.

 

looks clean

 

Does anyone know where I can find some info on how to install the mpg overhead compartment in my 99 xj?

 

Axe, shovel, hammer, and fire ext mounted along the window on the driver side rear.


Window rack: Champion Rear Window gun rack via Walmart for $10


Extinguisher mount $7 at ACE Hardware + 4ea Self-tapping screws
- Be sure to pull the plastic body panel away so you can cut off the spare tire mount flush and see where to go thru the panel so that you get into metal.....it's not solid behind there.....

 

I'm probably the guy you found that did the 6.5" sub. I'll start by saying this... If you go back and read a number of my posts, you'll see I've been around car audio, and audio in general, for awhile, and have installed numerous systems, built home speakers, and have high end stuff at home. So I'm not just some young punk yahoo that thinks throwing bigger speakers and amplifiers from Wally World or Worst Buy at the problem is the answer.

My recommendation is to NOT try to put those 6.5" subs in the overhead soundbar for several reasons:

• I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure the depth of them won't work and you'll be up against the roof.
• They are heavy. About 3 times the weight of the 5.25 speakers that generally go up there. You'll probably end up with either a sagging headliner / soundbar, or the subs will just rip the mounting screws right through the thin fiberboard headliner the first time you really start to pound them.
• You've got a wide span of relatively unstructured/supported sheet metal up top. From the outside, it will probably sound like someone is beating the crap out of a washing machine, and probably won't sound so hot inside either.
• Those foam speaker baffles you mentioned will not work. If they hold up, which I doubt they will for long, the don't allow anywhere near enough breathing room for those subs. Most likely they'll just blow out / tear within a few weeks.

You'll notice that they don't sell subwoofers with enclosures made out of sheet metal, and for good reason. They sound like complete ****. The reason my sub sounds good (or any "boxed" sub for that matter) is because it is in a sealed (or properly port-tuned) wooden enclosure that is much stiffer than metal, and wood has natural harmonic frequencies that work well with bass notes. This also means the sound waves coming off the back of the sub aren't directly pounding on the rear quarter panel.

I'll also say this... Unless you like a lot of Rap / Techno music, one of the 6.5" Kicker CompVT subs in the rear cubby is fine; you don't need two. Maybe if you want, you can jump up to an 8" to (potentially) extend the response a little lower in the range, but you still only need one. I'd suggest the Pioneer TS-SW841D. I love to jam, but I think it's stupid to have it so loud you **** off everyone around you. I have a single 8" sub as part of my home theater set-up, and it's plenty freaking loud enough to fill up a very large room.
Everything from Led Zepplin to Foo Fighters to Eminem sound pretty good with the Kicker 6.5. It is "musical" and not what we call a "one note thumper". You won't get those crazy sub-35Hz notes found in a lot of rap music, but it kicks pretty hard and is nice and tight, and transitions well with the lower end of most 5.25 / 6.5 speakers that you'll be using in the doors.

The XJ is one of the worst acoustical environments. There is very little sound dampening material and the doors especially sound like garbage. And all of us are brutally aware of the symphony of squeals, rattles, and squeaks that comes with owning one. I can 100% assure you that you're better of investing in some Dynamat or similar for the doors, and possibly on the roof above the soundbar speakers, and going with a single smaller sub, that spending big bucks on dual subs and larger, more expensive amplifiers and wiring.

Here's some links for you:







http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002KR06A/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1





If none of that suits you, buy yourself an amplified 8" Bazooka tube and call it done.

 

Well thank you for your input, you've answered the majority of my concerns, do you think that those foam surrounds have a use in the door speakers and do they also make a noticeable difference? i dont like the idea of a bass tube just because i dont need to take up any more space in the trunk but i'm a little more sold on the 6.5" sub in the cubby.

 

I tried using the foam baffles in the front doors on my XJ, and with my Polk db651s, I didn't like the sound. Made the speakers sound muffled, and they were better without it.

Yes, I understand the cargo space concern. There are a couple of guys on here that sell cubby enclosures designed for 10" and 12" subs, but they protrude a couple of inches into the existing cargo space. The XJ Pod that Quadratec sells for an 8" sub also protrudes a bit, and even if it didn't I don't care for the looks, and it only comes in black. I wanted something that didn't protrude at all, and looked like it could have come from the factory that way, so that's why I built my own. I found a spare tire cover at the JY that matched my interior, and used that as the carpet on the face of the box, so it's a match. The black metal speaker grill I used actually sits just slightly recessed into the main side wall panel, so I can slide boxes in there along that side and they don't snag the grill. On tip... Use some Dynamat or similar on the inside of the quarter panel behind the sub. If you don't have that, buy a can of rubberized undercoating and spray the inside of the quarter panel. Once it dries, spray some of that expanding foam in there. Not too much, but a nice coat. Those two combined help with quarter panel rattle from the sub.

If you didn't see it in my other threads, all I'm running is a head unit (now a Blaupunkt Toronto BT 420) that powers the door and soundbar speakers, which are Polk db651 and db521, the Kicker 6.5 CompVT which is powered by a Dual 400 watt amp I have mounted under the front passenger seat. The amp fits great, and has performed flawlessly for over 3 years now. There will probably be some brand/price tag snobs that say Dual is crap, or that you should have components with higher sound quality, and in a sense maybe they are right. But audiophile quality stuff only reaches its potential in a quality acoustic environment, and the Cherokee, short of lots of work and dollars, is anything but. It's kind of like, why would you waste money putting a Ferrari engine in a Dodge Caravan? Kinda pointless. I'll save my money to buy high-end stuff for my home theater. What I have in the XJ is 90% as good as the "high-end" stuff, without the huge price tag.

 

Will a small bazooka fit under rear seat and is this a viable option?

 

If it can be disassembled, a small bazooka launcher might fit, but you'll have a hell of a time explaining it to cops if you are pulled over...

In short, no. Not even close. There's only about 4" of depth at the deepest point under the rear seat, and that ramps up even shallower pretty quickly. About the only use I've found for the space under the rear seat is to store the following items:

• 20 foot tow strap
• 6 foot tree saver strap
• multi-tip screwdriver set
• small socket set with stubby ratchet
• Cresent wrench
• Channel lock pliers
• Regular pliers
• Needle-nosed pliers
• mechanics gloves
• spare quart of oil
• 16 ounce bottle of water
• 3 ratchet straps
• package of zip-ties
• a couple of clean red shop rags
• half a dozen bungie cords
• tire puncture repair kit
• spare serpentine belt
• half a dozen hand/foot warmer packets
• small first aid kit
• ****** block
• two small wrench assortments - metric and SAE
• two foldable hex/torx wrench sets - metric and SAE
• partial roll of duct tape
• roll of electrical tape
• 8 feet of 12 gauge electrical wire
• small coil of bailing wire
• a small twin tube epoxy set
• single AA LED flashlight - I always have a better tactical light in my pocket for EDC
• a cheap plastic rain poncho
• a Bic lighter
• two road flares
• The factory jack and tire tool

In other words, you can pack in a lot of small or flat items, but nothing that is very tall or round.

 

Awesome thread,guys,some great mods in here! Subscribed,looking to do some things to mine too

 

Lots of great info in here fellers. Keep it comin!


For those that have upgraded speakers in doors and sound bar, did dynamat or an alternative make a difference in sound quality.

Like feller up there said our XJs have terrible aucustics and anything within relative expense I can do to make it quieter outside and sound better inside is a plus.

Spray foam in rear wheel well, dynamat floor boards and doors, what else can I do?

 

check out peel n seal, i used some of this(different brand tho) its meant for roofing but makes a great sound deadner, for a fraction of the cost.

my current list of interior mods (96 sport):

-pvc cupholder
-zj front seats
-xj country woodgrain door panels/dash bezel/steering wheel cover
-red LED dash/gear/4x4 selector
-red LED strips under the dash to light up the floor boards
-overhead console with white LED panels in each MAP light
-00 xj rear seat
-98 shifter with a ZJ shift ****
-00 head liner and speaker bar
-custom tool box i made out of scrap wood
-ZJ center console lid
-rear LED panel in domelight
- sound deadened roof and door panels using Tite Seal roof flashing (works really well and took 50$ to do the whole mentioned peices)

 

I did this last month with a 10" sub. Built a box myself and the sound is awesome. I don't listen to rap and wasn't trying to blow anyone away either but I was surprised how much mine put out.

I did not use any dynamat and I feel like my sound is as good as it will get. There is no rattling inside or out behind my sub or upgraded door speakers. My sub box doesn't touch the rear quarter panel, it probably would rattle if it did.

 

Yeah man I'm familiar with with peel n seal. Used it on my last XJ and just used it on the front floorboards and doors of my new one this week. Going to do the rear this weekend.

Has anyone done the rear doors? Does peel n seal help there much?

 

Also, it sucks. Yes, you get an 8" in there (and can modify it to handle a 10" I think), but, it screws directly into the plastic of the cubby area which isn't really designed to bear the weight of an 8" sub, especially when it's trying to thump. Unintended rattles and vibrations galore . . . especially if you've got a . . . what? '97 or later model with the fiberglass rear hatch. Shake, rattle and roll.

I'm fairly confident you could probably do a little research on the interweb and build your own box out of mdf, upholster it yourself and be much happier with the sound you get.