that add the bass to the stockers. Like say as I fade out the rear speakers on the head unit, the bass appears to go away. So I would say at least replace them along with the fronts just for the sake of added bass at the very least. Does this make sense? Don't they make more of just a bass driver for this reason to fit the stock rear locations? I can tell even in the stock configuration that they're more for added bottom end then mids and top...

Pics of truck or GTFO lol

Oh ok, lol....

Build #39 of the 04's.... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[tommyk90 5,000+ posts]

If a console is out of the question then I would consider fiberglassing the rear area for a couple 8's. Would take up the least amount of space and you know it'll fit where you want it to because you can make the dimensions anything you want.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

I did a box in one of these a while back.single 12 ported didn't loose any space and sounded pretty good Question is what sub how much power and what do you want from the sub stage

 

[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

I have done similar trucks with dual 10s and triple 8s ported..decent setups..also done 3 12s sealed as well.

 

[spljim 10+ year member]

can you put the box on the pasanger side of the truck so you get all the leg room you wont

 

[vaiboy 10+ year member]

You're probably going to have to build your own box a generic prefab is just not going to work. Pioneer, Clarion, Rockford Fosgate, and JL all sell nice shallow mount subwoofers that will sound decent in a small sealed enclosure. You should start by measuring the space you have available, then choose the subwoofer that is the best fit for the space.

 

[ColterDC 10+ year member]

You're probably going to have to build your own box a generic prefab is just not going to work.

^^This

But start by replacing all your stock speakers with some aftermarket speakers and a 4 channel amp running them. The either build a box yourself or find someone who can do it for you.

 

[sacsking916 5,000+ posts]

blowthru //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[Bassin Brandon]

my beastly 10"s would be perfect for that truck....if you can fit them.

 

[akheathen Premium Member]

yah, custom box and likely shallow mount subs, but not always necessary.... even a single 10 can sound real nice in there. how much room under the seat?

 

[Emig5m]

No room under the seat. I like the idea of tripple 8's, hell, I think two would be enough. I just need some nicer bottom end and not looking to be able for people to hear me booming from a half a mile away. What are some nice shallow mount 8's that are decent quality? I don't have a problem building my own enclosure if need to be.