2007 Ford Escape RF budget build - New box and VM-1!

[creecher]

What follows is the evolution of the stereo in my 2007 Ford Escape, from my first double-din to the current RF build. I realize this comes nowhere near 95% of the builds on this site, but I'm 18 and pay for everything out of my pocket. Take it easy on the n00b.

We shall begin with the installation of my first double-din nav unit, the Eclipse AVN-4430. I installed a cheap Kenwood with aux-in in December 2011, but decided that I wanted navigation built in. So I went with the cheapest new unit I could find in June 2012.

My God-awful taped up wiring harness, with connector for factory 110-watt sub:

I wanted to install a reverse camera someday, so I modified the harness. Removed the proprietary connector and repurposed the rear-seat video out.

And here it is installed. By no means the nicest unit out there, but I was happy at the time.

It took me about 5 hours to install the unit, including making the wiring harnesses and widening the dash opening to fit a true double-din. The stock Ford unit isn't quite double-din, so the dremel came out and made quick work of the sub-dash.

Stay tuned for my first sub install...

[creecher]

My Escape came with a factory subwoofer, an 8" DVC on 110 watts. Lame, but it got me hooked on bass. In August 2012, I installed my first subwoofer. I figured I'd start small, and bought a RF Prime R2D4 12" and a 250 watt R250-1 to power it.

The stock Ford sub

I built the box out of plywood braced with 2x2s. It was ported at somewhere around 45hz. (Bad choice, in retrospect. I was very n00bish at the time.)

I coated the box in Duratex, a roll-on finish I used on my PA speaker cabinets earlier in the summer. I also figured I could mange my wiring a bit by running it through the box... again, n00bish mistake.

This is my power wiring. 6GA THHN, I had it laying around the house and figured why buy something I have already.

Now, you may be asking why I put a big-ass battery disconnect on the power wire. Well, I use my vehicle to haul pro audio equipment on a regular basis (it's how I make my money) so I had to find a way to safely pull the sub when the space in my Escape needed to be used otherwise.

All my lugs were soldered with a torch btw, no crimping. (Lesson learned from Meade's youtube videos!)

Mounted my sub in, and attached the amp to the front of the box as I needed the setup to be relatively self-contained.

Finally, I installed my fuse holder and tied everything into power.

And finally, we have the sub hooked up and in my car.

All in all, I was pleased with the install. I expected it to be louder, but it was considerably better than the stock sub in terms of SQ and SPL. Unfortunately (or fortunately, really) this setup lasted just over a month before the upgrade bug hit me. More on that later, but for now, the install of Pioneer AVIC-x930BT is coming up next!

[creecher]

I almost forgot about my lighting upgrades I did in early September!

I've wanted LED lighting since I initially got the E in 2010, but after a set of eBay brake bulbs failed to deliver, I backburnered the idea. Until now. I decided to pull the trigger on replacing all incandescent bulbs except the turn signals with LEDs. I placed a $125-ish order on SuperBrightLEDs.com and a few days later these arrived:

I don't have pics of the interior dome LEDs yet, but here are the LED taillights and tag lights. The tag lights are INSANELY bright compared to stock.

Oh yeah, and that God-awful rear cam on the plate... that went bye-bye shortly after I discovered it made my plate fall off when I closed the hatch.

Now on to HIDs. I've never been thrilled with the light output of the E's headlights, and began researching bulb options a while back. I discovered HIDs, but quickly discounted them due to the, ah... questionable legality of retrofit kits. Long story short, I decided to say "F that" and order a set in September. I bought from DDM Tuning, and got a 5000K kit for my low beams. Cost was around $55 shipped, not too bad IMO.

Testing the HIDs out:

And here is a comparison at night, with my friend's 2012 Escape parked next to me for comparison.

I'm quite impressed with the HIDs. They seem pretty focused on the road, even compared to stock halogen, and I have yet to be flashed by other drivers over them.

[creecher]

Now onto the AVIC install. The Eclipse head unit was fun while it lasted, but the navigation disappointed me on several occasions (despite being made by TomTom) and the lack of proper iPod interface caused me to grow to dislike the Eclipse. I began looking into other options, and told myself I'd pay enough to do it right this time. I found the AVIC-x930BT on eBay refurbished for $450 and couldn't resist. The audio options are worlds better (8-band graphic EQ, crossover on highs and lows, etc) and the iPod interface is excellent. So I ordered the Pioneer.

I have no intentions of replacing this HU any time soon (and I really do mean that) so I decided to solder my harness instead of messing with butt connectors again.

My harness also includes a creative bypass solution. The common bypass for this unit involves moving the mute wire up and grounding it along with the parking break, but I was scared to do this after reading reports of dead batteries in peoples' vehicles. So I added another piece to the bypass, one of those small electronic relay bypasses one can find on eBay. When the HU is off, the connection between PB wire/bypass wire and ground is cut. This bypass has been working flawlessly.

Ran my iPod direct control wiring into the console

A look at the inside of an Escape dash. If you look closely you can see how I dremeled the opening to fit a double-din unit.

By the way, the HVAC control connections on this car are a major PITA. So many plugs, and that stupid connector with 5 rubber hoses coming off it is just miserable.

Testing wiring before mounting the unit permanently

And here we have the finished product. I think this unit looks MUCH better than the Eclipse did. It sits a little far back for my liking, but overall I don't mind.

I absolutely love and recommend this unit to anyone looking for a nice user interface with excellent iPod control. The unit boots in about 20 seconds and starts playing music from my iPhone right away. The navigation is also responsive and accurate.

[creecher]

Time for the big post, the RF audio install from two weeks ago. I went all-out (for me at least) and replaced mids/highs, got new subs, and a pair of RF amps to power everything.

First we have my pile of purchases! The build consisted of Prime 6.5" speakers for the doors (component set in the fronts), Prime R2D2-12 subs, a R250-4 amp for the mids/highs, and a R500-1D amp for the subs. I got KnuKonceptz 4AWG CCA power and ground wire, and 10AWG speaker wire for the subs. The goal for this install was to make everything invisible, except for the box and subs.

Remember that stock Ford sub? Well, out it went. I cut a nice piece of 3/4" MDF to fit it's old home, onto which I mounted my amplifiers.

To prevent strain on the HU's remote out, I installed a relay. This controls the amps and powers the reverse camera for now, but will also turn on a SMD VM-1 when they are released, and under-dash LED lighting once I install it. Of course, in the interest of safety, I fused this relay at 10A.

Here I have run my remote wire, as well as my reverse lights sensing wire. I also cut and attached remote wires to each amp, and pulled more remote gain knob wire back.

Time to install door speakers! The door panels themselves were not a pain, but the wiring sure was. For the rear doors I was able to pull my wire through a gap in the connector latch, but I was forced to drill in the front door plugs to feed the wire through. Good thing I have a low power system and can use 18AWG speaker wire...

This is just a temporary mount. I will be acquiring some 1/4" MDF soon to make proper 6x8 to 6.5 adapters.

All speaker wire is pulled and color coded, as well as the 4AWG KnuKonceptz terminated in the distro block.

Now it was time to make power wires for the amps. I used 8AWG cable for this purpose. Not cutting corners, I soldered lugs on with a torch and heatshrunk them for the best connection possible.

Here's the amp board with all door speaker wires terminated, all RCAs connected, and all power wires in place. Only thing left to do here is attach the speaker cable for the subwoofers.

Here's a closer look at my terminal strip wiring:

To make my box removable, I decided to use a connector from the pro audio world, the Speakon. This cable will run up into the cargo area and plug into a connector on the sub, yet can be tucked away under the carpet when the subs are removed. Again, soldered and heatshrunk connections. Trying to not take risks here.

I don't have any photos of the box build, as I built it with the help of my dad who finds my stopping to take pictures frustrating. But here is the box assembled in the back of the Escape. This is my second box, about 2 cubes with 3" PVC pipe ports tuned to about 40hz.

And here is the box pushed back against the seats, with carpet in place again.

And finally, a quick look inside the box. The wire is 12AWG hookup wire, just something I had around the house. (The excess wire is now gone, as are the R2D2 subs. Long story short a coil shorted, the amp fried, and killed the rest of the coils.)

I had 4 days to enjoy this setup. Yes, a mere 4 days after completing the build one of my voice coils decided to dead-short, or something like that. Killed the amp and the rest of the coils. My replacement amp (same model) will be here tomorrow, and my new subs (P1S4-12s) will be here Monday. I cannot wait to get everything installed and back to the way my system was before it decided to fail and laugh in my face.

Oh, and I really can't wait for the SMD VM-1. I've got this stupid pocket in front of my shifter that I want to replace with a piece of plexiglass that will hold a VM-1, my bass knob, and switch to turn the sub amp off. I'm also considering purchasing the DD-1, which despite its high (to me) price seems like something I should be using to properly set my system up.

[creecher]

I finally rebuilt my shitty box. Old one was too small, didn't have enough port area, and was tuned too high.

Using the Torres calculator, I designed a 16x16x28 box with a 20" long 1x26.5" slot port. Tuning is right around 34Hz with this one.

I cut all the exterior pieces from fresh MDF, but reused bits from my old box for the port and top (didn't want to cutout for subs again.)

My first try at a port that bends. I 45'd it at the back corner.

Mounted the P1s back in. I actually put the trim rings on this time, I didn't with the old box.

And here they are back in my Escape. The box is pretty big, but I still have room around it.

So far I think it sounds better than what I had. Haven't really pushed the system yet, but I have a feeling it'll sound much better than my first box.

Once I know the box is good or not, I'm going to coat it in Duratex. It's a speaker box coating that costs about $70/gallon, so I'd prefer to not waste it on a crap box.

[creecher]

Also installed the recently-released VM-1.

Made this to replace a stupid pocket thing in my console:

Modified my bass knob to fit through:

Got some switches all wired up:

And then the VM-1 came a few days later!

[Jonahscustoms]

Looks good so far dude

[megaboom]

Nice clean build