10" sub in spare tire!
 

This is where i plan to install the sub for my Z. I am going to use a 10" Pioneer Premier Shallow Sub. I am still not done but i think that it will be nice when completed. I will need to fabricate the plastic cover that goes over the spare tire out of 5/8" plywood to make sure that the sub is flush with the trunk floor.

I am adding an Alpine MRP-M500 for the sub and i will use the factory radio to power the fronts and new rears that i will be installing later on.

I added pictures of the final installation. People can not tell that i have a subwoofer in the trunk.:tup:

Looks good so far, what is the base made out of pvc? Also I would highly recommend that you upgrade your front speakers and what is powering them as well. Your mids and highs will not be able to keep up with your sub and it will sound unbalanced. Just my 2 cents

I like that idea. Did you just use rings of MDF and then stack them and fasten together or something?

Now that I look closer that is what I think he did; stack mdf rings to the height than seal them together.

I'm going to do something similar, having the local shop do a fiberglass enclosure that sits down flush inside the spare. Was thinking about the Pioneer slimline also, but will probably go with the Elemental Designs SQ10:

Elemental Designs

Please keep us updated on your project. Thanks.

John

I used a combination of 3/4" and 1/2" MDF rings, stacked, nailed, glued and sealed with silicon. i really did not care about the look since it will be hidden under the carpet.

Later on I want to buy an Alpine 4 channels amp for the fronts and rears. I know that the rears are not needed but I had already purchased them when i read your advise on this site.

I will keep you all updated.
:roflpuke2:

Sounds good man, I would just sell or return the speakers. But as you said you bought them after reading my stuff lol. Either way good luck.

Cool, that's kinda what I was thinking it looked like from the picture. I recommend using drywall screws instead of nails as they will never come loose and a caulking tube of F-26 liquid nail to glue/seal. Thanks for sharing, I've been wanting to do something in that same spot, but have never messed with fiberglass so what you've come up with is a good potential solution.

As popular a "stealth" position as this is for the car, as well as the fact that this location was also the bose location......... you'd think we'd see an aftermarket enclosure for this by now :confused:

John

Well most people want to keep there spare wheel. I know I can not relax if I do not have a spare.

:iagree: exactly, that is why I am looking to see an aftermarket "stealth box" made for this location, one that fits inside the spare and houses an 8" or a 10" slimeline".

If anyone finds someone that makes a unit for the spare area count me in! I need a little better stereo, stock sucks! If I don't hear from anyone I'm going to have something made locally.

here here i 2nd and 3rd these statements.... I have the bose system and would like to change it all while keeping the spare tire...i know the HU will be kenwood DNX???? series but not sure on what model or what speakers, amp, sub, etc...

Im in for getting rid of the spare tire as I use one of those good fix a flat kits that come with a pump and all. My Audi didnt come with a spare but the kit and I had to use it once and it did great. I ran on it for a couple days before taking it to the dealer to get it fixed, and it never hurt my TPMS. So I would lose the spare and fab a kit for that location. IMO.

Fix-a-flat won't help you if you blow out a sidewall. :twocents:

And that's why I won't part with my spare. Last flat I had was from rolling over part of a brick that was in the road, apparantly fell off a construction truck. It was rush hour so there were cars in front of me blocking a long distance view of the road. When I saw it at the last minute, I swerved, but ran over it with the edge of the wheel......... bent the alloy at the rim and screwed up the sidewall ....... fix a flat would have done me no good.

John

I've been a AAA Plus member since getting my license, so I've never needed anything more than a cell phone to get me off the road and into the nearest auto/tire repair shop for free.

I'm still keeping my spare. :tiphat:

I was thinking about trading in my 370Z coupe for the 2010 370Z ragtop until I discovered “no spare tire”! Now I’m having second thoughts!!

How's this going? Complete?

??????? a spare tire making or breaking that decision? Ive had countless flats and never a sidewall one and the kits do wonders. Now its not your typical fix a flat, its better than the ones you buy at the gas station but no it wouldnt repair a sidewall hole. And cell phones help too. I guess its up to individual decisions like everything else in the world but I wouldnt let a lack of a spare tire keep me from getting a car.

Today I was finally able to figureout the pinout to send the rear speaker outputs from the base factory radio to my sub amp (with the help of SIGUR from Houston, Texas). I connected the amp and the pionner 10" shallow sub and i can not believe the amount of bass that this sub puts out. I will need to strap the sub down or do something else to eliminate the rattle caused by the sub box and the spare.
I also made the box 1/2" shorter so that it will be virtually unnoticeable when i put the trunk plastic cover and matts. Pioneer recommends 0.35 ft^3 min. volume (including the sub displacement). This box meets the minimum vol. requirement.

Glad you got it going, post some pics of the finished product when you get a chance.

Very cool. I'd like to see pics & a write-up when you're done, so that I can do it.

Pictures of the final installation in the original post.

What was your final internal cu. ft? Also, I'm working on a solution for the speaker wire w/o using the typical cup terminals. We use some really cool Turck connectors for these industrial PC's we sell/install. I'm seeing if my tech can get me an ideal cable that has a quick disconnect so you easily get to the spare tire, and it will use a cord grip to keep the pass-thru through the box air-tight.

The box internal volume is 0.35 ft^3. I removed one of the rings from the box shown on the original post.

Let me know how you do with the connectors.

isn't ur box inside your spare? whats with all the "i would do that but i want a spare" comments?

I think for the time being, I'm going to use a simple plastic connector on the outside of the box in order to be able to quickly disconnect the speaker wire and remove the box. I wanted something from TURCK - Capacitive Proximity Sensors, Inductive Proximity Sensors, Connectors, Cables, Cordsets, which has commercial applications for wires and connectors. We use them extensively at work. Because of the grade and quality, they would be pricey for an application such as this. But I haven't found anything on their website yet that would be ideal and cost feasible.

I just have plastic connectors on mine.

I am curious how you were able to get 0.35cu.ft. for the box if your box seems to be smaller than mine and it was difficult for me to get the 0.35cu.ft. with a bigger box.:confused:

After I stacked my rings and with the top off, I took measurements inside the box. It was a consistent 12.75" in the inner diameter all around, and the internal height is 3.75". 12.75 x 12.75 x 3.75 = 609.61 / 1728 = 0.353. Keep in mind that I'm using 3/4" MDF where as you used 5/8" correct? And my rings are probably a tad on the thick side. I could've gotten probably another .5" on the outer diameter of the rings. So if/when I do another one, I will try to get that little bit more out of the box size so I can squeeze out abit more cu. ft. I'm also gonna put carpet it on it too, so that will add to the overall size.

Looking good for the spare area box. Subscribed..........

Stay tuned, coming soon.

its pi * R^2 * h for volume of a cylinder... Your volume is about 0.25 cu ft.

****, I see there's a different formular for cylinders. Well, since it's done we'll see what it sounds like. So how did you manage to get your cu. ft. you stated? You used 5/8" right? What is your ring thickness? and how many rings? What is your inner diameter and height?

So I'm looking at your pics...are you using the factory spare tire 'cause it looke like you have your aftermarket wheel back there? Is that how you're getting more cubic space? If you're using 5/8" and you have 6 layers, then your internal height is 2.5" correct? Which means your internal diameter needs to be at least 17.5"? Is this how wide your box is?

I'm also comparing the pics of our two boxes, and our top boards look pretty much the same size. My top piece was like 17" and there's no way to get that to sit at the bottom of the wheel. So you've got a different wheel back there right? :)

Worst case scenario, if this 10" sounds awful, I can pull the top board off and put a new one on and swap the 10" for an 8" since the 8" meets this 0.25 spec.

-I will measure the box tonight and give you all the info you requested.
-I am using the spare wheel that comes with the sport package. I will give you all the dimmensions and you can make yours the same size, that way you will not have to buy a new sub.
-Also, notice the cutout on the bottom of the box, that allows me to have the box sit directly on the center of the wheel.

I used (4) 3/4"Hx1/2"W rings and (2) 1/2"H circles for the top and bottom.

The total box height is 4". The total box width is 16.25". The inside diameter is 15.25" and the inside height is 3". The volume is 0.317 cu.ft.
The total volume is less than the recommended minimum but not by much.

The sub puts out plenty of base. :ughdance:

OK, so the difference here is our spare wheels. I have the Touring but non-Sport so I don't have a factory wheel as a spare like yours. I have a typical temporary spare tire/wheel. But this is good to know for everyone; what are the capabilities for the varies Z models. If it doesn't sound good, I'll take the top piece off, cut it for an 8", and exchange the subs out.

Ahh, sport probably has a little bigger spare to clear the bigger breaks?

Probably so. The stock 18" will clear the sport brakes but my spare wouldn't. You can see it's a typical steel wheel. I thought it was a full size spare when I got it, guess I was wrong. Is your spare just like your sport rims?

No, it's not like the rays. It's much thinner and black on the outside. I think the diameter is just larger than the non-sport because of the breaks.