Fiberglass sub box mockup *PICS*

[MarkIII4Me]

Well, I finally got around to test fitting my fiberglass sub box. It sits flush in the spare tire well and will house 2 10"s nicely. It's currently setup for .65 cuft per side, however, I'm planning on drilling out the back divider and giving each sub a full 1.0cuft. The box itself is crazy heavy. It's made out of around 3/4" of fiberglass. The spare tirewell had to be banged down and have all brackets removed. The gas tank will have to be lowered slightly with shims to prevent rubbing.

The box sits much more flush with the trunk floor than what appears in the pics. Also, once I build the amp, battery, and distribution block racks, I plan on recovering the entire box/trunk in black vinyle. It should look pretty sweet.

On to the pics!

 

[Supra469]

So that means that you are loosing the spare altogether??

Where in Hagerstown are you? I was up there for the whole Thanksgiving weekend. Would love to see your work in progress.

 

[MarkIII4Me]

Correct. I will lose the entire spare tire well. I'm planning on running 19"s in the back and 18"s in the front. So a spare tire does me no good.

Garage #1 (where engine and parts are housed) is located in Hagerstown just off the Maugansville exit.

Garage #2 (Where vehicle is housed) is located in Springfield, WV. Will be moved to garage #1 in the next few weeks.

 

[Supra469]

Anymore updates on this.

 

[Angry7M]

So since your going to be running 19" in the back and 18" in the front, the spare tire wont fit on your car? LOL

 

[s!ke]

How did you make the hole on the right? Where is it? I can see the one on the left fits in the spare tire well. But the one for the right sub? Where is that going?

 

[suprajjang]

How did you make the hole on the right? Where is it? I can see the one on the left fits in the spare tire well. But the one for the right sub? Where is that going?

i think the one on the right sits in the spare tire well as well. I built a similar box but i went with one 12" sub because two wouldnt fit in the spare tire well. The thread poster is going to run two 10's so it should fit in the spare tire well as i only needed another inch or two to fit two 12's.

 

[s!ke]

Oh man, my idea was two ten's as well. but I also wanted to keep my spare tire in there. I wonder if I could make something work. I dont really want to "bang down" the spare tire well or shim the gas tank... lol oh well.

 

[annoyingrob]

Virtual +1 to you. That looks pretty good. How high does it sit off the floor?


As for the spare tire, I took mine out years ago. I carry a small can of tire sealant, and an air compressor in case of an emergency. It takes up a lot less space, and weighs a lot less too (not that that's important if you're replacing it with a giant sub box)

 

[suprajjang]

Oh man, my idea was two ten's as well. but I also wanted to keep my spare tire in there. I wonder if I could make something work. I dont really want to "bang down" the spare tire well or shim the gas tank... lol oh well.

im pretty sure you can do 2 10's while still being able to store a targa top in the back and also keeping the spare tire. Let me look up the sub and ill get back to you on how you can build your box.

 

[7MGTEsup]

So since your going to be running 19" in the back and 18" in the front, the spare tire wont fit on your car? LOL

Running odd sized wheels on the rear (if the rolling radious is significantly different) will screw up your LSD.

 

[s!ke]

im pretty sure you can do 2 10's while still being able to store a targa top in the back and also keeping the spare tire. Let me look up the sub and ill get back to you on how you can build your box.

Thanks man!!

I think most 10 inch subs have a mounting depth of 5.5 inches. Yeah, I would be willing to figure this out and build a sexy box.

 

[Supra469]

im pretty sure you can do 2 10's while still being able to store a targa top in the back and also keeping the spare tire. Let me look up the sub and ill get back to you on how you can build your box.

I'm interested in that also!

 

[KeithH]

So since your going to be running 19" in the back and 18" in the front, the spare tire wont fit on your car? LOL

Technically... your wheel/tire upgrade should maintain the same overall diameter (not width) of the stock wheel/tire combo.

Take the stock size (225/50/16) - this has an overall diameter of 24.9 inches (circumference - 78.1 in)

Now look at those 18" rims. Let's look at just one size for now. If you run 255 series rubbers you will want to run something near a 35 series sidewall. This will give you an overall diameter of 25 inches (circumference - 78.6 in). This will mean that when your speedo reads 60mph you will actually be traveling 60.4mph.

Take any one of those rims and get a flat and you will easily be able to run the stock spare to get you a short distance and get your flat fixed.

 

[Angry7M]

Technically... your wheel/tire upgrade should maintain the same overall diameter (not width) of the stock wheel/tire combo.

Take the stock size (225/50/16) - this has an overall diameter of 24.9 inches (circumference - 78.1 in)

Now look at those 18" rims. Let's look at just one size for now. If you run 255 series rubbers you will want to run something near a 35 series sidewall. This will give you an overall diameter of 25 inches (circumference - 78.6 in). This will mean that when your speedo reads 60mph you will actually be traveling 60.4mph.

Take any one of those rims and get a flat and you will easily be able to run the stock spare to get you a short distance and get your flat fixed.

So youd still be able to run a stock spare for a short distance.

 

[MarkIII4Me]

Not worried retaining the spare tire at all. As for the targa top, that box sits near flush with the trunk floor, so fitting the targa back there won't be an issue. I haven't had time to mess with the car for several weeks, so there hasn't been much progress since I first posted pics. Plus, I'm still trying to finish up th 7M that's been sitting around on a stand for a year+.

For anyone wondering, here's one of the 10" badboys going into the box. Now you know why I need 3/4" of fiberglass :naughty:

running off of this (1198 watts rms)

 

[GrimJack]

I haven't had a spare tire for nearly 20 years. I haven't had a flat, either, but just in case I do, I have this AAA card in my wallet that bails me out.

2x10 in the spare tire well is pretty easy to do, I keep meaning to get around to it myself. At the moment, I have the amps, distribution block, cap, etc, etc, in there instead, and a cheap sub box above in the hatch. It's pretty ugly.

Getting a couple of 10 inchers in there above the spare and below the targa mounts would be a chore. However, you could just move the targa mounts to get more room, I suspect. I can't actually check because mine is a hardtop.

I really wish someone would make a spare tire well mold and sell 'em. Setup so that you could screw it to the bottom of a chunk of wood, seal it, cut out your speaker holes and go.

 

[flubyux2]

thats lookin good...

Keith, thanks for that info.

for the record, 225/60/16's dont fit correctly in the spare tire well. the limit is about 25" for a tire diameter to fit in that spare tire well... so people running big wheels (like me) cant run the stock spare. my 295/35/18's are 26.4" tall. my friends are 25.3" tall and are a tight fit in the trunk.

i was going to ask how thick you made that fiberglass, 3/4" is pretty serious. did you use woven sheets of glass or is it like an oriented strand style? those subs look like they need more than 0.65 CuFt... dang. whats the sensativity rating on them? hopefully its high, like 97db

 

[KeithH]

Dang flu - WTF do you need 295s for? Surely you don't have enough power to even overcome the rolling resistance on those things. It is a MkIII afterall. hehehe

Even with that much difference you could still run the spare to get you to the closest shop - you don't want to be putting a lot of miles on the spare anyway. The amount of damage done to the diff will be less than the damage done driving on the flat tire anyway.

I've had 2 flats in my Supra in nearly 12 years. I totally understand about dumping the spare for a stereo system. I just didn't want people to believe that running 18's means you can't ever use the spare.

and.. DAMN dude. 295? DAMN! That little mud flap has to look REALLY silly sitting next to those.

 

[flubyux2]

Dang flu - WTF do you need 295s for? Surely you don't have enough power to even overcome the rolling resistance on those things. It is a MkIII afterall. hehehe

Even with that much difference you could still run the spare to get you to the closest shop - you don't want to be putting a lot of miles on the spare anyway. The amount of damage done to the diff will be less than the damage done driving on the flat tire anyway.

I've had 2 flats in my Supra in nearly 12 years. I totally understand about dumping the spare for a stereo system. I just didn't want people to believe that running 18's means you can't ever use the spare.

and.. DAMN dude. 295? DAMN! That little mud flap has to look REALLY silly sitting next to those.

you WOULD say that, wouldnt you! lol... i got these for a good deal. i WANTED to get my friend's 505a's with 305/25's but the 295's would swabble in a straight line. they'd spin coming out of corners though. i chunked one of them on the way to the dyno day and lost 20psi in one hour... so i put sawblades on the back. i miss traction! lol

this is what i think of mudlflaps:

for this box, did you use an MDF for the top plate or is it 100% fiberglass?