2016 F150 Build (Mechman, XS Power, Knu Konceptz, Kenwood, Cadence, DD Audio)

[Arthur79]

Some background:

 

I have always liked the F150 trucks and have owned several of them over the years.  I had been planning out a system for those trucks for years and picking up the odd component here and there (most notably the Mechman 320a alternator and the XS Power D6500 XS AGM battery.  I had planned on doing a system in a Supercrew 4-door and had also picked up a DM810 thinking I would integrate it into the factory (non-Sony) system.

 

Some time in 2019 I decided I was sick and tired of having payments with wheels and made a few decisions that included trading my 2018 Lariat Supercrew in for a well maintained 2016 Supercab (the one with the funny half suicide doors).  I had enough equity in the 2018 truck that I barely had to come out of pocket on the 2016 truck at all and I then had a solid work truck with no payment.

 

Now I've got a solid work truck that I plan to drive until the wheels fall off.  I also have a daily driver sedan that most of my mileage goes on and I only use the truck for towing, material pick ups, dirty job stuff - you know - work truck stuff, so I'm hopeful that it has years of life left.

 

The build:

 

• 2016 F150 XL Supercab Ecoboost 3.5L
• Mechman Elite series 320 amp alternator
• XS Power D6500 XS Series 12V 3900 Amp AGM Battery
• A ton of KnuKonceptz Kolossus Fleks tinned OFC 1/0 and 4 gauge cable
• A ton of KnuKonceptz Kord OFC speaker wire (10 gauge - 16 gauge)
• Kenwood DMX906S + Kenwood DRV-N520 Dash cam (They integrate really well)
• Cadence DSP4.8 DSP that I picked up as new old-stock so long ago I don't even remember.  I went with this instead of the Audio Control DM810 thinking I could save the DM810 for a build down the road where I was integrating with a stock system)
• 3-way actives in the front doors/A-Pilar 
  • DD Audio AW65 Mid bass drivers
  • DD Audio AW3 Mids
  • DD Audio C series silk dome tweeters
• 2xDD Audio 712D Dual 4 Ω voice coils wired down to a final impedance of 1 Ω across both drivers
• Custom built ported enclosure tuned to 28Hz (the published FS of the speakers)
• DD Audio C4.60 class A/B 4 channel driving the tweets & 3" mids
• DD Audio C2.150 class A/B 2 channel driving the 6.5" mid bass drivers
• DD Audio DM2500a class D mono block driving the 12s wired at 1 Ω
• Custom amp rack with 8 be quiet Pure Wings 80mm fans (4 ingress and 4 exhaust)
• All the sound deadener I had on-hand
• Ampeak 1000W inverter for running 110v stuff (comes in handy when you get somewhere and realize your battery tools have dead batteries) with the Ampeak remote on/off switch
• Soft tonneau cover
• LED bed lights
• Swing out bed toolbox

 

The whole build spanned over several weeks (maybe even a few months) working on it when I had time and trying not to rush.  All the fab work was done with normal power tools with the exception of one box trim piece that I used a 3D printer to make.  No CNC or Laser work.

 

I'll stop here and respond to the post with the build log pictures as I don't know if the site will time out if I spend an hour writing up a post

[Arthur79]

Replacing the head unit

 

The XL fleet truck came with the basic Sync stereo:

 

 

It was the 1st thing to get replaced using a Maestro KIT-FTR1 Dash Kit/T-Harness & Maestro ADS-MRR steering wheel interface to put in a Kenwood DMX906S receiver paired with the Kenwood DRV-N520 dashcam.  The dashcam integrates with the receiver and I can view clips in the truck through the receiver without having to pull out MicroSD cards and a laptop.  The dashcam also senses when the truck gets hit/bumped and cuts on.  The receiver will tell you if there were any recordings since the last time it was turned on and lets you jump straight to the clip(s). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over all, I am pretty happy with the Kenwood receiver.  It "supports" wireless Android Auto, but it seems like a total crapshoot as to whether or not my Samsung phone will wirelessly connect to it so I just use the USB port you see in the pocket and slide my phone in there.  I love Android Auto and using the wired connection I've never had any issues with it.

 

At this stage of the build, all I did was upgrade the head unit and rolled around for a few weeks with the factory speakers driven by the head unit and it was a HUGE improvement in sound over the stock setup.

 

Next post will be upgrading the alternator/battery!

[Arthur79]

Mechman Elite 320A + XS Power D6500 XS + Big 6 (Double runs of 1/0 tinned OFC)

 

To quote Steve Meade "Everybody says it takes power to make power".  I think this is where a lot of enthusiasts new to the hobby are missing out.  I have seen so many setups where where people put the cart ahead of the horse and install a 4k amp into a small sedan with a stock electrical system and then don't understand why the amp runs hot, isn't making power, headlights dim, etc., etc., (we've all been there)

That in mind, I tried to build the system around the power I could make.  I don't remember the exact specs on this alternator (and I don't feel like digging through boxes to find the spec sheet) but I do remember that it's rated at 320+amps once it's warmed up (not just cold output) and it makes full output at a fairly low RPM (think cruse control set running down the highway).  I knew I wanted to install a double run of 1/0 back from the engine bay.  1 run for the mids and highs + accessories and one dedicated to the DM2500.1a sub amp so I did a Big 6.  While busting my knuckles doing this, I installed the XS Power D6500.  At the time I remember thinking this was the best balance of energy storage and cost.

 

 

 

And just like anybody that has replaced/upgraded the alternator on one of these trucks knows - This is a complete PITA.  You have to remove a lot of the cowling tubing etc. to get to it and the nose of these trucks are high up off the ground and a complete b**ch  to work on/around.  I thought I had more pictures of this, but I also remember it being a hot/muggy Texas summer afternoon/evening and just wanting to get the damned thing back together again 🙆‍♂️

 

Next up, amp rack build!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dafaseles]

15 minutes ago, Arthur79 said:

Mechman Elite 320A + XS Power D6500 XS + Big 6 (Double runs of 1/0 tinned OFC)

 

To quote Steve Meade "Everybody says it takes power to make power".  I think this is where a lot of enthusiasts new to the hobby are missing out.  I have seen so many setups where where people put the cart ahead of the horse and install a 4k amp into a small sedan with a stock electrical system and then don't understand why the amp runs hot, isn't making power, headlights dim, etc., etc., (we've all been there)

That in mind, I tried to build the system around the power I could make.  I don't remember the exact specs on this alternator (and I don't feel like digging through boxes to find the spec sheet) but I do remember that it's rated at 320+amps once it's warmed up (not just cold output) and it makes full output at a fairly low RPM (think cruse control set running down the highway).  I knew I wanted to install a double run of 1/0 back from the engine bay.  1 run for the mids and highs + accessories and one dedicated to the DM2500.1a sub amp so I did a Big 6.  While busting my knuckles doing this, I installed the XS Power D6500.  At the time I remember thinking this was the best balance of energy storage and cost.

 

 

 

And just like anybody that has replaced/upgraded the alternator on one of these trucks knows - This is a complete PITA.  You have to remove a lot of the cowling tubing etc. to get to it and the nose of these trucks are high up off the ground and a complete b**ch  to work on/around.  I thought I had more pictures of this, but I also remember it being a hot/muggy Texas summer afternoon/evening and just wanting to get the damned thing back together again 🙆‍♂️

 

Next up, amp rack build!

 

 

 

 

 

You didn't have any trouble with the trucks electrical switching alternators? We've had a couple members (2) come on and say they switched to a mechman, installed and wired it just like it was stock with upgraded wire, and the lights would flicker and the voltage would be all over the place. Not owning a Ford myself, I assumed it had to do with some kind of voltage management system. Just curious. 

Looking forward to the rest. I like the equipment! 

[Arthur79]

Amplifier rack build

 

Since I use this as a work truck and am almost always riding solo, I decided that the back seats could come out to make room for the amp rack and sub box.  Going this route, I could use the back cabin wall of the truck to mount the rack.  This would give me a couple of seat studs at the bottom and convenient bolt locations at the top to support/mount to.  Once I had a plan and some measurements it was time to start making man glitter:

 

 

I used 1/2" MDF for the "floor" of the rack.  I was working with what I had on-hand and ended up laminating two pieces to get the full length rather than trying to find a 4x8 sheet of 1/2" locally.  You can see the seam here but it goes away by the time the rack is finished

 

 

Here is the center line for the rack and of course all of the equipment laid out and mocked up:

 

 

The left side with alignment line for equipment placement:

 

 

A closeup of one of the brackets used to fix the rack to a seat stud:

 

 

A shot of the mounting location for the amp rack.  I used 2 seat studs and the hump right of center as anchor points to secure the rack.  The amp rack extends forward enough that the cabin vents and motor for the power center window have room to breath/work:

 

 

Here is a shot of the ABS bracket used to secure the top.  I used a heat gun to form the 6mm ABS to the mount point in the cabin (it took a long time and is a very "low tolerance" fit making it a bit of a pain to get in, but it holds it well)

 

 

Here are the fan shroud end-caps with a nice chamfer, they get mesh grates later down in the build log

 

 

Mocking up the equipment again as it comes together

 

 

 

Checking standoff height for the amplifiers:

 

 

Gluing up the top and bottom:

 

 

 

Starting to shape up into something, sides and face of the rack were made out of 1/2" MDF.  I used T-Nuts and bolts to mount the amplifiers and signal processor and a mix of 5/8" & 1/2" screws for the distro, fuse and cable anchors:

 

 

The rack with rattle-can bed liner sprayed on the outside and flat white on the inside with the face mounting "solution" and face on:

 

 

Setting up a router jig to cut out a window in the face of the rack using template tape and scraps:

 

 

Test fitting the acrylic window:

 

 

Laying in the LED lights to illuminate the rack.  I had these LEDs on hand and decided not to spend more money on an RGB setup or the higher output SMD LED strips (Surface mount Device - not Steve Meade Designs, I don't think he sells LEDs).  I wish I had bought up now as I'm not overly pleased with how these came out, but they worked at the time.  I also have carpet on the face by this stage:

 

 

Here is is with the cheap LEDs lighting up the rack.  You can see where I "improvised" mounting points I could trust for the face using what I had laying around (which turned out to be some pine 2x4 scraps).  The 1st fan endcap is done and you can see the metal screen shot in the same flat white as the interior of the rack.  I didn't peel the acrylic window until it was in and wired up as I didn't want to scratch it up:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next post is going to be running power from the front to the amp rack location and sound deadener for the cabin.

 

 

 

[Arthur79]

3 minutes ago, Dafaseles said:

You didn't have any trouble with the trucks electrical switching alternators? We've had a couple members (2) come on and say they switched to a mechman, installed and wired it just like it was stock with upgraded wire, and the lights would flicker and the voltage would be all over the place. Not owning a Ford myself, I assumed it had to do with some kind of voltage management system. Just curious. 

Looking forward to the rest. I like the equipment! 

Luckily no.  I have had the alternator in for coming up on 2 years and it hasn't given me any trouble.  There are 3 engine options for this generation of truck (that I am aware of).  The 5.0L V8, the 3.5L V6 Ecoboost and the 2.7L V6 Ecoboost.  I think I remember asking the guys over at Mechman if you can use the the same alternator upgrade for the 3.5L on the 2.7L and they said no (it fits both trucks I believe) so maybe the 2.7 is picky / too smart for it's own good.  **Note - my memory isn't always crystal clear and that was a few years back as the Lariat I traded in for this truck had the 2.7 but I had already bought the Mechman for the 3.5L I had befor the Lariat.

[Arthur79]

Double 1/0 run, fusing, double 1/0 chassis ground and sound deadening

 

So now that the big Mechman alternator is in and the amp rack is ready to be wired up, it was time to run power and apply sound deadener in the cabin.  I had a couple cases of NVX sound deadening sheets laying around so I used that.  I had to take some some pics of the 1/0 runs today (almost 2 years after the install) as I couldn't find the pics I took then.  Aside from being dirty, they are holding up well and I do check them a couple times a year for any degradation of the jacket.

 

Here are some shots of the ABS fuse plate I mounted to the battery holder.  I used a heat gun to form this the same way I did with the amp rack top mount.  I had the InstallGear fuse holders on a shelf and wish I had ordered an SMD fuse block for this.  I had to add zip ties to the holder mount as the top of the holders will just fall off otherwise, plus the look, feel and are cheap.  They get the job done, but given everything that ended up going into the build, I should have gone with an upgrade here:

 

 

 

Here are some shots of the under-chassis run of the double 1/0 (again, dirty as I took these pics this morning, but they haven't lost any integrity that I can tell:

 

 

 

 

Here is a shot of the location I used to run the power in and the chassis grounds out, it's the passenger side near the door jam at the back as the metal forms up to create the shelf where the seats would normally mount (and where the amp rack get's mounted):

 

 

Here's a shot of the double chassis ground.  It is on the inside of the frame rail on the passenger side of the truck:

 

 

Here are some shots of deadener day.  I spent most of a Sunday pulling out the interior, cleaning everything and laying in deadener.  I have to say, this XL has the least road noise of any F150 I've ridden in:

 

 

 

Just try not to think about the dirt and grime (or rather where it came from) while cleaning it up.  I think I found a couple bucks worth of change while doing this as well:

 

 

Rolling in the deadener and running signal and remote turn on:

 

 

 

 

At this stage, I wish I had run power and ground for the head unit up from the distribution from the amp rack.  That is definitely on the todo list that will come at the end of the build log.

 

Up next will be the woofer enclosure build!

 

 

 

 

 

[Arthur79]

Subwoofer enclosure build

 

At this point in the build, I had been planning on using a DD 9510K sub I had used in a Taurus SHO (also where the DM2500.1a came from).  This is the the sub in a 1-day enclosure build (I was trying to get it into that car before driving out to San Francisco from Texas and had 1 weekend to make it happen)  It's not the best pic, but you can see the port partially outside the box in order to get the right length/tuning.  I never got around rebuilding or finishing that raw box in that car before I sold it.

 

 

The whole setup was a chunky-boy coming in at just over 107lbs

 

 

Here is the sub out of the enclosure, in the background you can see the AW65s, AW3s and tweets that went into the front stage

 

 

I even started another box build for this sub

 

 

But as the intro to the build log states, I ultimately went with a pair of DD Audio 712s.  Some quick napkin math suggested that I had enough room to fit the bigger enclosure in the back of the cabin (yay seat delete).  I got to work on the box build as was getting excited, starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I modeled the box in WinISD using the published T/S parameters and shot for a tuning frequency of 28Hz, the FS of the subs.  I didn't have an IM-SG+ at the time, but post build frequency sweeps suggested I was in the ballpark.

 

The non-port end got a small 1/2 inch acrylic window.  The window is a permanent part of that end as it was screwed and epoxied to to the inner 3/4" MDF panel and then the outer panel was laminated to the inner using glue and screws.  I used gasket tape on the inside of the mating outer wall to make sure there was good contact between the two sheets that were laminated together

 

 

Bracing for the port using 1.5" dowels

 

 

Box braces (a total of 3) all shaped using template tape scrap templates and a router

 

 

I used threaded inserts for the subs so they can be easily removed/serviced

 

 

Still a ton of finish work to be done (body filler, sanding etc.)

 

 

 

Adding a combination of high output and normal white LED lights to the enclosure.  Again, rather than ordering online, I ended up sourcing them from a local auto supply store and these were all the white LEDs they had in stock

 

 

Test fitting the subs and grills again, so far so good

 

 

 

I didn't get any shots of it raw, but I added a trim/beauty board to the face as well.  What I didn't realize until after spraying the finish is that I screwed up either the measurements or the layup of the templates when routing it out, you'll see more on that later

 

Here is the finish spray.  I went with U-POL Raptor bed liner.  This stuff is great, but this was the first time I shot it and I did make some mistakes

 

 

On the second coat, I wanted to go heavy on this side to try and cover some impatience in filler/finish work to cover seams.  I didn't fire the sprayer on a test piece first and it shot SUPER heavy when I hit the trigger.  I tried to even it out with a putty knife and do a light pass to get the texture back but I can still see the imperfections

 

 

So over all the box was going well and even though there were some imperfections (some known at this point, some not) I was still feeling pretty good about it.

 

On the left side of the box, I wanted a raised DD logo so I fired up the 3D printer and let it print overnight 

 

 

3D printing is a really cool way to do stuff like this, but it comes with challenges as well.  I needed to increase the arc/curve resolution as you can see that the rounded corners of the logo aren't really rounded.  At the time though, I couldn't be bothered, I still thought it would look good.  Next came about 5 coats of high-build primer and sanding to get rid of the layer lines along with a couple of 3 coats of a gloss red that pretty well matched DD red.

 

I CA glued it in and was once again pretty pleased with myself (almost never a good sign)

 

 

The astute viewers will have by this point realized that I spent most of a day waiting for primer and paint to dry just so I could later realize I had finished and then CA glued the logo on backwards.  I didn't realize it until my buddy that owns the local shop (who is also my DD Audio hookup) pointed it out.  It's hard to notice at this resolution, but I also had to trim the rubber trim surrounds on the woofers and even Dremel out some clearance in the trim/beauty layer in order to get the subs actually in.  The box was starting to feel like death by a thousand paper cuts (all cosmetic), but it was ready to go into the truck!

 

You can make out where I tried to use a putty knife to distribute the bed liner in this shot, as well as the seam I didn't do a great job filling and sanding

 

 

All in, I'm happy with the integrity of the box, it's SOLID and I haven't been able to find any flex in the enclosure (including the 1/2 inch window) and I learned a fair bit in regards to finishing with the Raptor liner that has come in handy in later projects.

 

 

Next post will be getting the amp rack, amps and box into the truck!

[Arthur79]

Installing the amp rack, amps/DSP, wiring them and the box

 

 

DISCLAIMER

 

I had a vison when I started on this project, and in my head, this build would look as good as some of the stuff you see Steve Meade or Soundman or CAF put together.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I have the skill level that these guys have (far from it) but every build puts me a little closer and every build I do these days come with that aspiration.

 

That said, I'm copping to not being 100% happy with how everything ended up.  It's all solid in terms of not burning my truck down, but there is a lot of room to improve on the build process and aesthetics.  That is going to be pretty apparent when you see the photos of the wiring and finish-out in the amp rack.

 

Finally getting the amps and DSP installed and wired up

 

 

It's a hot mess of cabling.  A lot of it is hidden when the face board is on, but it still has a lot of room for improvement

 

 

This is the main distro block for the 1/0 power lead that powers everything but the sub amp

 

 

Here is the dedicated power and ground run for the sub amp

 

 

These pictures were actually taken today as I was light on install-day pics again, The biggest difference is that I added the DSP controller to the amp rack face.  I control the sub amp through a remote I can reach from the drivers seat.  It's actually easier to change presets and control master volume from where it's mounted now when I'm giving someone a demo.

 

 

 

You can see the 1kw inverter here.  I haven't mounted the remote on/off switch for it yet (I've never really needed it as it's easy to hit the switch when I plug something in.  I plan to route the remote switch as well as power to outlets in the dash at some point.

 

 

It's hard to get shots during the day without horrible reflections in the acrylic

 

 

 

Luckily the 3D printed DD logo is pretty obscure in the build unless you point it out to someone

 

 

 

Rep'n the SMD speaker terminal cup.  When I ordered this, it was the only one that was in stock.  I'm pretty sure Steve has them with hookups for LED power, but they were nowhere to be found online when I got this one.  You can also see the 10 gauge wire used to power the subs.  I like these marine grade terminal crimps.  Once crimped, you hit them with a heat gun and a glue later on the inside melts and shortly after the outer part contracts like a heat shrink, only when it cools it has a hard plastic consistency.  So it seals out moisture and protects the connection point.  Below the terminal cup you can see my improvised LED power hookup.

 

 

 

All the fans, LEDs, turn on leads etc. are powered by a relay circuit.  Originally I had used an off-the-shelf NVX relay black box that I had on the shelf (had used it in a few builds as it was small and easy to hide and seemed to work ok).  After a few weeks of of service in this build it cooked.  When it happened, I was driving (of course) and the initial symptom was intermittent cut outs of the amplifiers as well as the LED lights flickering.  I pulled into a parking lot ASAP and started poking things with a stick.  Shortly there after I smelled the magic smoke all to commonly associated with fried electronics.  I pulled the master fuses and got my a$$ home to try and find out how I had screwed up.  After troubleshooting for a while, I realized it was the NVX black box relay that cooked.  I chocked it up to a combination of age of the component and probably pulling at or over it's recommended load with all the lights, 8 fans and turn on leads in the system.  I swapped it out for a conventional 12v automotive relay with a 15a fuse and it has been shiny ever since.

 

As for the build log, on to the final stage, running signal to and installing the 3 way components in the doors and A-pillars in the next post.

 

 

 

 

 

[Dafaseles]

All this looks good so far! I'm digging that amp rack heavy!