2011 Silverado crew cab amp and sub install

LNGLIV3 said:

Ok I’m no Noob. I have a few questions that I’m looking for answers on. First off I’ll start with my equiptment list.  I know most are old but they are tried and true pieces that have served me for a while.  I have 2 10” JL 10w0s I’m not sure on the ohm version for these subs and I have had them since 2004. The amp is a coustic 600db.  I just picked up a box for under the back seats today. At this time I am choosing to keep the factory head unit for the time being. The system is lacking bass in which I have a hard time dealing with as I spend at least 2 hrs a day in my truck. My plans are to replace the door speakers and amp them when I decide on the equiptment to purchase. At this time my plans are to use a line level to rca converter. What is the best way to install the converter? The best place to tap into the rear door speakers to feed the converter? Wire colors for the rear speakers? Thanks for your time and input. 

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I'd think behind the head unit is best.   All your speaker wires + power and ground will be there and if you plan to upgrade the HU eventually you'll want at least those RCAs from the dash to the back later.    As far as colors, I'd just buy the wiring kit for that truck from Best Buy to see which wires line up where then return it when you're done.   Or google search probably can dig up what wires are what color and where.

LNGLIV3 said:

Ok update I picked up a lc7i converter and have it in the rear by my amp. I tapped into the speaker wires at the b pillars by the sill plate. It sounds good for the time being.  Black Friday shopping yielded me a alpine 4 ch amp. Question for you Chevy/gmc crew cab owners who has pics of amp racks.  Looking for ideas.  And still searching for front speakers and rear door speakers.  

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What most ppl seem to do (myself included) is to fabricate an amp rack (plywood, MDF, abs, etc) anywhere from 1/4"-1/2" thick and mount it to the trucks rear wall. 

Theres not too many options when it comes to mounting amps in trucks, but the rear wall is actually perfect and gives u decent amount of space & options. For those who like stealth you can keep them hidden or if you like to show your install off you can do that too. 

If you do a Google image search for truck amp rack there should be enough pictures to give you some ideas...

The most important thing when doing an amp rack like this is planning, make sure to double, triple check your measurements, I suggest making a test piece out of cardboard so you're able to pre test your fitment. Also make sure you take into account any obstructions like sets belts, hinges, anything that could potentially cause your rack not to fit properly when installed, make sure everything will have enough clearance with the seats back down. Also good idea to mount your amps so if you need to make any adjustments on them they can be easily accessible. Basically just take your time and plan plan plan, lol.

Heres mine, the 1st picture is my current rack after I got a new box and was able to move some things under the seats. Put a piece of black abs over the wood, was planning how the wires were going to run... The rest of the pictures are my 1st version that was spray painted black plywood and had all my amps/components on it at the time.

I did exactly this^ but with 2 sheets of 1/2 inch mdf glued together and then glued to the back wall. It's very solid and sooo much easier to work on with small self tapping wood screws than drilling into metal all the time and worrying about rust. 

The only problem with it is at high SPL's your entire back wall moves 1-3 inches and it's terrible for your amps lol so I'm going to be relocating the primary amp into my toolbox. 

Another tip. I know you ordered the LC7 already, but you can buy an 8 channel dsp for $150. THAT is worth your money 5 times over and I highly suggest you get one instead.

LNGLIV3 said:

That’s a lot of relays.  

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1 for front lights, 1 for rear lights, 1 for rock lights, 1 for air compressor power, and 2 for air bag 1 up 1 down, and finally 1 to trigger the relays and the amplifier power

Relays aren't always necessary, I use 0 lol

wew lad said:

Relays aren't always necessary, I use 0 lol

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You are correct but they alot me alot of flexibility and I can run up to 30 amps off each circuit without straining my switch panel and at 30bucks a switch I dont want to be replacing them.

I can even jump to a higher amp relay and up the wire gauge and push more power. In total I can pull up to 150amps through all the relays combined before I overload my feed wire fuse. 

All that said I have 1 circuit drawing 6amps, 1 drawing 15amps, 1 drawing 10amps, 2 drawing 5, and 1 drawing potentially 30amps idk how I will wire the compressor yet.

Plus it just looks clean and really makes thing easy in the long run. It's all color coded in the truck and under the truck. Though the techflex hides the color under the truck