G37 Coupe Mounting Amp to Seatback / Trunk
10-16-2014, 10:30 AM
#1
G37 Coupe Mounting Amp to Seatback / Trunk
I recently installed my system (amp and subs) to by G and have had nothing but great performance from it so far. It is a 12" P4 Rockford sub with a 450W Rockford 2 channel amp running in mono at 2 ohms. With the exception of finding a 1.25 cubic ft. enclosure to get the best performance out of my sub that would also fit into the coupes tiny little trunk it was pretty easy.
I did not want to modify the trunk too heavily and wanted to keep it close to stock and maintain my spare.
That being said the only issue I have at this point is mounting the amp. I first secured the amp with standard self tapping drywall type screws 1.5" mounted on the back of the rear seat. This worked as an adequate solution but I was not comfortable with the seat mounting solution due to the material under the carpeting on the seat. It feels like thin particle board or even less..? The seat also leans back which puts more stress on the screws with a heavy amp.
I have seen other vehicle installations to the same area (trunk seat back) where they mounted a 1/2 inch board of MDF to the seat and secured the amp to that. Also where some have inserted the wood section under the carpeting on the back of the seat and screwed the amp to that through the cloth. I do not want to go the route of an amp rack. I want to use the back of the seat only. All cables have been routed, protected, and secured.
There is also not much surface area that the amp can go on due to the small opening to the trunk from the cabin area when the seat is down. Can anyone explain how they mounted a heavy amp to this surface and what extra measures were taken to make sure it will stay put? Detailed explanations would be very helpful as I will be doing this work myself and look to establish a long term solution.
I did not want to modify the trunk too heavily and wanted to keep it close to stock and maintain my spare.
That being said the only issue I have at this point is mounting the amp. I first secured the amp with standard self tapping drywall type screws 1.5" mounted on the back of the rear seat. This worked as an adequate solution but I was not comfortable with the seat mounting solution due to the material under the carpeting on the seat. It feels like thin particle board or even less..? The seat also leans back which puts more stress on the screws with a heavy amp.
I have seen other vehicle installations to the same area (trunk seat back) where they mounted a 1/2 inch board of MDF to the seat and secured the amp to that. Also where some have inserted the wood section under the carpeting on the back of the seat and screwed the amp to that through the cloth. I do not want to go the route of an amp rack. I want to use the back of the seat only. All cables have been routed, protected, and secured.
There is also not much surface area that the amp can go on due to the small opening to the trunk from the cabin area when the seat is down. Can anyone explain how they mounted a heavy amp to this surface and what extra measures were taken to make sure it will stay put? Detailed explanations would be very helpful as I will be doing this work myself and look to establish a long term solution.
10-17-2014, 08:03 AM
#2
I used little metal spacers I got from lowes with little rubber washers & 1.5" screws to secure the amp to the backseat. The screws go through rubber washer, through the amp holes, through the metal spacers & into the seatback. Yeah the "board" on the seat is thin but it's holding fine for me. The spacers let it get some distance so it's not directly on the seatback.
10-17-2014, 07:42 PM
#3
Thank you for the feedback. The issue I had was after I opened the rear seat and put it down I have to shut it. Being somewhat heavy and having a firm latch the seat requires you to shut it forcefully. The last time I shut the seat the amp came loose from the back of the seat and the screws came right out....
I have my car in for service at the moment but when it comes out I am going to mount a cutout of MDF on the back of the seat to secure the amp to. I am just trying to decide 1 - if I should place the board inside the seat cloth/cover or secure it on the outside of the cloth. If do either I am just wondering how to secure it in place....??
I have my car in for service at the moment but when it comes out I am going to mount a cutout of MDF on the back of the seat to secure the amp to. I am just trying to decide 1 - if I should place the board inside the seat cloth/cover or secure it on the outside of the cloth. If do either I am just wondering how to secure it in place....??
10-17-2014, 10:14 PM
#4
I see. I never put the seat down.
I'd do this. Cleaner install. I did the same thing in my Explorer but under the hatch carpet. Then screwed my sub box down into the wood from the top.
I am just trying to decide 1 - if I should place the board inside the seat cloth/cover
10-18-2014, 01:56 AM
#5
Registered Member
I recently installed my system (amp and subs) to by G and have had nothing but great performance from it so far. It is a 12" P4 Rockford sub with a 450W Rockford 2 channel amp running in mono at 2 ohms. With the exception of finding a 1.25 cubic ft. enclosure to get the best performance out of my sub that would also fit into the coupes tiny little trunk it was pretty easy.
I did not want to modify the trunk too heavily and wanted to keep it close to stock and maintain my spare.
That being said the only issue I have at this point is mounting the amp. I first secured the amp with standard self tapping drywall type screws 1.5" mounted on the back of the rear seat. This worked as an adequate solution but I was not comfortable with the seat mounting solution due to the material under the carpeting on the seat. It feels like thin particle board or even less..? The seat also leans back which puts more stress on the screws with a heavy amp.
I have seen other vehicle installations to the same area (trunk seat back) where they mounted a 1/2 inch board of MDF to the seat and secured the amp to that. Also where some have inserted the wood section under the carpeting on the back of the seat and screwed the amp to that through the cloth. I do not want to go the route of an amp rack. I want to use the back of the seat only. All cables have been routed, protected, and secured.
There is also not much surface area that the amp can go on due to the small opening to the trunk from the cabin area when the seat is down. Can anyone explain how they mounted a heavy amp to this surface and what extra measures were taken to make sure it will stay put? Detailed explanations would be very helpful as I will be doing this work myself and look to establish a long term solution.
I did not want to modify the trunk too heavily and wanted to keep it close to stock and maintain my spare.
That being said the only issue I have at this point is mounting the amp. I first secured the amp with standard self tapping drywall type screws 1.5" mounted on the back of the rear seat. This worked as an adequate solution but I was not comfortable with the seat mounting solution due to the material under the carpeting on the seat. It feels like thin particle board or even less..? The seat also leans back which puts more stress on the screws with a heavy amp.
I have seen other vehicle installations to the same area (trunk seat back) where they mounted a 1/2 inch board of MDF to the seat and secured the amp to that. Also where some have inserted the wood section under the carpeting on the back of the seat and screwed the amp to that through the cloth. I do not want to go the route of an amp rack. I want to use the back of the seat only. All cables have been routed, protected, and secured.
There is also not much surface area that the amp can go on due to the small opening to the trunk from the cabin area when the seat is down. Can anyone explain how they mounted a heavy amp to this surface and what extra measures were taken to make sure it will stay put? Detailed explanations would be very helpful as I will be doing this work myself and look to establish a long term solution.
10-18-2014, 10:17 AM
#6
I did recently start thinking about putting it down there to the side of the spare under the huge plastic "shroud"...
I was amazed at how much trunk space is sacrificed for those two plastic peices. I removed the back seat and all of the trunk assortments when I ran my cables for the initial install. I originally installed my amp and capacitor which has an lcd read out for voltage which together made a nice looking pair when the seat was down. I have since removed my cap so I could most likely move my amp to the recessed area under the trunk mat if the seatback option does not work to my liking. My only limitation will be the precut lenth of my main power cable from the battery.
Thank you for the feedback!!
I was amazed at how much trunk space is sacrificed for those two plastic peices. I removed the back seat and all of the trunk assortments when I ran my cables for the initial install. I originally installed my amp and capacitor which has an lcd read out for voltage which together made a nice looking pair when the seat was down. I have since removed my cap so I could most likely move my amp to the recessed area under the trunk mat if the seatback option does not work to my liking. My only limitation will be the precut lenth of my main power cable from the battery.
Thank you for the feedback!!
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10-18-2014, 10:22 AM
#8
Registered User
Not to thread-jack but I am looking at the same scenario just for an sedan which has even less places to mount.
If I could fit it under my trunk carpet I'd be all for it with some exhaust fan modded in there somewhere. OP should definitely look into that depending on his amp size (I think he mentioned it was a large amp).
I currently have small bench made out of MDF that my amp is mounted to - it just sits in there now but I'd love to secure it better.
Any suggestions for a sedan mounting?
If I could fit it under my trunk carpet I'd be all for it with some exhaust fan modded in there somewhere. OP should definitely look into that depending on his amp size (I think he mentioned it was a large amp).
I currently have small bench made out of MDF that my amp is mounted to - it just sits in there now but I'd love to secure it better.
Any suggestions for a sedan mounting?
10-18-2014, 05:38 PM
#10
Have you considered putting the amp to the left or right of the spare tire? There is ample room "under the floor" to put several amps depending on their size.
10-19-2014, 05:02 PM
#11
Registered Member
Geeez, what amps are you running? I've got three RF amps down there and they fit nicely; it did require some creative mounting and amp stacking though. If your running lower efficiency amps or ones that run hot your going to be severely limited by ventilation issues. It doesn't get that warm in Norther n CA so I was spared that headache
11-01-2014, 01:56 AM
#12
Registered Member
Here's my setup:
Distribution and fuse block is on the right side near the rear bumper; the cutout and cover seem almost tailor made for my size fuse block
The RF 360.2 sits in the top portion of the spare tire insert. Again, almost tailor made for this size processor and passing the wires through the insert is simple
Wiring pigtails to the three amps. The two amps on the left side are for the front and back stages. The amp on the right side is for the subs.
Heres a closeup of the two amps mounted on the left side. One amp is mounted directly to a small plywood platform secured to the trunk pan. The second amp is suspended above the first amp using SST allthread and spacers cut from extruded aluminum tubing. You can see the stock Bose Amplifier and Woofer Amp connectors below the amplifier. The line level signals are all pulled from here and sent to the 360.2 via individual wires. I chose discrete wires to the processor over RCA plugs for sheer simplicity.
Here's a closeup of the mounting hardware. Since these pictures were taken Ive placed rubber bushings on top of the amp to more securely hold the amp in place without damaging the heat sink.
The amps all have 1.5" is free space around their circumference and 1.5" between the upper and lower amps. This allows for adequate convective cooling without supplying fans. To date, the highest temperature I've recorded has been 118F after running for over an hour. Then again, with all the sound deadener I have on the bottom, sides and top of the trunk space, the ambient temp in the trunk rarely goes above 100F
The RF amps I'm using are two channel. The smaller size (11.4" X 8.1" X 2.1") gave me more options for a staggered mount. This is the primary reason why I don't like four channel amps.
Distribution and fuse block is on the right side near the rear bumper; the cutout and cover seem almost tailor made for my size fuse block
The RF 360.2 sits in the top portion of the spare tire insert. Again, almost tailor made for this size processor and passing the wires through the insert is simple
Wiring pigtails to the three amps. The two amps on the left side are for the front and back stages. The amp on the right side is for the subs.
Heres a closeup of the two amps mounted on the left side. One amp is mounted directly to a small plywood platform secured to the trunk pan. The second amp is suspended above the first amp using SST allthread and spacers cut from extruded aluminum tubing. You can see the stock Bose Amplifier and Woofer Amp connectors below the amplifier. The line level signals are all pulled from here and sent to the 360.2 via individual wires. I chose discrete wires to the processor over RCA plugs for sheer simplicity.
Here's a closeup of the mounting hardware. Since these pictures were taken Ive placed rubber bushings on top of the amp to more securely hold the amp in place without damaging the heat sink.
The amps all have 1.5" is free space around their circumference and 1.5" between the upper and lower amps. This allows for adequate convective cooling without supplying fans. To date, the highest temperature I've recorded has been 118F after running for over an hour. Then again, with all the sound deadener I have on the bottom, sides and top of the trunk space, the ambient temp in the trunk rarely goes above 100F
The RF amps I'm using are two channel. The smaller size (11.4" X 8.1" X 2.1") gave me more options for a staggered mount. This is the primary reason why I don't like four channel amps.
11-01-2014, 02:49 PM
#13
Your factory amp is not in the same position as mine. The factory stuff is right where your RF amp's are & extends towards the wheel well.
That might be why I have no room. I guess 2010's changed...
That might be why I have no room. I guess 2010's changed...
11-03-2014, 04:35 PM
#15
I have all of my wires neatly run to the seatback location so I am going to go the route of reinforcing the back of the seat and mounting the amp there. I will post pics when I get through. Hopefully this week! Thanks for all the pics and comments.