I have never had a dilemma like this before. My subwoofer is blown. Can't find a replacement anywhere. Local car shops say it's a dealer item. Dealer wants 400 bucks for the speaker, enclosure and amp.

One local car radio guy said you need a really effecient speaker. He said he gets them but can't right now...there's a parts issue overseas.

Anybody have any success stories out there? I do have a concern in that the speaker is bolted from the back as well as 8 different screws from the front of the enclosure.

 

Not familiar with the Mach system, but would think that if you can find a sub to match the mounting hole, it would work. Can you post some pictures? Do you know what size of sub it is?

 

Mach system is just the ford system with the subwoofer upgrade....it's an 8" sub powered by it's own amp.

the existing speaker has a 5" depth.

 

Just checked out Crutchfield's site, about all of their 8" woofers have less than a 5" mounting depth. I'd run down to your local electronics store and see if maybe they have a used or discontinued. Most will let you see if it fits before you pay for it if you work with them.

 

thanks..... I am considering one on Ebay.... and a vendor from Planet Audio seems to have a fit...

This seems to be a problem more common on 98's .... if I get an aftermarket that works at a reasonable price, I will post it.

 

I have exactly the same problem....1997 blown subwoofer. Did you find a solution?

 

Check out Image Dynamics ID 8 V.3. WWW.imagedynamicsusa.com.

www.sounddomain.com has a few open box buys for $55. This is a world class SQ speaker and my work for you with little or no mods.

 

Ford part number 4L1Z-18C804-BA is the new speaker only replacement option... about 80.00 list price

 

If you are going to use the factory amp and enclosure I would suggest getting some sort of factory replacement sub. I tried a rockford fosgate in the original setup- big mistake- sounded like crap. And it took a little time taking it apart and putting it back together. Also when removing the sub there is a screw on the back side of the box going into the magnet. A little bit of swearing and an hour later I figured it out. Good luck!

 

This is what I did in my explorer. Scratched the whole system and went for it. Simply blows the stock system away and didnt really cost a fortune because I deal shopped and found some killer equiptment of the net.


http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ram.../ph//my_photos

The sub enclosure is by Q-logic ($150) the sub is from Elemental Designs ($185) and the amp is from Avionixx ($165). That may seem to be a lot of dough but if you want GREAT sound its worth it. Total system was about $1200 and is easily 10 times better than stock, especially at high volumes. The whole project started because my stock HU display crapped out.

 

Totally disagree! Even if you had a factory system with no amp; if you replace factory paper speakers with same size better quality aftermarket it WILL sound better!

 

I speak from experience.

 

Ok; you've got me hooked! What were your specifics of the entire install? (wattage rms/peak; box size; amp; etc.)

 

I recently had the 8" subwoofer blow in my expedition. I went to find a replacement and was told the factory speaker is $159. I looked to see if I could find just an aftermarket replacement. I found a few for $70-$100 depending on what you want. In order to put an aftermarket speaker in the factory enclosure you must heat the plastic where the bolt goes through the back and push the plastic out due to depth issues. I have just decided to build a box to put where the original was with a 10" woofer and mount an external amp under the seat.

 

if you haven't fixed the problem yet, here's something else to add.

either cut the cone thingy out of the bottom of the factory sub-box where the factory sub was bolted in in the back and fiberglass over the hole, or seal the screw hole up with fiberglass BEFORE ADDING A NEW SPEAKER. Just adding a new speaker and not filling that hole will result in the box venting, and not sounding correct.

Also, the factory amp puts out 85W RMS / ~150w max into a 4ohm load and is not happy running 2 ohm loads. It's not a lot of power, but it's not bad power either. I just replaced my stocker with an Infinity 8" sub from ebay for $65 shipped. Reason I went infinity is that it's a 91db sensitivity speaker w/100wRMS rating, so it's really close to the factory amp and can squeeze all the juice from it efficiently. Some of the other subs (JL comes to mind) while although really good subs, need huge amps and are rather in-efficient (82-85db range)

The factory box isn't really that bad. The plastic is thick enough to not flex under pressure. It does help to add about a 6x6" square of dynamat or similar to the back of the box though - helps reduce some of the "tinniness" of the enclosure.