1995 Ford Ranger - Dance with the one you came with...

[mrclm]

I have a couple of different vehicles (5 between my wife and I, 6 if you include the motorcycle) at the moment.  We're in the process of thinning the herd.  But the one that I've had the longest is my 1995 Ford Ranger.  I got it for free from my mom.  And I'm in my 40's.  But hey, FREE.  So I can't complain.

Came to me bone stock with the original AM/FM only Delco radio in it with 4 completely shot speakers.  2 in doors, 2 in rear corners behind the seat.  First upgrade was to a used Pioneer head unit I pulled out of my 1988 S-10 when I sent that to the wrecking yard.

This made it VERY apparent just how bad the factory speakers sound. More power and better source = immediately I MUST replace these speakers.

So the doors and rear speakers got replaced with Kicker 6.5 components.  Not the best speakers, but they were fairly cheap, and WOW do they sound a lot better.  Even just listening to AM Sports Radio.  When I pulled the doors apart to do the speakers I sound deadened both exterior door skins with some Dynamat I had laying around.  I also used the foam sound barriers to surround the back side of the 6.5's in the doors.  I suspect this costs me some mid bass, but they sound surprisingly good so I'm not going to bother experimenting further.  It's a beater truck.  I ordered them for the rear set of speakers as well, but they don't fit in the corners.  

The next need was bass.  This being an incredibly small cab - smallest vehicle cab I've ever owned and will ever own frankly - it limits what I can put in unless I want to cut sheet metal and make a blow through.  Which I don't.

So I talked with Jacob from Sundown about their shallow mount subs.  I purchased an SD2-8 from them.  The space behind the seat (bench) is ridiculously small, with mounting depth being a huge issue.  Jacob said this was the solution and could be in as small as a sealed 0.25 box.  Which blows my mind.  After displacement, my box is 0.28 sealed.  The board right above the top of the woofer is to keep the seat from hitting the sub.  With no one in the passenger seat, there is no contact.  But throw even my 8 year old in the seat and it pushes back enough to potentially hit the surround of the sub.  It's crazy tight. Powering the sub is a RF Punch 40X2 bridged mono.  I've had this amp for something like 20 years, and got it used when I bought it.  It's powered so many subs I've actually lost count at this point.  And it just keeps on playing.  Amazing.

Behind the wall where I mounted the amp I put a very thin piece of veneered wood (had a chunk lying around) to give me a bit more to screw into to hold the amp.  With the seat back, the amp can't really go anywhere, but I wanted a bit extra piece of mind.  

Other than the very top edge of the amp which is black so it is tough to identify, you cannot see this install.  It's nice from a security standpoint, but what I really like is that people who hop in the truck don't know they're sitting on top of the sub.  While it isn't the loudest, it sound quite impressive given the very small cabin of the truck.  So when I turn it up a little and the seat and mirrors are vibrating, most people are genuinely impressed.  And then when I show them what I've got, if they know anything about car systems they are amazed something this small can sound that good.  

 

 

 

 

[Wishuponasub]

Man That's a clean ass 95. Interior looks mint. I dig it man. Not everyone needs a system to blow their windshield out lol. I like the piece of wood over the sub to make space. That was a good idea.