Lanson's 2013 Ford Flex SEL (non Sony) audio build

[Lanson]

Hi folks,

The first part of my build is to deal with the battery situation. The 2013 Flex uses a battery terminal arrangement that makes it very difficult to upgrade the battery at all. I had an Optima Yellowtop in my 2010 Flex so I swapped that to my 2013. Also while in here I installed my HID's and ballasts from my 2010. Here's details in photos -

This is the engine bay for my 2013 Flex. This is the non-Ecoboost engine type

This is why swapping to an Optima or any battery with a different terminal layout is so difficult. This battery terminal is integrated with fuses and such

I pulled the battery out and realized there is some form of amp metering going on with this sensor!

Here it is in my hand

Battery and intake have to come out to make room

This is the factory ground point, the one up top. In this pic I've already unbolted the ground. This is a puny looking ground point IMO.

The pictures don't show what happened next, but I knew I needed to elongate the factory wiring from the fuse box to the battery, and I needed to get a 12v source to my HID relay wiring. So I popped the fuse box halves and separated them, and fed the HID 12v+ lead with ring terminal through the fuse box and up in to the 12v+ tap. While doing this, I pulled the factory wiring from the battery to the fuse box, and found it to be long enough if I tugged on it and rearranged it in the fuse box itself. So once done, it looks like this

I can reach the HID relay fuse right here if I ever need to

 

[Lanson]

continuing on,

I had to hack up the factory wiring loom to extract the ground wires and elongate them, as well as add some additional grounding

The battery tray went back on, and the Optima test-fit. You can see in this pic the light blue connectors that run from the various parts of the car to the factory battery terminal with its built-in fuses. I'll have to do something about that

The factory battery terminal actually uses fuses for many of the connections that I'll be rewiring. To solve this problem, I chose to use an aftermarket fused distribution block. I've been down this road before and I can suggest one very important thing here. If doing a fused distribution block in the engine bay, be absolutely sure to use a fuse block that securely screws the fuses in. Spring-type options will get hot in the engine bay and lose their spring tension, which can cause disaster. One time this very thing stranded me! I covered the battery up with a towel to prevent a short, and I made up a 4 gauge lead out of welding cable and some ends

It is hard to see in this pic, but I snipped off the leads to the connectors that belonged to the factory positive battery terminal. The green / red striped lead is wired into the fused distribution block. This is Scosche EFX block that uses mini-ANL fusing. It was what I had lying around the garage.

The red factory lead was added next, and the 4 gauge lead I just made was added as well. Fuses were installed.

The distribution block was sealed with its cover and placed behind the battery. I did not see a need to secure it in this situation, as the wiring seemed to hold it exactly where it needs to be and there is very little movement.

 

[Lanson]

continuing on,

The factory ground location was scuffed down to bare metal. I decided to not completely gut the factory's ground wiring, and instead augment it with another 4 gauge welding cable with ring terminals on both ends. This cable goes along with the factory one in the factory ground position (now taken down to bare metal), and loops through the amp clamp as well.

Corrosion isn't an immediate issue down here in the desert, so I didn't coat the bare metal yet. After I run this a while and determine I've got it right, I'll spray something on there to protect it. I'm thinking I'll get in here and do it when I'm doing the intake I'm planning here in a few weeks or so. Oh in this shot you can see one of the HID ballasts.

Battery in, placed into position with the factory tie down bar, and the factory wiring is starting to get re-wrapped. Since the factory didn't use very much electrical tape, I decided to use friction tape very similar in feel and style to the factory type, and then augment some areas with electrical tape for a good bond.

Here is that amp clamp sensor thing with the factory wires and my additional 4 gauge ground added through the loop.

The factory ground terminals were opened up to 3/8" to allow connection with my mil-spec battery terminals. I then routed these wires through the protective cover, and the added 4 gauge ground was pulled through as well.

Here we are, the Optima Yellow Top, and mil-spec style battery terminals with protective covers are installed!

 

[Lanson]

continuing on,

I decided to tackle the power cable routing first after getting the battery in. For this I am using 1/0 gauge welding cable I sourced from www.wireandsupply.com, and the cable is Royal Excelene. I covered it with techflex of course.

First thing, pull the windshield wipers. I pried off the little covers with a small pick tool, and then used a 15mm socket to remove the bolt underneath. However, the wipers are stuck on the splined shaft pretty well. To remove them I used a pair of vice grips covered in a microfiber towel. I put the backside of the wiper on one jaw and the splined shaft on the other, and pulled the wiper off the shaft. It came off somewhat aggressively, so I highly recommend covering the surrounding area with towels to protect the paint.

These rubber things on the side just lift off out of tabs on either side of the main cowl we're removing.

The cowl is held on with elegantly made push clips near the engine side. To remove, just use a pick or small screwdriver and pull up on the center section of the clip. This small part lifts up and out of the clip and makes it possible to remove the clip itself easily. I used a pop panel tool, same as I use in the interior. The cowl also pops off away from the windshield with simple snaps on the other side. Now is a good time to undo the washer hose connection from the cowl. A simple twist and tug of the line should release it.

So far so good

The second panel to go is the plastic one under the cowl, at least the driver's side of it (it turns out to be 2 pieces.)

To make my grommet hole, I drilled through this false firewall of thin superficial metal, while simultaneously holding the wiring harness behind the drill bit up and away from the carnage. I used a simple step-bit from Harbor Freight. Good bit but as you can probably see, the bit slipped on me a few times. If I were doing that again, I'd run a tiny hole with a small drill bit, to make it start cleaner.

This is really hard to photograph, but on the other side is a massive rubber grommet that can be cut into and you'll reach the inside cabin very easily. I used an exacto knife and made a moderate sized slit, and my power wire went right in. I also quickly spray-painted the bare metal I exposed when doing the hole I made in the metal so it looks stock and rust-free in the future.

 

[Lanson]

I decided to use a 180 amp circuit breaker for this build. To mount it, I went with the fuse box lid and drilled two small holes, and inserted some hex screws. I was going to put nuts on the backside but it turns out the holes were just the right size and the screws threaded themselves properly in the plastic, locking it down safely.

I reinstalled the plastic parts to remake the cowl, and completed the engine bay's portion of the build except for the power wire from the circuit breaker to the battery itself. I'll make that last, after I build the rest of the system and ready my amps and processor to fire up.

It turned out to be impossible to photograph where exactly the wire leads to in the cabin, but essentially it goes in right above and behind the large fuse block under the steering wheel. It can be felt before it can be seen, and once I felt the wire and grabbed it, I was able to pull it through the cabin without issue. I decided to run my wire across the driver's centerline behind the panels and carpet, where it will soon meet up with my amps and processors under the seats.

I decided to start keeping track of all this, and I ended up at 2 hours not including the battery. The battery was in its own right almost an unnecessary thing since the stock battery would be "just fine".

 

[Lanson]

Continuing on,

I started around 9:30 a couple days after putting in the power cable and was bound and determined to get the system done by the end of the day. I started by constructing a new grounding cable for my amps and MS8. 8 gauge to the MS8, 8 gauge to the 4ch Vibe amp, and 4 gauge to the mono Vibe amp. Wires are covered in techflex and heatshrink.

Next was the test-fit of my amps under the passenger seat.

This is my chosen ground point. It is the factory seat location, ground down to bare metal. This ground is the same place I did in my 2010 and it served well, I figured it was good to work with again.

So, reaching the wiring to the head unit looked like a total fail at first. I pulled the side panels to the center console and starting tugging the cup tray / shift bezel up and out, but it would not budge. I decided to see if I could reach the connectors to the head unit without pulling the head, and YES, it can be done. I went in from the passenger side and articulated my hand up and behind the head unit, and then unplugged two connectors which got the harness I wanted visible. This, folks, is the easy way, plus nothing gets scratched or worn out in the process...except my hand of course.

Carnage pic

 

[Lanson]

I removed the wrapping around the harness and started my splicing for the MS8 and amps. So what this involved was a multi-step wiring process which I'll go through in detail since others may be following along. First thing is to cut the LF, RF, LR, RR, and center wiring + and -, one at a time. I have the wiring diagram here to help, remember this is a NON-Sony, 2013 setup FYI. Also, in this harness the appropriate wire pairs (like LF + and LF -) are twisted as a pair together, so it is easier to identify which ones to go after.

LF + White
LF - White/Brown

RF + White/Violet
RF- White/Orange

Center + Green
Center - Gray/Yellow

LR + White/Green
LR - Brown/Yellow

RR + Brown/White
RR - Brown/Blue

So, all these wires are clipped at the connector and routed to the MS8 for summing. I decided to use all channels because I am unsure of exactly what processing/algorithm info is happening in the stock head unit, and by giving all channels to the MS8 it will properly calculate what to do with the signal. These wires are run to the MS8 input directly, soldered with a run of speaker wire are heat-shrink protected and then loomed as a group with techflex.

 

[Lanson]

The other side of the wiring that I clipped was dealt with later. First had to wire up the A-pillar tweeters and prep the rest of the wiring.

These are the A-pillar tweeters for the NON-Sony setup. They are different, and though the mounting approach is similar, the tweeter is larger and the mounting bracket that is plastic-welded to the pillar is larger as well. This turned out to play to my advantage, as you will see. The A pillar literally pops off with a quick tug, just pull the weatherstripping off the door frame first so you can get a good grip on the panel.

 

[Lanson]

That tweeter didn't look too impressive to me so I decided to dive into my stash o' leftovers and I found a set of unused Bravox tweeters that fit in this larger opening in the pillar mounts. To mount it, I used some butyl rope and made a sticky, gooey mount for the tweeter to fit snugly in the factory spot. I also used more butyl to block the tweeter output from going out into the backside of the pillar, in effect creating a seal to make sure there is no weird phasing/cancellation effects. Though it looks messy, the butyl can come right off without incident if need be. This also locks the tweeter in place, but allows me the ability to "steer" it ever so slightly. I took advantage of this movement and angled the tweeter up and inward toward the cabin just a bit to raise the sound stage image it will make.

Here's the factory tweeter (driver side this time) in the factory mount for reference

Now, because the factory Non-Sony setup uses a passive arrangement for these tweeters, I ran dedicated wire to each pillar so the MS8 can correctly power these independently. You'll note I use sheathed "in-wall" type wire most of the time in a car, mostly because I trust the insulation to hold up better in a vehicle environment full of sharp metal in places the wire runs through.

This is the MS8 output harness. This will directly power the tweeters and rear speakers.

Love carnage shots. Always fun to drag the wife out during these moments as well.

The MS8 outputs were soldered to the other side of the factory harness wires I used before. The connections I made were:

RF tweeter wired to MS8 on Channel 1
LF tweeter wired to MS8 on Channel 2
RF woofer wired to output on 4ch amp, Channel 1. Signal comes from MS8 Channel 3 via RCA
LF woofer wired to output on 4ch amp, Channel 2. Signal comes from MS8 Channel 4 via RCA
Center wired to output on 4ch amp, Channel 3. Signal comes from MS8 Channel 7 via RCA
RR speaker wired to MS8 on channel 5
LR speaker wired to MS8 on channel 6

 

[Lanson]

The amps are now wired and mounted. To mount both the amps and the processor, I simply cut and smoothed out a piece of 1/2" MDF and placed it under the carpet and padding , under each seat. Each MDF board was cut to fit while not intruding on the factory seat wiring. The boards are held into place semi-permanently with butyl rope. This absorbs vibration and keeps them stuck securely, and since the equipment is screwed in on the other side of the carpet, nothing is going anywhere. This also has the advantage of not drilling holes through the floor, which is a huge no-no in general, IMHO.

The MS8 and a distribution block

Very late in the evening, this is the final result. I think I'll order up (or make) some RCAs with 90 degree angles to make this even more stealth, but the oversized rubber floor mats fit without incident which was a design priority.

As I mentioned when I started I was determined to finish by the end of the day. I started 9:30AM and finished 10:30PM. 12hrs including a break, which totals to 14hrs then.

 

[Lanson]

I don't have in-progress pics of the next stuff I did, but I do have "before" and "after" shots. The sawdust was flying and I didn't want to damage my dslr.

This is my subwoofer box, transplanted from my 2010 build now to my 2013. Under here is a fair amount of Raammat deadening and some foam to hold it all in place. That vinyl you see there matches the upper interior plastics and the headliner color, to tie in the look. The box build was covered in another thread somewhere in another forum long ago, but I can dig it up if anybody happens to be curious. Basically its just your average spare tire well fiberglass subwoofer box, this one has Exile Audio shallow subs. The box is damn thick and very strong.

I decided build a reinforced grille, something much more robust than my previous one in the 2010, which was damaged by some heavy suitcases during a trip. In that one I used some expanded metal available at Lowes in a 12"x24" rectangle. Despite it being pretty strong stuff and the fact I made a grille with a small opening and reinforcement underneath to hold it, it eventually gave way and bent inward one day, almost damaging the subs underneath. This time I decided to use Lowes again, but I went with 1/2" steel square tubing. This time, the grille will be able to take some weight!

I made a top board to match the contours of the trunk. BTW during this process I had to hack up the back plastic trunk panel up some, but this panel is cheap to replace when I return to stock. The hacking was done below the line visible with the trunk liner installed anyway.

I made the top board in the shape of the trunk, about 24" deep by 41 1/2" wide (with 3/4" MDF) and then used my router with a 1/2" standard bit to create grooves just a tick over 1/2" deep on the underside of this panel, spaced 1 " from each other for a total of 6. These grooves let the 1/2" square steel tubing slip right in. I then beveled the backside of the entire panel so it would sit better against the curved floorboard edges, and carpeted it to match

I spray painted the tubing with primer, then black, then clear to get a decent shine on them. It isn't show car paint quality, but it works well in the trunk. This tubing was then inserted into the grooves, with the carpet carefully cut where the openings are so it all went in securely and completely.

Then I created a back spacer panel to go under this, and beveled it as well. This spacer panel is 3/4" MDF and it was cut in a rectangle (with curved inner edges) to fit right over the subwoofers and grip their edges. Because the spacer panel is just the right height and shape, the top board when attached to the spacer locks itself in position against the subs themselves. It received carpet in a lighter color for contrast, and then was secured with 1 1/4" screws through to the top panel, thereby locking in the tubes so they won't fall out from underneath.

Sorry for all the explanation without pics but my DSLR just is too good to get sawdust in it. I may have to buy a crap camera just for adventures like this. Anyway, here's the finished pics:

You can see the spacer panel is covered in lighter gray carpet. That's the one that grips the edges of the subs top and bottom, and allows a little movement left and right for positioning purposes. This panel makes contact with the sub box and since it is attached to the top board, the top board is secure and won't slide. Overall, I'm happy with this design, and while at first I wanted to cover the subs completely, I feel this open design is more appropriate for its sturdiness. Those bars are incredibly strong. I didn't want to damage the fresh paint on the bars but I would wager I could stand on them and hop in the trunk if I wanted to. I'm sure this time around the only damage I could sustain could be some paint scrapes. For that reason, I made sure the top panel and spacer board could be taken apart to pull the bars and repair their paint, if ever I need to.

Next up, I need to order more deadening supplies and get to the doors and center speakers for upgrades. No rush though, the stock stuff is not bad.

We were at 14 hours before today, and this took 12 hours to get through, so 26 hours now.

 

[Keele81]

Really like the square steel used as a grill, beefy. It's a nice alternative to expanded steel

 

[Lanson]

Really like the square steel used as a grill, beefy. It's a nice alternative to expanded steel

I doubt I'll use expanded steel again after my experiences with it. Also, it cuts fingers really bad on the edges. For the money you pay for it, you'd expect it to be stronger I think. Those bars were ~$5 each, and just by the length I needed which was 28", I had to get 6. So that's $30 but at least its there pretty much forever or until I get bored. I also considered aluminum but the U channel and even square tubing like the type I have here in steel, they just couldn't take much weight before bending to a point where I didn't feel comfortable. I would have preferred aluminum for the look, because I could have brushed it and cleared it with a satin. Just not strong enough for this app.



Next up for this build is deadening the doors and stuff, and getting some new speakers in all around.

 

[astrochex]

How much clearance do you have between the tops of the amps and the seat frames? It looks like a snug fit.

 

[Lanson]

How much clearance do you have between the tops of the amps and the seat frames? It looks like a snug fit.

Tons of room under there. The seat frame sits really tall on these Flexes. It also doesn't move at all, so there's no chance of crushing or anything. I had to shove the rear vent up and little bit, but that's the only "clearancing" required here.

 

[Keele81]

I doubt I'll use expanded steel again after my experiences with it. Also, it cuts fingers really bad on the edges. For the money you pay for it, you'd expect it to be stronger I think. Those bars were ~$5 each, and just by the length I needed which was 28", I had to get 6. So that's $30 but at least its there pretty much forever or until I get bored. I also considered aluminum but the U channel and even square tubing like the type I have here in steel, they just couldn't take much weight before bending to a point where I didn't feel comfortable. I would have preferred aluminum for the look, because I could have brushed it and cleared it with a satin. Just not strong enough for this app.



Next up for this build is deadening the doors and stuff, and getting some new speakers in all around.

I'd drawn up a similar idea, only using plexi painted on 3 sides & scuffed on the side facing the subs, end lit with clear leds.