Comprehensive Ford Raptor Supercab Subwoofer/Amp installation Instructions

Here is a complete write up and instruction on how to install an amp and sub in your Raptor without drilling a single hole or removing any door/dash panels. This is very integrated in to stock without any major modifications.

You CAN do this! Unless you have an abundance of money, do not pay an audio shop to do this for you and for the love of God do not let Best Buy touch your truck.

I'm by no means an expert or a professional, but this isn't my first rodeo and I feel I have compiled a very safe and reliable installation method here. Thanks for reading.

Time: 5hrs - +/- 2 hours for advanced or novice installers.

Cost: $550.00(approx)

Difficulty:
Beginner
Easy
-> Medium
Hard
Expert

Materials Used:
JL Audio 10W0v3 10" Component Subwoofer - 300W RMS Power Handling
10WØv3-4 - Car Audio - Subwoofer Drivers - WØv3 - JL Audio
*Tip: 10" or 12" would be most appropriate for SuperCab application due to constraints of under the seat installation.

Amplifier: JL Audio Slash 250/1v2 Mono Block Class D amplifier
250/1v2 - Car Audio - Amplifiers - Slash v2 - JL Audio
*Tip: Due to the constraints of the subwoofer "mounting depth" of approximately 5 1/8" using an under the rear seat box, an amp in the 200w-400w RMS range will be most appropriate based on the selection of a subwoofer in this size class. I recommend the JL Audio W0 as I used, or the Alpine Type-S would also perform admirably in this application.

Single 10" Super Cab Subwoofer Box for 09-12 F-150 Supercab - SuperCrewSound.com
Ford F-150 Extended Cab / Super Cab 09-11 Single Subwoofer Box
Tip: Available in with black upholstery carpeting to match factory upholstery.

15' 4ga Amplifier power wire
*Tip: 8ga wire is sufficient up to 300W RMS, however using 4ga will allow for future system upgrades and will guarantee full power from your system.
*Tip: Do not purchase wiring kits, they are overpriced and usually do not contain enough cable. Go to your local car audio shop and purchase your power +, ground -, and speaker wire by the foot. Be sure to look for a quality wire such as Rockford Fosgate, Monster or JL Audio as some cheaper wiring is not true to gauge and you may end up with a 4ga cable that is more like 6ga.

2' 4ga Amplifier ground wire
*Tip: ALWAYS use the same gauge ground wire as used for your power wire.

30A in-line fuse
*Tip: Choose the size your in-line fuse based on the fuse amp rating of your amplifier. If your amplifier has a 30A fuse installed on it, use a 30A in-line fuse. Proper practice in any accessory installation is to install the in-line fuse within 18" of the battery connection.

6' 12ga high quality speaker wire

(2) 4ga ring terminals- power and ground connections
*Tip, go to NAPA and get quality copper, automotive grade terminals. The ones you get at Lowe's will rot in 6 months.

(2) 12ga insulated (automotive grade) female slot adapters - speaker wire to subwoofer box

JL Audio Speaker wire to RCA adapter - XD-CLRAIC2-SW
Car Audio - Connection Systems - Audio Connections - RCA to Speaker Wire
*Choose a quality adapter such as JL Audio or Monster Cable - for as cheap as this part is, it's important not to skimp!

Monster Cable Single Female - Dual Male RCA Y-Adapter
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_119ILJRY1F/Monster-Cable-1-Female-2-Male-RCA-Y-Adapter.html?tp=1934

TAPA-CIRCUIT Accessory fuse block power adapter


10' 14-16ga primary wire - remote turn on wire

Tools needed:
Socket Set
Wire Strippers/Crimpers
Soldering iron
Razor Blade/Utility Knife
A/C - D/C Voltage Tester
Large Flat Heat Screwdriver

Here We GO!

Step 1: Install Subwoofer in to Subwoofer box/enclosure

- (8) 1" - 1 1/4" Drywall screws are perfect for securing the sub to the box




- Crimp the Female Terminals on to one end of the 12ga speaker wire - Cut the wire 18" and strip the other ends. Connect to Subwoofer. OBSERVE +/- POLARITY DURING THIS STEP



- Once everything is connected, place the sub in the box - make sure it's straight , pre-drill small pilot holes where the screws are due to be installed, and screw the sub in to the box. Pretty easy, right? Just be careful not to send the drill bit or screw driver through the sub and you're good!





- On to the installation...

- REMOVE BATTERY NEGATIVE TERMINAL BEFORE PERFORMING ANY WIRING IN YOUR TRUCK!

Step 2: Run the 4ga Power Wire from your Positive battery terminal and the 12v Remote Turn on wire(from factory fuse block location) to where your amp will be installed

- There is a hole in the firewall just under the PCM with a rubber plug in it. I used this hole to conveniently run the power wire through the firewall without drilling a single hole. The pass-through leads just under the glove box near the fuse block.

- I used a flexible "driveway snow stake" I had laying around to guide my wire through the firewall by taping the wire to the stake and shoving it through:







- I then used a utility knife to carve a hole in the factory plug to use as a grommet for the wire, slid it down and reinstalled securely in to the fire wall.



- Crimp on your power wire ring terminal and connect to the battery - install your in-line fuse holder(do not install the actual fuse until you hook up the power/ground to the amp)during this step and zip tie the wires securely on the wire's route to the firewall pass through. I also replaced my battery with an Interstate MTP-65 during this step cause my stock battery sucked - upgraded to 850CCA vs stock 650CCA.


- Next, remove the passenger side door sill panel using a large flat head screwdriver to gently pop the clips out, exposing the factory wiring channel.



- Now, just run the 4ga power wire under the kick panel near the fuse block and through the factory wiring channel. Make sure to route the wiring underneath the electrical tape used from the factory to hold the wires in or else your door sill panel will not snap back in!





- Next, on under the C-pillar panel and behind the seat - route the wire out of sight and leave yourself a couple feet where you plan on installing your amp.




- Repeat the same process for your remote turn on wire(the smaller red wire in this picture), starting the wire routing near the fuse block behind the passenger side kick panel.



Step 3: Install 4ga Ground Wire:


- Well, I should have mentioned you need to first remove your factory Sony Subwoofer (if applicable) by removing the 3 bolts that hold the brackets in....and looky here - the bolt hole used to secure the factory sub will make a GREAT location for your ground wire - without drilling any holes or sanding any paint/clear coat off!

- Strip, and crimp one of your 4ga ring terminals to one end of the ground wire, and secure it to the factory bolt location using an additional washer and a lock washer to make sure it doesn't rattle loose.



- Oh, and isn't that nice, you can snap the factory trim piece back over the bolt to hide your ring terminal connection - thanks Ford!

**FOR SPEAKER AND REMOTE TURN ON WIRING IN 2011+ PLEASE READ THIS REVISED EDITION**

Step 4: Now, let's install the speaker wire to RCA converter

- Here's your factory subwoofer wiring harness. It has 5 wires on it. Power +, Ground -, and a 5V Remote Turn on wire(no, you can't use this for your new amp's turn on wire), and 2 Low Voltage speaker leads. Green/White is POSITIVE +, Purple/Green is NEGATIVE -!

- I simply cut and stripped the 2 speaker wires, and left enough room on the harness side so I could reconnect the wiring in the future if needed. Now just isolate those 2 speaker wires and get the rest of the harness out of your way. Stuff it under the carpet or something.



- Make your + / - connections to your RCA adapter - OBSERVE POLARITY. I only used 1 "side" of the RCA plug, since 1 set of speaker leads is meant for 1 single RCA plug. We will use the Y-adapter later to give us our L/R dual RCA connections(which isn't entirely necessary by the way since it's a MONO subwoofer amp you don't need 2 channels L/R, but it makes the installation look cleaner and JL Audio recommends connecting both the L/R to your amp to avoid having to raise the input sensitivity level due to loss of signal).

- I decided to solder my RCA connections to the stock wires because I think splice connections and butt connectors fall under the hack category.


- Alright, so clean those connections up, heat shrink/tape the connections separately and stuff the rest under the carpet. Install your RCA Y-Adapter and bingo, you're done!

- Oh and the floor mat covers that ground connection too - stuff that's this easy kind of gives you a warm fuzzy feeling inside doesn't it?



Step 5: Connect your accessory TAPA CIRCUIT and remote turn-on wire.



This is pretty straight forward, just choose a fuse that is powered on with the ignition and tap off it. I used the fuse # 46 7.5A Occupant Sensor. I used this because it only powers on with the ignition in the RUN position. You probably don't want your amp turning on in the ON position because it can seriously drain your battery. Ideally, you just want the amp on when the truck is running. Now if I am sitting idle, with just the radio ON or working off Accessory Delay, my subs are not running and draining my battery.

- All you have to do is cut/strip/crimp the wire you ran earlier to the TAPA CIRCUIT pig tail. Install the fuse block to your chosen location, reinstall the "stock accessory" fuse and your new accessory fuse in to the block.




Step 6: Put all your panels back in place. Get ready to finish up, and hook up the amp!

- Make sure all of your wires - Power, ground, remote turn on and +/- speaker leads are cut to an appropriate length and strip the ends. Observe speaker wire polarity.

- Hook up your wires and make sure stuff is TIGHT. Loose wires blow fuses and start electrical fires! Blown fuses wait for you in HELL!


- At this point I have not come up with a logical way to mount the amp other than using Velcro strips on the amp and securing it to the floor carpet. It will secure the amp sufficiently for daily driving but will not protect against theft or heavy off roading. Use ties to clean your wiring up(not shown-sorry about the mess).





- Remove your spare tire kit - sorry but you won't fit a reasonable sub enclosure without removing it. I'll post my solution for storing the spare tire kit and jack at a later date.



- Hook up your sub wires - observe polarity.



- Place the box under the seat!



Tight Fit!



-Ok, all your connections are tight? Put the inline fuse in its holder and hook up your Negative Battery Terminal.

Now, last but not least you MUST tune your amp! You should refer to your amp's owner's manual for proper adjustment of gain/input sens, crossover frequency and bass boost. My JL Amp has adjustments for Low-High Input Voltage to maximize input signal sensitivity without clipping.

I set my input sens adjustment to "Low", and tested the AC(YES, AC not DC!) voltage at my amp +/- speaker terminals with the sub disconnected. Using the instructions provided in the installation manual, I used a 50hz SINE WAVE test tone (+0db) I downloaded and played to adjust my output voltage at my speaker leads to 31.6V as recommended by JL for a 4ohm subwoofer. From there, you can adjust the additional crossovers and bass boost adjustments according to your music taste and preference/acoustics.

That's about it!

I rate this sub/amp combo at:

Stock
Some added bass
A Little Kick
-> Mirror shaking
Wakes the neighbors up
Will make your ears bleed
Glass Shattering

Overall, I am very happy with the JL Audio amp/sub combo. JL Audio has a reputation for high quality car audio components and generally speaking you cannot go wrong with JL. I was pleasantly surprised at how loud this little 10" sub is and how clean the amp is. It's louder than I expected and I have heard dual 10" subwoofer installations that weren't this loud. The amp is clean and responsive, providing quick, tight, punchy bass while listening to hard rock/metal/techno. This sub will also make your hair move a little bit if you listen to something with more bass such as Rap/Hip Hop.


VIDEOS

Showing how quick, responsive and clean the setup is listening to Pantera . The double bass sections are reproduced accurately and without any slop. It should also be noted that a sealed enclosure is ideal for rock/metal music because it will produce a tighter sound. The sub's response to the double bass drum section @ :36 is very impressive IMO.

10JLW0v3-4 Sub in Ford Raptor - YouTube

This video is the best I could come up with to translate exactly how loud the sub is, and how much it shakes the truck. Can the stock sub do this? Absolutely NOT. It's making a lighter dance across my center console...

JL sub shaking Ford Raptor - YouTube

Great write-up Bird. This is definitely going on my mods list. Sounds easy enough a caveman could do it.

Sent from my Motorola Electrify using Tapatalk

dolfanatic1399 said:

Great write-up Bird. This is definitely going on my mods list. Sounds easy enough a caveman could do it.

Sent from my Motorola Electrify using Tapatalk

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it's a little awkward at times sticking your hands and head in places they don't belong, but otherwise it's very easy. just follow the steps, don't cut corners and you will be good.

You have too much time on your hands.

SPRSNK said:

You have too much time on your hands.

Click to expand...

couldn't be further from the truth, but what i do have is aggression. aggression built up from when i was searching for a lot of this information and only found bits and pieces of mixed good/bad information. i took the small bits of information i was looking for, and added my own experience to lay it all out. it's about time that someone in the Ford/ F-150 / Raptor world took the time to write this up. now hopefully this will save someone else the hours of research and frustration i went through.

Great write up bird!!! Was hesitant at first to do this based on getting signal to the amp but couldn't figure why someone has taken the signal from the stock sub and used that. Now I know you can count this one done for me. Now if I could only fit 1 of the 2 W7 12's .

Just browsed through it but the space you had the stock sub is empty now correct?

ISFast said:

Great write up bird!!! Was hesitant at first to do this based on getting signal to the amp but couldn't figure why someone has taken the signal from the stock sub and used that. Now I know you can count this one done for me. Now if I could only fit 1 of the 2 W7 12's .

Just browsed through it but the space you had the stock sub is empty now correct?

Click to expand...

Yup, the stock sub speaker lines from what my amp speaker output is telling me are low output pre amp signals designed to feed a subwoofer. Splicing an RCA is the way to go. The stock sub location is now just occupied by my amp.

Sent from my right thumb using Tapatalk.

Looking real good

Hey birdman, does the sub-enclosure just sit between the seat and floor? Or did you mount it somehow? Also what did you end up doing with the jack? Your sub mod is awesome, and I'm looking forward in doing it to my truck. (just don't know where to put my jack)

Thanks a lot for the info, Right on!!

KTM RAPTOR said:

Hey birdman, does the sub-enclosure just sit between the seat and floor? Or did you mount it somehow? Also what did you end up doing with the jack? Your sub mod is awesome, and I'm looking forward in doing it to my truck. (just don't know where to put my jack)

Thanks a lot for the info, Right on!!

Click to expand...

the sub box is such a tight fit that once you put the seat down it's stuffed pretty securely between the floor mat and seat bottom. it's not going to move. i can't even pull it out without unlatching the seat. i will probably just buy a weather tight tool box to put in my bed to hold the jack and my recovery strap.