96 4Runner with 2 Fi Q 18s (lots of pics)

[RossGo]

thank you sir, I need to get me a pair.

Not a problem

Sick. Awesome awesome work. Bet it sounds great

Actually, right now it doesn't sound like anything haha

I'm pretty anxious to get it wired up this weekend.

But thank you!

[RossGo]

Sadly, this weekend wasn’t very productive on the 4Runner

I didn’t get home until 5am Saturday morning, and I worked 9-6 Saturday.

After work, I wired up and tuned in-ceiling kitchen speakers for my dad, then repaired a bunch of iPhones for friends. After that point, I wasn’t feeling up for going out to work on it for only an hour or so, especially since I worked again the next morning.

After work Sunday, a friend came over with his new 328xi for me to give it a once over and test drive it, so that took most of my Sunday daylight away.

Then it was time for the 4Runner to get some love. I knew at this point that I wasn’t going to get it finished this weekend. I decided to get as much of the logistic work out of the way; so that I could run full speed next time I get the opportunity to work on it, which will be October 18^th.

I will explain the logistics I am talking about as they come up in pictures.

I started by welding up some stainless grounding tabs to the chassis.

Yes, the tab it is welded to is actually welded (not just stuck) to the rest of the body.
Remember I have an interconnect ground, so each battery is individually grounded to the body at least once, and they are all grounded to the frame as a whole as well.

I didn’t buy any stainless nuts for these, so I just used some zinc coated ones I had around. The rod is still stainless.

Only wanted to add one stud, so I used some washers as spacers so the 1/0 lugs could stack a little easier in the direction I needed them to sit.

Planning wire cuts

[RossGo]

These were quick and ugly welds. The area was super tight and awkward. I also did short runs to make sure I didn’t burn through or catch the surrounding carpet on fire. I used my welding gloves as a “tarp”

Sits low enough for the plastic to sit over it, thanks to the spacers.

Just took trimming off some support fins and tabs. These aren’t needed anymore, as the 1/0 is more supportive than any plastic.

All done!

The scratches on the seatbelt and plastics seen here are from a 4x4 ½” plate steel sheet I hauled in here years ago. It became a flat belly pan for my off-road truck. The metal guys didn’t believe it would fit, but it did. Unfortunately, it fit too tightly, and it wiggled enough during its ride to make some harsh scratches.

There are plenty of other signs of wear throughout the tailgate area. This was my beater for years before it became a project, so it saw some things. Oh well. Battle scars.

[RossGo]

Planning the amplifier ground runs

I ended up flipping the left-most lug and cutting the chassis ground so that it fit on the top left post. I think it looked a lot cleaner that way. You can see in later pictures.

Now for the positive runs to the fuse blocks. This is one of the logistics items that took quite a while to work out. I had originally planned on these runs leaving out the bottom of the distribution blocks, but that was not possible. Luckily, the SHCA lugs work on the CNF blocks upside down, so I could use the same posts that were already being used above. This sounds like an easy issue to resolve, but every little thing was a pain to plan and execute. Since the batteries are so close, I have to be very careful when laying wires around during planning. I also have to make sure that any orientation I chose was also able to look good when running to their destination. Flexible wire makes that part pretty easy to achieve.

I am pretty happy with that layout. It will be slightly different on the right side when I get to it, but the same concept will work.

[RossGo]

Before I wired the other side, I wanted to figure out what I was going to do with the fuses.
I knew I was going to put them on an extension to the side of the battery rack, but I had no idea of the orientation. They would not fit 4 wide, so I would have to stack them, angle them, or do something else crazy with them. I like keeping things like this easy to access, in case I ever need to do maintenance, so I didn’t want to stack them.

An angled block would look the best, but it would have had to be a high angle, which meant I did not have a great way to mount it.

Rather than measuring crazy things, I just cut a strip of some MDF I had around the garage.

I cut it the length of the fuse block. It will be wrapped to look pretty, but I only wanted it to be big enough to hold the fuse blocks, and nothing more.

Then I cut some 5” lengths to play with ideas. This was based off the Fuse block being 1.75” wide, then an extra 1.5” to leave space for the side mounted fuses. I completely ignored the fact that 0.75” would be stolen by mounting the pieces together, but this ended up being perfect.

I am lucky that I live in an area that I can do outside cuts at 2am and not bother anybody. Of course, it lightly rained for around 10 minutes total that night, the 10 minute period I was making cuts.

Aligning the blocks

Some glue and brad nails will keep this plenty strong

And an idea of how the fuse blocks will sit on the panel

Also, this orientation allows a spot for mounting the two crossovers I will use for the rear doors once they are done. This is the only component of the build that will not be easy to get to, but I can live with that. The crossovers are huge, and the face plates fall off, so I am glad I can hide them.

[RossGo]

You can also see the fuse panel in this picture.

I also added a grounding stud to the driver side, since I could only cleanly add two grounds to the passenger side.

This side did not go as well

When welding the first stud on, some slag must have got on the threads of the bolt, and I did not notice before trying to take the nut off. This destroyed a few of the threads, and the nut would not come off. I was able to hit it with an impact and break it off, but it left the stud very short, too short for both lugs. I resolved this buy adding another stud.

The ground runs that go to the batteries are VERY tight. I wanted them to run behind the positive runs, so that the flow of colors was not impeded.

I think that I have found a way to use every single post possible. I honestly do not think there is any other way to cleanly fit a 1/0 wire on any of the distribution blocks. I determined that some posts were unusable early on, yet I was still able to fit 47 lugs overall on blocks meant for 32 total.

Sadly, I did not take a picture of the overall layout of where I am now. I can do so later today, and post it tomorrow.

I did completely tie up the left side.

Used the crimper’s excessive weight to hold the wires in order

More to come, but this is the only big updates I will have for the next three weeks.

We have block exams in school, so this upcoming weekend is reserved for studying, and the weekend after we have exams.

I’m a little sad I didn’t get bass back, but I am happy with how everything is coming together.

Again, I threw the Rockford amp back in, so I have some mids and highs, but it such a sad drive without bass.

[RossGo]

Random, but I have often wondered how dynamat would respond in the case of a short.

If the current goes to ground, where dynamat is touching in a surrounding area, would it conduct throughout all of the dynamat aluminum, or does the butyl suppress that?

[RossGo]

Here is how I was driving around the last month
Just mids and highs, still with everything under 100hz cut out
It was pretty depressing

Still a three seater

Here is a terrible night photo next to a new gen 4Runner. They look pretty different
It’s a lot bigger, but it is really growing on me. I can see myself doing a C pillar build in one down the road

And a pretty neat Jap bobber Honda bike at my apartment

[RossGo]

Made some basic plans for my doors
I decided to go with 3 mezzo sets in each door instead of 4, since the woofer show a 3ohm load, and 3 would stay above the 1ohm stability of their amp
It also happens to fit a ton better as well
The large holes are 1 Psi-8 and 2 8” PRs, or so I plan as of now

Two tweeters will be mounted there, and one will be in the cozy-wing sail piece.

Got it cleaned up and took some photos at one of my favorite spots in Lexington

It’s pretty massive, and very impressive. It was done last year
Here is a cool time lapse of its completion

[RossGo]

Anyway, back to the build

Wrapped the fuse panels.
I did these the easy way, outside in.

I was not worried about smooth seams, as almost all of it will be covered.
Also, the carpet I have is VERY thick. I would never buy it again, but I have three rolls (less than one left now)
I also got a new staple gun, and this was a good time to play with it. Unnecessary, but oh well.

This tool is pretty great for this style of job. Loads of control of your blade

Getting there

Looks hectic