Adding an Aftermarket Amp(s)

[smacum]

I



I'd recommend tapping into the rear speaker wires feeding your soundbar. Those will be the twisted pair wires accessible in the B-pillar behind the passenger seat and at the floor level.

I'm just not sure where the cross-over to the stock sub's signal is set. It could be fine to use the stock sub's signal, feeding it into an LOC, though I'd prefer to connect to a full-spectrum signal and let my sub amp handle everything.

For the record, I have the base radio, not the Alpine, so this is purely opinion.

That's how I did it in my last truck, so should be fine here, too. I'm also not sure if the sub is sent only the L or R or both, and if I use the soundbar wires I can get both for sure.

Thanks for the input! New to the scene so I am pretty ignorant where it comes to Jeeps ...

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[Bbaliatico]

STING_NC_USA....THANK YOU!​

I was shooting myself for both the stock 5@ and the “Chrysler 3.5” upgrade. I had to turn the eq way down and it just sucked.

I added the bass blockers that amazon recommends for those and it was a game changer.

1. Used your wiring diagram and a “carpet” razor blade to peel back the factory cloth tape covering in front.
2. With a reasonable cut down of the bass blocker leads, I could tie right in, heat tape a simple splice and avoid any soldering nor a new connector harness. Took maybe 20 min to do the fronts.
3. The sound bar was trickier. Btw the white wire is the positive. You have to position the bass blocker into the little angle deep in the recess to make it fit easy. I just put a strip of duct tape to hold it while I screwed in the 3.5”’s with no issue.
4. Our the eq on the POS 5” uconnect at, +3 bars for bass, +4 for mid, +3 for treble.
5. I listened to everything from GnR to LLCoolJ to Fetty and Bob Marley likes 70’s rock and it was all good

I ONLY BASS BLOCKED THE new 3.5”. The stock 4” is straight from the radio.

I still need power, but I think I have got all I can at of the front and roll bar speakers. Going to get a 4 channel app, tap the rear speaker leads at the floor between front passenger and rear seats. Use the resistor trick and basically add a pair of tailgate speakers with a sub I can crank up.

 

[Sting_NC_USA]

@Bbaliatico, Glad this helped. Hey, would you mind checking out your posts above and editing them to remove the quote of my post? My post is quite long and for some reason it's showing multiple times in your responses above. Thanks and I hope your install goes well!

 

[woodson16]

Any idea how to remove the factory alpine subwoofer in back? I have a 10” punch that is like to try and see if there is an improvement but I get all of the screws off and speaker won’t come out. I’m missing something and can’t tell what it is.

 

[Sting_NC_USA]

Sorry, don't have the Alpine. Maybe others can assist...

Oh, and would you please edit your last post to remove the quote of my original post? The original post is too long to quote on each reply. Thanks!

 

[tnnjl]

Sorry, don't have the Alpine. Maybe others can assist...

Oh, and would you please edit your last post to remove the quote of my original post? The original post is too long to quote on each reply. Thanks!

I found a youtube video where this person removing all the covers in the back to do the line-x. View video at 3:19 where he removed the subwoofer.

 

[Sting_NC_USA]

Nice! I especially like the license plate "DOORSLOL"!

 

[smacum]

Ok, got my subs installed and now trying to deal with headlight dimming when it hits. I had a capacitor installed and it seemed to help, but to the detriment of amplifier performance. It just seemed to suck the power away from the amp while it was recharging.

So now I'm thinking I need an upgraded alternator. I have (I believe) the standard alternator for this model as I don't have the towing package.

I've looked around and there just doesn't seem to be much out there for the JL yet. Any other suggestions to help deal with this?

 

[Sting_NC_USA]

Ok, got my subs installed and now trying to deal with headlight dimming when it hits. I had a capacitor installed and it seemed to help, but to the detriment of amplifier performance. It just seemed to suck the power away from the amp while it was recharging.

So now I'm thinking I need an upgraded alternator. I have (I believe) the standard alternator fro this model.

I've looked around and there just doesn't seem to be much out there for the JL yet. Any other suggestions to help deal with this?

A few questions for you to consider:

• What wire gauge are you using?
  • It should be 4 or zero gauge from your battery to your amp/distribution block.
  • And, your ground wire(s) needs to be solidly mounted to a dedicated frame grounding post, metal to metal, no paint.
  • All of your grounded devices should be connected to their own, independent ground points, not combined.
• What are you using as a remote turn on wire for your Amp?
  • Most use the cigarette lighter adapter's 12V triggered signal
  • A relay is highly recommended, especially with a high-powered system
• Which amps are you running?
  • You shouldn't be seeing issues with lights dimming unless you've gone wild with the amps.
  • The battery/alternator combination in a non-tow package equipped vehicle is definitely smaller.
• Is your battery fully charged?
  • Often on installs, when doors are open, testing is being done, etc., your battery can drain.
  • I usually plug mine to a battery tender/charger overnight after working on it.

I'll try to help if I can, but please don't feel obligated to answer all of this. These questions are mostly rhetorical, and hopefully serve as a checklist, though I'm sure folks watching this thread would be interested in what might be causing the dimming.

 

[smacum]

• What wire gauge are you using?
  • It should be 4 or zero gauge from your battery to your amp/distribution block. 4 guage
  • And, your ground wire(s) needs to be solidly mounted to a dedicated frame grounding post. Check
  • All of your grounded devices should be connected to their own, independent ground points, not combined. Check
• What are you using as a remote turn on wire for your Amp?
  • Most use the cigarette lighter adapter's 12V triggered signal. I'll ask the installer (not positive)
  • A relay is highly recommended, especially with a high-powered system He didn't put in a relay as i didn't buy one
• Which amps are you running?
  • You shouldn't be seeing issues with lights dimming unless you've gone wild with the amps. Single 3000w mono amp
  • The battery/alternator combination in a non-tow package equipped vehicle is definitely smaller. I don't have tow setup
• Is your battery fully charged?
  • Often on installs, when doors are open, testing is being done, etc., your battery can drain.
  • I usually plug mine to a battery tender/charger overnight after working on it. I'll try this

I'm also replacing the amp (not happy with the one had as it seemed to have some issues. Maybe that will fix it if the other was faulty. I'll keep you updated.

Thanks for the guidance!

 

[Biconia]

thanks for great info
i just pull my trigger on

Audio Control LC7i 6-Channel
AX-DSP-CH5 Harness
9 Multiple conductor speed wire 18GA
Apline KTP-445U 4-Channel amp

hope this will get me clean sound
i will chime in for any help

thanks again !

 

[Tylerjcloud92]

Ok, got my subs installed and now trying to deal with headlight dimming when it hits. I had a capacitor installed and it seemed to help, but to the detriment of amplifier performance. It just seemed to suck the power away from the amp while it was recharging.

So now I'm thinking I need an upgraded alternator. I have (I believe) the standard alternator for this model as I don't have the towing package.

I've looked around and there just doesn't seem to be much out there for the JL yet. Any other suggestions to help deal with this?

Does your idle surge at all when it draws that hard? Mine surges really bad with the a/c on seems like it does it every time it drops below 14.0v

 

[smacum]

Does your idle surge at all when it draws that hard? Mine surges really bad with the a/c on seems like it does it every time it drops below 14.0v

Hmmm. I've never noticed. Let me check that out.

 

[Greg Cobble]

Sting_NC_USA, another huge thank you for your time and post. Additionally, thank you to others who have contributed.
I believe I have decided the direction I want to go with my 2 door JL (non alpine). If there are specifics I should look for, please feel free to comment because though I have done these things before, they usually take me about 6 days and 12 trips to town to get what I need...and possibly a little profanity.....and sleeping on the couch for being cranky until I figure it out What I think I can live with if it can work:
JL Audio JX 360 ( 2 channel setting in my garage)
JL Audio C2 (5 1/4 two way) for the roll bar

My questions:
1. Am I correct in that I could use the JL line level and not need the JL Fix?
2. I will need the resistor?
3. How can I best achieve cutting signal to all speakers except the roll bar, while providing full range to the 5 and 1/4 speakers I put in the roll bar.

Can you think of better options for realizing a clean two way system that has some "body" "guts". I am not trying to obtain a well imaged stage in my JL. Just some tunes with a little power to push some decent 5.25 speakers?

All comment are welcome and even more so if you can save me from myself LOL

 

[smacum]

I'm still having headlight dimming issues so I'm going to do a "Big 3" wire replacement and see if that doesn't help. If not I'll be in the market for a high performance alternator, I guess. Any ideas on which one to order should I need to? Thanks!!!

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