Im going to go back to school, so my ideas of doing a full custom rear just aren't going to happen so......

I just want something simple to hold a 10" sub and amp, I found this on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/2005-07-Toyota-S...ayphotohosting

...but would this be a relatively easy box to make? I have the basic tool, I figure it might be $40- $50 in materials. Would I just be better off to buy this? Has anyone purchased one of these already? Thanks for the feedback.

 

it doesn't look easy to make to me. i actually like those boxes but i would probably just get one of his 12 inch boxes. it'll be a little louder than one 10 inch and still not take up your whole trunk. i would probably do a setup like this but i love the box that i made for myself plus its louder than one of those boxes will be since mine is ported and bigger.

 

I dont know how well they sound, but there is custom boxes that will allow your seats to still fold down. Just thought I might throw that out, might be the obvious you already know, but just to make sure

 

I built something very much like this setup.



It's not as easy as it looks. It's not a weekend project. You have to get all the materials, make the mdf rings, mask the whole rear hatch area.........it's a project. If you've done work like this before, then it won't be a big deal. If this is your first venture, then don't! You'll probably make a bunch of mistakes, spend alot of money, and you won't be happy with it in the long run. Good luck.

 

yeah I have a basslink right now, and its alright but its kinda weak compared to the rest of my system. Plus Id like to get a little more trunk space back. So I think I'd want to keep it simple. I want to get a jl 10w6v2 with a 250/1 amp, which would only require an enclosure with 1 cubic foot.

 

If you only need a small area and you want to free up as much of the trunk as possible, make a box to fit where that foam block sits on the right side of the spare. I remember seeing one somewhere here on SL (just found it https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=137233 ). Shouldn’t be too difficult to craft, considering you already have a foam model of it.

As for the box in question, make it if you have the skill and tools. If you have the tools but not the skill, then do it anyways. Never hurts to get a little experience.

 

You could buy the enclosure, but make sure it's tuned to the sub you are going to put in it...building boxes is not easy and making them look that clean takes some practice. the biggest thing is your time, do you want to spend hours building it or an hour putting it in...

 

Yeah, I like making stuff, and I'm not afraid to try, so long as I don't need to break out a TI-83 calculator to compute the volume and things of that nature, I should be ok. I saw a thing on tv once, where they sugguest you make a mock box out of cardboard to help get the dimensions, then just use them as a template for the 3/4 MDF, I dunno I think its be fun playing around with it. Plus I want to try carpeting it and what not. Id rather screw up then not try at all, right? And you're right budsmoke, I imagine I could already use the foam blocks as a template to go off of...we'll see....

 

You will def have to calculate box volume. That's one of the most important steps in the process. Using cardboard is ok, just make sure that you do it right. Everything will be off by 1.5 inches if you try to calculate internal instead of external dimensions. And vice/versa.

 

Ya im trying to do something very similar...I just bought my MDF wood and caulk etc....I was going to put i on the right side, but i noticed the left side of the tC has less curves to build around. Is it possible to just piece it together with alot of caulk? I was going to put piece by piece around the curves and caulk it together hoping it would work....what do u think?

 

NOOOOOO!

You want the internal structure of the box to be as solid as possible. Screw it together, and glue it using a wood/yellow glue. Make sure you glue all the ends first. See....the mdf soaks up glue like a sponge. Glue the ends together first, then after it dries, glue all the pieces together. Screw them together using wood screws. But don't screw into the ends of the mdf, it's like cardboard and will pull apart even if drilled out first. It's ok to screw into the face of it though. So take a piece of scrap wood and screw both corners together that way. Then after it's all dry, go back with self-sealing non hardening caulk. This it to make it air tight.



This will show how it should look.

 

Ohh man...only thing is im worried i wont be able to put screws in around those sharp edges? Soo maybe i should just wood glue it then caulk it to make sure its secure for air tightness? First time doing a box, but i got my bros help and he knows alot about this stuff. Maybe I would have been better off buying....but i wanted to do it just so i could say i did it lol! Watcher did u do fiberglass molding of ur int? Or did u do it w/ wood? Im not really a big fan of fiberglass (not much working exp with it) so i was trying to avoid it on the back, but im gonna fiberglass the front. Kind of like this DIY, but in the left corner pocket near tail lights....
http://forums.scionzone.com/smf/index.php?topic=2053.0

 

ok, so when you do a plain box, its just a matter of calculating width x height x length to get the volume. But when you can irregular shapes like the box above its get a lot more complicated. Is there a trick to simplifying the equation with irregular boxes, or do you have to treat each section as it own equation and then add them all up? meaning the volume for the trianglar parts of the box are different than the square parts......

 

I've done two completely seperate types of boxes. One, I did was 100% fiberglass. Not including the rings. The other I did was 100% mdf.

Calculating box volume is pretty easy. It's LxWxH. That's for a cube or brick shaped box. 1/2 LxHxW = for a triangle.

I've been doing this now for about 10 years, so I know all that there is to know about it. Keep asking questions. I'll be here.

 

iLxiHxiW (little i for inner)

Some people forget that very important fact.

 

Thank you. Sometime I foreget to put that it there.

If it's a cube/rectangle then you can do
L(-1.5)xW(-1.5)xH(-1.5)
If your using 3/4" mdf. It doesn't work with angles though.

 

so one cubic foot would be 12L x12H x 12W on the inside. Now when its an irregular shape as long as it adds the same, no problem right? Is the sound quality going to be effected greatly if it ends up being .90 cubic feet versus the full amount?

 

As far as shape is concerned, it shouldn't matter. The frequency of subwoofers is low enough that it won't be greatly effected by box shape. With boxes that are slightly smaller then the subwoofer recomends, there are things like polyfill and such that will make up a little bit. If used, it can make up for about 25% of the box size. For example, if you have a box that is 12x12x12 (one cubic foot), and you add polyfill, it will become appx. 1.25 ft^3.

 

what does polyfil look like? Is that the cotton looking stuff?

 

Yeah, that's the stuff. Make sure you have a flat piece. It will cover the back of the sub. That way, the polyfill doesn't effect the sub's movement.