So I was getting tired of rocking a one (factory driver no less) speaker sound system in my '87. I do enjoy listening to music, so I decided it was finally time to upgrade my system.

I started out with a Pioneer FM/CD/iPod/Bluetooth receiver. I didn't wire in the microphone for the Bluetooth, mainly because between the wind noise, road noise, and the always quiet diesel noise, it wouldn't work too well. It took a little bit of trimming on the plastic for the radio cage to fit. Used hand files so I could control how much material was being removed. Once the trim ring around the radio went on, it looked great


Next, I ran speaker wires for the doors. I didn't cut up the factory harness for the speakers or the radio, because if I sell the truck, most likely the stock setup is going back in. The doors got Pioneer 6.5 inch speakers (had to drill holes)


And lastly, the icing on the top of the cake, is a set of JL Audio W3 12 inch subwoofers in a sealed box. They're powered by a cruddy Jensen Audio amp, that pushes the two at only about 200-250 watts (as opposed to 400rms on the subs). I ran 4 gauge cable from the secondary battery as power, and grounded to the cab.


Here's an interesting story behind the subs.
I was originally looking only for a single 12 or 10, or possibly dual 10's or 8's because of the small space. A buddy of mine told me he had 1 12 inch JL sub in a box with an amp. He wanted $200 for the lot. At the time, I didn't want the box so we settled on 1 sub and amp for $150. This was a couple weeks back. Last Wednesday, after a deal fell through, he asked if I was still interested. I said yes, and went up to his house after work the next day. When I got there, he said I could have the whole lot for $150. I was confused at the "all of it" part until we got down into his garage, where he pulled out the whole setup you see above. He said one of the subs had a damaged voice coil (dual 4 ohm coil subs), and was cutting in and out. I said that's fine, I'll send it into JL and have them replace the coil. I talked him down to $140, because the ATM only gives out 20's, and I sure as hell wasn't going to raise the price for myself. I get the setup home, and pull out the culprit sub to check out the damage. What I found made me laugh. One of the + wires going from one coil to the other was disconnected and laying on the bottom of the box, and the -'s were loose. I send him a text asking if he ever checked the wires, and he said he didn't. I tightened the connectors, and got everything hooked up, and fired it off. Lo and behold, the "bad" subwoofer worked beautifully.

Needless to say, my truck sound awesome, and thumps when I want it too. For the most part I've kept things pretty mild because I value my eardrums, and don't think all music sounds good with massive amounts of bass (jazz, mainly).

Total cost: $210
Time taken: 2 days
Expression on my face when I crank it: Priceless



Jameson

 

I forgot to mention that I already had the Pioneer components that were a gift a couple years back.


Jameson

 

The stereo looks nice, as do the door speakers. I'd ditch the subs in favor of something that is smaller and fits better or a pair of boxed 6x9s or both. It just takes up too much space and renders the rear seat area useless, not to mention the fact that its just asking to be ripped off. I don't know if it is still offered or not, but there is a kit for raising the rear seat up like the 94-96 trucks.

 

There is a kit that lifts the seat. I think its 100 or 120 dollars. My original plan was to get some of the smaller subs (8's or 10's), lift the seat using c channel, and build a box to go under there like someome else on here did. And I still might. Haven't decided yet.