2019 Ram 1500 Laramie Black Edition

chithead

chithead

Well-known member
Well, who's ready for another chitty build thread from yours truly?

Obligatory photos of the inspiration for this setup, our 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie 2wd Quad Cab with Black Appearance Package:





First modification, was some 2" drop springs for the back - I am not a fan of that, "raked" look at all:



Ahhhh, that's much better:





So, more details about the truck? Ok. Wife hooked me up on this one. Got to step up to the Laramie Level 2 - that adds the cooled seats I've grown to find necessary now, and some other, "cool" features.
 
So here is the starting point, Uconnect 8.4, but it has a CD player! Haven't seen that in my previous FCA purchases. Kind of cool to have it again:





And here is the location where most of the fab work is coming into play. I should call this truck Aladdin, or Genie, or something... because we have to take unlimited cosmic power!!!! And fit it in this itty bitty living space:



Yup. Anyone with a Crew Cab complaining about space, deserves a smack. And not the, "Fredo, you broke my heart." Like hard enough to make em pee a little. Gear list is a blend of carryovers from the Grand Cherokee, and some new stuff. Whole list of items (that I can remember) are:

PAC AP4-CH41 AmpPRO Amplifier Integration Interface
PAC APA-TOS1 Toslink Fiber-Optic Audio Output
iDatalink Maestro aCH4 Wiring Harness
Arc Audio PS8 8-channel Digital Sound Processor
Arc Audio XDi 1200.6 6-channel Amplifier
Arc Audio XDi 1100.1 1-channel Amplifier
Audiofrog GB10 1" Tweeters
Audiofrog GB25 2.5" Midranges
Audiofrog GS690 6x9" Woofers
Audiofrog GS12D4 12" Subwoofers
NVX XBAF69 Silicone Baffles






They fit, barely:



For those curious about mounting a non shallow subwoofer under a seat like that, well. We are going to try a neat experiment to see if it will provide a possible solution.
 
Let's start with some dampening, and find out how much room is behind the rear seats:





This open space on the driver's side is 14" by 21" and right at 4" from the back seat (with the carpeted piece removed) for anyone thinking of mounting amplifiers back here:





Factory Alpine subwoofer:







And we'll just pluck that bad boy out to see what's behind it:



 
Pulled the rear passenger door panel to see what's going on behind there too:



Decided to start with the rear door speaker replacement, because 1. - there are two dents in it now, both from shopping trips :daniel: - wanted to see if it's possible to repair them from inside the door (they didn't pop back out like I hoped)

And 2. - wanted to make sure the GS690 would even fit. Figure the rear doors would be the most problematic with fitting since they are smaller. Fortunately, everything lined up quite well, no problems at all:



So, how did get from A to B? Well, let's remove the factory speaker first:



And right away, you can see all sorts of little tabs and alignment pins and crap that need nipped off in order to mount a better speaker. Cutters made quick work of that. And then those NVX baffles slid right in:





Got super lucky here, the adapters I made for the Grand Cherokee, work perfectly in the Ram too:

 
In case anyone missed how to make those, it isn't too difficult. But you do kinda ruin the factory speaker a bit :proud: First - nibble off the adapter clip:







Then, carefully bend the tabs around:





A short piece of speaker wire for the connection:



Whoa, whoa, we need to dress this up a little:



Then solder:



And more heatshrink:

 
So yeah, the Audiofrog GS690 compared to the factory 6x9":





Now, let's do the same for the dash speakers:







Audiofrog GB25:



Made some baffles out of aluminum, and learned a good lesson here. Tried to push the speaker closer to the windshield, and also fill in a large gap in the corner with it. While moving the speaker wasn't a huge problem, you can see that the aluminum is too thick, and blocks how the factory grille cover clips in the front:





Not a huge issue. I'm not 100% happy with the baffle anyways, so will use this to learn from. Move the speaker back a bit, and trim the edges to allow the clips to slide back into place. No problem.
 
Forgot to mention too - mounting the GS690 - I added a washer onto the factory screws. Because of the rubber surround, I've had horrible luck in the past tightening screws onto an aluminum basket/rubber surround combo. Completely twisted the surround and stretched the corners of some Diamond Audio 5x7" in a Dodge Dakota where the screws mounted. Hoped the washer would prevent this, and worked perfectly. No issues at all:



Also, the doors were dampened, but I didn't do any CCF or MLV yet. So far, they have no rattles or anything. But we'll see what happens once they get amplified :eyebrows:
 
ejeffrey said:
I really like those speaker harnesses you made!
Click to expand...

Thank you! I've yet to confirm with the front speakers, but in the Grand Cherokee, they are actually different polarities. Noticed when confirming wire colors that the clips were oriented different on the factory speakers. The front pair of speakers had the plug one way (horizontal with the magnet), and the rear speakers plugged in differently (vertical to the magnet) - which swaps the positive and negative on each speaker. Hoping since the front and rear speakers on the Ram are both 6x9" - we won't have that issue this time.
 
Thank you! Worked on a breaker bracket yesterday to mount the 150A breaker next to the battery under the hood. Found two unused bolt locations that could be perfect for this, and right there by the battery. Perfect! Well, if I can find a bolt that works in those spots. Tried a whole mess of them that were gathering dust in the coffee can, but none seemed to be the right thread pattern.
 
Thank you! I hope they bring a build thread over here as well, or if they have any more advice/ideas. Would love to see more installs!!!
 
Great work. I love your attention to detail. I hack apart factory speakers all the time. They usually have some very useful parts. I have even used them for trim rings.
 
Stycker said:
Great work. I love your attention to detail. I hack apart factory speakers all the time. They usually have some very useful parts. I have even used them for trim rings.
Click to expand...

Oh heck yeah! Especially when they have a nice plastic basket that bolts up perfect.

Thank you for the kind words. Hopefully the rest of the install lives up to the awesome worthiness around here!
 
Who is this imposter that is posting install pics under Chit’s name?
I kid I kid. Good work Danny. Looking forward to seeing it in May.
 
Chit, looking good!

I like those NVX baffles you used for the 6x9s. Hmmm...I have a set of 6x9 Fast Rings that I'd like to use. I bought a black 1/2" cutting board to fabricate new baffles. I find the stock locations are too flimsy, and yes, you will have some major rattles to contend with once you put some decent power through them.

I'm planning on doing 1 to 2 layers of butyl deadener on the outer skin, 1 layer on the inner frame, then add some to the door panel to increase weight, followed by some 1/8" CCF to decouple. I doubt I'll need to use any MLV, but do have some on-hand in case.
 
chithead said:
Thank you! Worked on a breaker bracket yesterday to mount the 150A breaker next to the battery under the hood. Found two unused bolt locations that could be perfect for this, and right there by the battery. Perfect! Well, if I can find a bolt that works in those spots. Tried a whole mess of them that were gathering dust in the coffee can, but none seemed to be the right thread pattern.
Click to expand...

Can you post up a pic of the location you describe? :)
 
cueball981 said:
Chit, looking good!

I like those NVX baffles you used for the 6x9s. Hmmm...I have a set of 6x9 Fast Rings that I'd like to use. I bought a black 1/2" cutting board to fabricate new baffles. I find the stock locations are too flimsy, and yes, you will have some major rattles to contend with once you put some decent power through them.

I'm planning on doing 1 to 2 layers of butyl deadener on the outer skin, 1 layer on the inner frame, then add some to the door panel to increase weight, followed by some 1/8" CCF to decouple. I doubt I'll need to use any MLV, but do have some on-hand in case.
Click to expand...

Yeah they are definitely going to be something I consider from here on out.

Dampening and deadening is going to be fun. Haven't even put real power to them yet, and like you said... wholly moly. Buzzes and rattles everywhere.

Here are some more pics of those NVX baffles:







 
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