I am looking into doing a cab thru into box install on dodge ram '00. Anybody done one of these. I have pro-body with a body shop that is willing to help. I will be building this as a shop vehicle. It will be driven in the rain/snow/ and any other wether that comes are way in the northern country. Any tips or ideas/ experiences will be greatly appreciated...Pictures would be awesome..
Thanx
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well i had a friend do it...he just cut a hole in the cab and fit a box that would slide in and put cualking around it..he glassed the outside of the box and put diamond plate on the outside so it looks like a tool box...
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jl audio..nuff said
My recommendation is a bandpass box design with the ports extending through the bed and cab walls. This keeps the structural material removal of the cab to a minimum. just a couple of round holes.
You know those roof flanges used to vent the septic pipe in your house? You can snap the rubber flange off of them and snap them into the holes cut into the cab and bed. Just slide the ports through and you have a flexible, sealed coupling. I only did this once but it worked out fine.
Doing a bandpass requires cutting a hole, not cutting out the back of the truck! Client moved to Maryland from AZ. The truck had to have a safety inspection. The inspector saw the install. No problems.
You can use "Camper Boot" which is sold to seal between the back window and a full camper shell. This stuff is $6 to $10 a foot. The rim of the boot has metal tabs that grab the metal as you push it on. I added some silicon to the top section to insure againts leaks.
I did (x8) 12" that needed an opening that was 20" x 16".
Made the port of 1/2" mdf pushed it into the hole. Done. Looking back, it would have been easier to seal the opening with an oval hole not a square one. Don't forget that the bed and the cab are designed to flex independently so leave some space between the port and the sides of the cut-out.
When the truck was sold the sections were tack welded, cracks filled with bondo, then painted. Looked stock.
Do you have any pictures of the install?
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Only have 35mm picts and no scanner. I can't remember if digital cameras were even around yet! My earlier post on this subject showed the port as 18"x16" my bad. The drivers fired into a common "tunnel" that ran the length of the box and then was ported into the cab. Four drivers firing inward on each side. This was one heavy box! This box took up the entire bed 4' x 8' x 18".
Two Hifonics Series VII Colossus, one amp per 4 JL 12W-6. Hifonics Series VII Zeus on four Audax 6" midbass. Hifonics Series VII Boltar on Audax Aerogel Mid's and Hifonics Series VII Olympus on four Audax tweeters. Plenty of gear in a two door pickup. I sold all those amps, what the hell was I thinking?