What you wish someone had told you BEFORE you built your first wall.

[Colin - STAPUFT]

How much will this cost? Ok... now double it.

Make sure you secure the wall to the vehicle. WELL. Don't assume since it is a big wall of a box that it can't shift or move (especially in a crash- heaven forbid). Bolt it down as solidly as you can. -and then bolt it down some more.

x2 on staggering the wood

x2 on finishing the front of the wall

x2 on sealing off the wall

x2,222 on adjustable port tune

^ I didn't build mine that way (though I though about it) and now wish that I had so I could play around with what would be loudest / sound best. Just like Kevin M said, you assume or think that things will sound like you want them with a certain designed frequency in mind, but thanks to acoustics and specifics to the vehicle- things can end up sounding quite different that you were expecting. I didn't want to be able to summon whales and piss off elephants from a mile away- but that is what I got. I would trade that for a few more DBs at a different frequency.

I'm getting lazy in my old age, but I found that once my wall was up- I really had no desire to change the box. When I had smaller boxes though- and in other vehicles I have with boxes still... new boxes all the time. With a wall... eh- not so much. I guess I am saying to build it right the way you will want it in a year, two years, five years... build it to last, because it is a lot of work and money in materials (as you already know) to build. I would be really displeased having to take it out just because I cut corners on the initial build.

Take your time.

[hispls]

If you're the kind of person who builds a wall in your car you will want to build another one.

Never work alone. Mounting woofers, the top of the wall and the baffles are a pain in the ass to move on your own. Its going to cost more than you think. Sealed walls really aren't worth the effort unless you have a ton of cone or stupid power. I would find a way to build it so I can adjust port length after everything is up and running. We all have a tuning in mind when first building but the in car response will change everything a little. It's nice to have the ability to change tuning on the fly. Take the time to finish the wall or front baffle. Whether its paint, stain, leather, or fur. Don't put all that work into it and leave it unfinished.

Learned those when I built my 2 walls.

We have a thread of around 30 walls somewhere in the subwoofer section. Might help you get ideas.

I'm definitely getting too old to be wrestling 80 pound woofers. Luckily my neo sigs are quite manageable solo. I'm going to attempt to build a removable port today. I definitely don't want to miss my mark tuning then be stuck with something I don't like.

I'm half tempted to make the entire baffle removable in case I want to change sub sizes later. Looking at the geometry I think I'd have done better going with 4-6 12's instead of trying for 4 15's but I had these really nice American made 15" cones here.

Don't suppose you have some tag words I can use to find the link to that thread? I did do some searching here and there's a million wall builds but most are dozens of pages and not all even have explanations of why things are done or more importantly why some things were NOT done.

Cost isn't so much an issue for me on this. If I go double what I have into materials right now I'm OK with it. This is pretty much taking the place of any trips with my buddies to the casino this summer so I'm justifying it as my entertainment budget.... if I come out under budget I'll go down and throw some dice when I'm done.

How much will this cost? Ok... now double it.

Make sure you secure the wall to the vehicle. WELL. Don't assume since it is a big wall of a box that it can't shift or move (especially in a crash- heaven forbid). Bolt it down as solidly as you can. -and then bolt it down some more.

x2 on staggering the wood

x2 on finishing the front of the wall

x2 on sealing off the wall

x2,222 on adjustable port tune

^ I didn't build mine that way (though I though about it) and now wish that I had so I could play around with what would be loudest / sound best. Just like Kevin M said, you assume or think that things will sound like you want them with a certain designed frequency in mind, but thanks to acoustics and specifics to the vehicle- things can end up sounding quite different that you were expecting. I didn't want to be able to summon whales and piss off elephants from a mile away- but that is what I got. I would trade that for a few more DBs at a different frequency.

I'm getting lazy in my old age, but I found that once my wall was up- I really had no desire to change the box. When I had smaller boxes though- and in other vehicles I have with boxes still... new boxes all the time. With a wall... eh- not so much. I guess I am saying to build it right the way you will want it in a year, two years, five years... build it to last, because it is a lot of work and money in materials (as you already know) to build. I would be really displeased having to take it out just because I cut corners on the initial build.

Take your time.

Totally agree with you. I'm usually building a new box every month or two in nice weather. As far as building to last, I drive over 35K miles a year so realistically I'll only get another 2 years out of this Jeep. Wouldn't even consider doing something so permanent to a vehicle I planned to keep for a decade or something.

I'll definitely need to figure out a safe way to secure it.... that's one thing I haven't really looked into yet.

Thanks a lot guys!

[kirill007]

Another thing if you do multiple layers tongue and groove them basically. Dont cut your pueces to be one thick layer. Stagger your edges in order to give moore surface area for your glued surfaces

It will all be behind the rear seats so there won't be a piece that's much larger than 4 feet by 4 feet. I've purchased some Advantech OSB and I'm told by some guys who have the 160's to back them up that this laminated together with resin and coated inside is very solid.

The fellow at US Composites reccomended against marine grade polyester resin for this application but suggested a 3:1 epoxy for laminating the sheets together for both strength and that it doesn't need to be in open air to cure properly. I've also bought some thick clear coat epoxy (like what they do bar-tops with) for sealing the interior. I have high hopes.

If that is the same thing as this:

Don't buy it, buy MDF or good plywood(mahogany or birch atleast 9-11 plies)

[Kevin M]

Here is the link to the wall thread. Anyone looking to build a wall should take a look at it.

http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/topic/163213-lets-see-your-wall-pics/

You should bump the thread. i know there a few walls that haven't been posted yet.

As to why people do things for their installs; you would have to ask them. Every build is different. One thing that holds true with all is to overbuild and Brace. Brace. Brace. Even my Dayton 18s" on 500 watts each could make 1 1/2" thick mdf wave. Threaded rod is awesome. Killed almost all the flex and vibration and it felt louder. I would go at least 5/8" I think the two rods and the hardware only set me back 26 bux. Well worth it.

[Kyblack76]

get the port right....

get the port right..

get the port right

[hispls]

Another thing if you do multiple layers tongue and groove them basically. Dont cut your pueces to be one thick layer. Stagger your edges in order to give moore surface area for your glued surfaces

It will all be behind the rear seats so there won't be a piece that's much larger than 4 feet by 4 feet. I've purchased some Advantech OSB and I'm told by some guys who have the 160's to back them up that this laminated together with resin and coated inside is very solid.

The fellow at US Composites reccomended against marine grade polyester resin for this application but suggested a 3:1 epoxy for laminating the sheets together for both strength and that it doesn't need to be in open air to cure properly. I've also bought some thick clear coat epoxy (like what they do bar-tops with) for sealing the interior. I have high hopes.

If that is the same thing as this:

Don't buy it, buy MDF or good plywood(mahogany or birch atleast 9-11 plies)

Pretty much that. You do realize that those fancy plywoods are just softwood with expensive veneer right? I have it on good authority that the stuff pictured or even particle board is just fine with enough epoxy/resin.

[Kyblack76]

Meh..

the birch i found was 30 bucks...

so eff you guys...

ha ha

[OrionStang]

The stuff pictured is crap. Its a waste of time and materials to "make it just fine with enough epoxy and resin."

I get 5x5 sheets of real Baltic Birch for $36. Sucks I have two half sheets rotting away with other various useable pieces on my patio.

[OrionStang]

Count the layers, so fucking sexy.

[Kyblack76]

"was trying to be funny"

11ply, 2 on top, one on bottom, one each side.

meh.. no idea what im doing....