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Mopar
Jeep Sound Deck Subwoofer Upgrade
Sony
8" subwoofer install into the rear sound deck. ◆◆◇◇
Medium
I've
had the Mopar Jeep Sound Deck which encloses one 8 inch subwoofer
along with two tweeters for about 4 years. I won't shake the
rear view mirror of the car stopped next you but sure was a nice
to have much needed bass added to the TJ stereo system. If
I remember correctly it is rated at 50 watts. It has two tweeters
built into the deck and came with two other 4"x6" speakers
to upgrade the speakers in the dash.
After
the 5 years of faithful service to mask the engine, road and
wind noise, the paper subwoofer finally gave up and started giving
me that distinct torn speaker noise (you will know what this sounds
when you hear one).
I
have been shopping around to see if there is direct replacement
speaker for this woofer as I didn't want to spend much time working
on it. Well, that was just a wish, I had to measure and search
for the right parts for the install. After a few days of searching
online and decided to go with the Sony 8" subwoofer. It
came with the subwoofer, mounting screws, foam tape that goes between
the mouting surface and the sub. One thing I liked about the
subwoofer is that it came with thumb screw set up at the wire connection
so I didn't have to do any crimping or soldernig as you will see
at the end of the write up. However there were problems mounting
this sub on the sound deck.
 Problem
1: The factory sub uses its unique mounting screws and nut
combo. There are only total of 4 screws and there are 4 metal
nuts coated in rubber and inserted into 4 different locations on
the deck. Sony has total of 10 mounting screw holes you can
use to mount the sub.
Problem
2: The mounting surface of the sub is recessed with respect to the
sound deck that when I tried to mate the Sony subwoofer on the mounting
surface, it won't sit flush due to the large silver frame around
the speaker.
 To
resolve those two issues, I decided to use "sub-ring"
that people use to make custom boxes. I purchased a package of 4, 8 inch sub
rings made of wood. I bought these to use as spacers to go
between the mounting surface on the deck and the subwoofer.
These were about
1/2 inch thick and had the diameter just small enough to be mounted
flush on the sound deck. So far so good!
 But
when I tried to mount the sub on the ring, it won't sit flush because
there was slight bend on the sub mounting surface and the sub frame
that holds the magnet in place. To have the speaker sit flush
with the ring, I just took a file and filed around the inner edge
of the ring. The problem was solved.
Now I had everything
to complete the set up.
Symptom
It Fixed
Torn
Speaker, rattle noise, better bass.
Required
Supplies & Tools
Drill
bits of various sizes
Drill
Sub
Ring 8"
Sony
8" (~$50)
4
of 1.5" long machine screws with matching washers and nuts
Locktite
(Red)
Cotton/Poly
Fills (~$4 from Michaels)
Foam
Tape (~$7 from Home Depot)
Job
Hours
2
Hours
Difficulty
◆◆◇◇
Medium
You
are working with the vehicles existing wiring. You must have
some understanding of the electrical wiring.
Procedure
  1.
First remove the sound deck from the tub.
 2.
Remove the metal mesh screen cover. This will expose 4 bolts
that holds the frame and the subwoofer together. Remove those
4 bolts and remove 4 nut rubber inserts. Remove the
foam spacer as well. Don't remove the wiring attached to the subwoofer.
3.
If you look closely at the picture shown. There is positive
and negative engraving on the insulation right by the terminal.
Solid green is the positive, Green/Black was the ground.
4.
Test fit the sub ring on the sound deck. Also test fit the
sub. *note: I painted the sub ring black.
 6.
Using the factory subwoofer mounting frame mark the subring's mounting
location, then drill just big enough to clear the 1.5" long
machine screws but to hold the head of the screw. *note: after
each hole is drilled test fit into the sound deck with the screw
in place.
7.
Now using the template supplied or the sub itself, mark the sub
mounting holes and drill the "pilot" holes for the mounting
screws while it is off of the sound deck. *note: I did
not drill 9 o'clock position of the sub ring because there was already
screw there for the sub ring to mount onto the sound deck. So
you will be only drilling 9 holes total. You also need
to align the sub so that it is not slanted before you drill. I
have used to screws and a long rulers to check the alignment of
the sub. Remember! You measure three times and drill once!
 8.
Now clean around the mounting surface and apply the foam tape around
it.
 9.
Mount the predrilled sub-ring and tighten down the ring using machine
screws, matching washer and nuts. I used Locktite so
they don't come apart.
 10.
Before mounting the subwoofer on the deck, I decided to stuff the
sound deck with poly-fill. This is a well known trick used
by sub box designers to simulate bigger box for the speaker. I
also threw in a small bag of desiccant to absorb any moisture that
might build up within the box.
 11.
Wire the sub and apply the foam tape on the subwoofer to keep it
from vibrating.
12.
Screw it down with provided mounting screws.
12.
Reinstall the sound deck and check for proper operation.
13.
You are done!
If
you have any questions or recommendation, please let me know!
Written
by Michael
on 6.2.2006
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