floydbanks28
Active Member
Also for the RCA's you put in feeding the amp, is it a full range signal? Sorry for the dumb questions, I'm just making sure before I go ahead and assume and damage something.
Sponsored
Sponsored
Fenix
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #17
The signal is full range as far as I know. It's coming straight out of the head unit / acm.
The harness is pretty straight forward. You'll need crimpers if you don't have any and small wire. I used crimpers like these, they worked pretty well. (http://www.ebay.com/itm/IWISS-Profe...141198?hash=item3f5bcd9c4e:g:i2kAAOSwAuZX4M6d) I had to turn some of the pins to get then nice and square to fit in the connectors. The Molex brand crimpers are like $250 so that was out of the question. A little extra effort crimping wasn't that bad to me.
I don't have pictures of the build process but once you have the wire stripped and the pin is crimped just insert the pin into the connector. Make sure it is in there snug with a slight pull after you insert the pin. I am unsure what wire gage I ended up going with. The jacket on the original wire was too thick to crimp properly. I ended up using some old wiring from a machine at work. It was probably 26 gage if I had to guess. It needs small gage wire.
I just pinned every connector location on mine. Once it was all done I cut one of the rear speaker signal wires and soldered in the RCA's. Since you have the ecoboost you could omit the pins that produce the fake engine note if you want. Other option would be to disable the microphone under the headliner to disable the fake engine sound.
The harness is pretty straight forward. You'll need crimpers if you don't have any and small wire. I used crimpers like these, they worked pretty well. (http://www.ebay.com/itm/IWISS-Profe...141198?hash=item3f5bcd9c4e:g:i2kAAOSwAuZX4M6d) I had to turn some of the pins to get then nice and square to fit in the connectors. The Molex brand crimpers are like $250 so that was out of the question. A little extra effort crimping wasn't that bad to me.
I don't have pictures of the build process but once you have the wire stripped and the pin is crimped just insert the pin into the connector. Make sure it is in there snug with a slight pull after you insert the pin. I am unsure what wire gage I ended up going with. The jacket on the original wire was too thick to crimp properly. I ended up using some old wiring from a machine at work. It was probably 26 gage if I had to guess. It needs small gage wire.
I just pinned every connector location on mine. Once it was all done I cut one of the rear speaker signal wires and soldered in the RCA's. Since you have the ecoboost you could omit the pins that produce the fake engine note if you want. Other option would be to disable the microphone under the headliner to disable the fake engine sound.
floydbanks28
Active Member
I don't know what you mean by this.
So you had 2 RCA cables and you needed to trim them back and use RearRight positive RearRight negative and RearlLeft Positive and RearLeft negative to connect them right? so you needed 4 of those pins total right??
One end of the RCA is sodered into the connector and the other is going to the amp correct?
floydbanks28
Active Member
And then all of the other pins just have wire going to the other connector.
Do the pins that have the RCA's sodered on have a wire going to the other connector as well???
Do the pins that have the RCA's sodered on have a wire going to the other connector as well???
Sponsored
Fenix
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #21
You are spot on. There are 4 connections (+ and - for each RCA) back to the my harness. I used the left and right rear speakers. + and - for each speaker are wired to the + and - for each RCA. So in the end there is a L and R RCA that goes to the sub amp input.
There are a couple ways splice in the RCA's. One way would be cut the harness wires in the middle and solder the RCA wires to the harness (+ and - for each RCA to + and - for each speaker). The other way would be to twist the wires together on one end and crimp them in the pin (+ and - for each RCA to + and - for each speaker). Either way would work as well as the other.
The way I build the harness all the pins are loaded. The harness serves no other purpose than to provide RCA outputs. All factory signals coming from the ACM are still going to the factory amp as they were.
There are a couple ways splice in the RCA's. One way would be cut the harness wires in the middle and solder the RCA wires to the harness (+ and - for each RCA to + and - for each speaker). The other way would be to twist the wires together on one end and crimp them in the pin (+ and - for each RCA to + and - for each speaker). Either way would work as well as the other.
The way I build the harness all the pins are loaded. The harness serves no other purpose than to provide RCA outputs. All factory signals coming from the ACM are still going to the factory amp as they were.
mikes2017gt
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2017
- Threads
- 59
- Messages
- 936
- Reaction score
- 311
- Location
- San Antonio, TX
- Vehicle(s)
- 17 GT Prem M/T 3.55
Love the remote knob in the 12v socket! I wish I thought of that. I was so fixated on fitting it in the dash somehow and when I didn't find a good place I just gave up! I also didn't want to have to remove the center console to install the knob...but obviously I wouldn't have needed to do so...I learned something today. /cue happy music
Hopefully when you took the 12v+ terminal apart to get the power wire terminal in there you didn't drop the parts of the terminal down in the engine like I did? Sometimes I think my purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others...
And don't worry about the amp overheating. I have the 600-watt version of that amp and it's in the exact same place as yours. Blasting away for an hour in 100-degree heat the amp gets pretty warm, but not hot. It has never shut down or hiccupped in any way.
At first, I chuckled at the Stealthbox "guide into place" instructions. Then after two f'in hours I cursed the living crap out of whoever wrote those BS instructions. I was too afraid of cracking a $700 fiberglass masterpiece so I didn't use a prybar. I wound up threading all three bolts that hold the thing down AFTER the box was in place, from inside the box. That meant trimming the "x-holes" I cut in the carpet to pass the fasteners through, quite a bit larger. Just a huge PITA overall.
Did you run into a problem with sloppy fiberglass work around the mounting holes? Both of the bottom holes in mine had excess fiberglass/resin around the mounting holes so there was no way for the washers/fasteners to sit flat and seal the sealed box (what a concept, huh?). I spent an hour with a Dremel. Inexcusable on a box that cost what this does.
GREAT job, Sir!
Hopefully when you took the 12v+ terminal apart to get the power wire terminal in there you didn't drop the parts of the terminal down in the engine like I did? Sometimes I think my purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others...
And don't worry about the amp overheating. I have the 600-watt version of that amp and it's in the exact same place as yours. Blasting away for an hour in 100-degree heat the amp gets pretty warm, but not hot. It has never shut down or hiccupped in any way.
At first, I chuckled at the Stealthbox "guide into place" instructions. Then after two f'in hours I cursed the living crap out of whoever wrote those BS instructions. I was too afraid of cracking a $700 fiberglass masterpiece so I didn't use a prybar. I wound up threading all three bolts that hold the thing down AFTER the box was in place, from inside the box. That meant trimming the "x-holes" I cut in the carpet to pass the fasteners through, quite a bit larger. Just a huge PITA overall.
Did you run into a problem with sloppy fiberglass work around the mounting holes? Both of the bottom holes in mine had excess fiberglass/resin around the mounting holes so there was no way for the washers/fasteners to sit flat and seal the sealed box (what a concept, huh?). I spent an hour with a Dremel. Inexcusable on a box that cost what this does.
GREAT job, Sir!
mumbles
Well-Known Member
I would agree with your last statement 100%! If I had paid that much for an enclosure and then had to tweak it to get it to fit, I'd have been all kinds of pissed!!!
floydbanks28
Active Member
Wow thanks man, really clarified everything for me. For the base knob you said you ran it underneath the carpet to the center console, I'm guessing you started at the carpet beginning at the bottom of the rear seats, but did you literally have it coming back up right underneath the console through the carpet? That seems like it would be hard to get it run through there.
Fenix
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #25
I sure was careful when unscrewing that terminal because I didn't want to fish it out of who knows where haha. I didn't have any issues with the fiberglass inside the box but what an added pain that would have been.
About the bass knob. The trim piece there just pops right out using a trim tool. The cigarette lighter cylinder was a bit of a pain to remove but it's just held in with plastic tabs. If I did it again I'd just dremel them down enough to slide it out of the housing.
The telephone wire for the knob runs from the cigarette lighter location, under the console to a small hole in the carpet just at the very back corner of the console. Then the wire runs under the passenger seat to the trunk along the same path as the power wire.
There are a couple 10mm nuts under the rubber insert inside the console. Remove those and the back will lift up just enough to work under it. It is a little tight but I used a roll or two of tape to prop it up enough to run the wire with both hands.
About the bass knob. The trim piece there just pops right out using a trim tool. The cigarette lighter cylinder was a bit of a pain to remove but it's just held in with plastic tabs. If I did it again I'd just dremel them down enough to slide it out of the housing.
The telephone wire for the knob runs from the cigarette lighter location, under the console to a small hole in the carpet just at the very back corner of the console. Then the wire runs under the passenger seat to the trunk along the same path as the power wire.
There are a couple 10mm nuts under the rubber insert inside the console. Remove those and the back will lift up just enough to work under it. It is a little tight but I used a roll or two of tape to prop it up enough to run the wire with both hands.
Sponsored
Markbnh1
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2014
- Threads
- 5
- Messages
- 175
- Reaction score
- 27
- Location
- New Hampshire
- First Name
- Mark
- Vehicle(s)
- 2017 Ford Escape & 2015 Ruby Red GT Premium
Nice job! My shop also put the volume knob in the center console but they made a new hole for it. Very stealth! They also put a 600 W JL amp UNDER the drivers seat! Yes, it does fit but barely! It has never overheated, even on a long trip.
You are right, the sound difference is amazing! I cancelled plans to upgrade the other speakers. Yes, it's that good!
You are right, the sound difference is amazing! I cancelled plans to upgrade the other speakers. Yes, it's that good!
Gearz
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2015
- Threads
- 0
- Messages
- 145
- Reaction score
- 170
- Location
- Kansas City, MO
- Vehicle(s)
- 2020 GT350
How much does the Stealthbox weigh?
mikes2017gt
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2017
- Threads
- 59
- Messages
- 936
- Reaction score
- 311
- Location
- San Antonio, TX
- Vehicle(s)
- 17 GT Prem M/T 3.55
And worth every pound, IMO. Box sounds amazing for such a small, sealed box. And it takes up zero usable room in the trunk. That's what you're paying for; not losing any trunk space.
There are times when I wish I still had eye-watering bass, but every time I open my trunk and can actually fit a box from Costco or a suitcase back there, I don't miss it one bit.
BlackS550
Well-Known Member
we put my bass nob in the spot under the steering wheel towards the right side , not sure what that panel is called. no one can see it but me and easy access
Sponsored