One of the more frequently asked questions I have come across with regard to the H3T is how to make a subwoofer fit in the non-existent cabin space. Heck, I’ve asked it myself. For a long time, I thought it impossible. Well, thanks to some pioneers who have paved the way for this project, today I am proud to post this write-up on installing a pair of subwoofers into the H3T.
The following is a (more or less) step by step process for installing a pair of Sound Ordnance B-8PT powered subwoofers into the H3T. I know for some musical connoisseurs, the thought of a powered woofer is unpalatable – and that the thought of two may cause vomiting. On the other hand, for others (me included), powered subs that fit are better than acoustic masterpieces that don’t.
My initial impressions? The SO’s give my music noticeably more thump than the stock system did, and they really fill out the low end. The subs, for 130 watts, hit hard and sound great. I burned a CD with music (legally downloaded, I might add) of all sorts and played the whole thing – I was very content with the outcome. The multitude of positive reviews of the product are spot on. So far, it’s a great little sub, AND, it is backed with a 3 year warranty from Crutchfield.
What do you have to lose??? But I’m sure by now you’re on the edge of your seat, just dying to see how you too can get some thump in your system. So please, read onward!
Drum roll please…
Installing your Sound Ordnance B-8PT Subwoofer/s in 10 (Relatively) Easy Steps
I’m going to apologize in advance – I’m sure that some of the terms or names for things I’m writing about will be incorrect. I’m not the engineer in the family. If you are confused, just imagine you are a simpleton and it will likely make sense. Also, I realize the photos are very grainy. It was raining during my install, so the truck was in the garage and the lighting was bad. Anywho, first, you’re going to need some tools:
Fold your seat and remove the four nuts holding down the rear side with the extra long extended 18mm. Remove the front two as well once you’re done, using just the extended 18mm socket.
Ok, now you’re seat is out. Pat yourself on the back. I suggest hand-tightening the nuts back onto their respective positions to keep track of them and so you don’t poke yourself too many times on the exposed thingys.
Step 2
Take out your jack. Find a place in the truck bed to keep it, because you’re not going to be able to keep it. If you need your jack in the OEM position, put the seat back now and return the woofers while you still can. If you can live without it under the bench, continue, using the extended 8mm socket.
Step 3
Remove the plastic panel on the rear of the cab. You (well, I didn’t) won’t need a tool – just pull gently at the corners and it will pull right off. Some of the blue tabs will likely fall off, so gather them and put the panel aside.
Step 4
Pull the three clips out of your Monsoon amp. If you don’t have the Monsoon system…well…put everything back together and crack a few cold ones. Count back from 10 and breathe into a paper bag. Assuming you have Monsoon, you are going to want to use your Posi-Taps to connect both positive and negative speaker inputs into the Monsoon Amp Wiring harness.
You are going to want to tap one woofer into your right rear speaker wires, which are Dark Blue (+) and Light Blue (-). They are pin #1 and #2, respectively. Tap your other woofer into your left rear speaker wires, which are Brown (+) and Yellow (-). They are pin #3 and #4, respectively. I suggest using a power drill to twist your wires together so they are cleaner and easier to keep as separate entities.
Here is the Monsoon Amp wiring diagram for your reference:
When you buy the woofers from Crutchfield, they give you free tech support for the life of the product, so be sure to talk to them to meet your specific wiring needs. This worked for me, so this is what I did. You can certainly use RCA wires as well, but the OEM head units do not have the necessary inputs for that.
I’m going to omit photos for this segment, because it looks like a jumbled mess of wires….namely because it is. If you’re doing the wiring, chances are the text above will be reference enough. Or maybe not. Just do what feels right for you. Ok, I lied about the photos. Here’s one…but it won’t help you. Just pretend that it does.
Step 5
Hydrate. Maybe eat some lunch. Take a few moments to reflect on the meaning of life. Wipe the sweat from your brow. Dress your wounds. Clean up the debris in the truck cab. Whatever.
Step 6
This is the one step that doesn’t seem to work on my set up. We were told to tap our REM into the pink wire (pin #19), which ideally would have turned the subs on with the power to the head unit. But, it did not work.
Luckily the subs have an “auto” feature and they turn on automatically when they sense current, but only at a high volume. That is where I’m stuck right now. I called Crutchfield and they said something like a relay might allow the REM to work…I kinda zoned out to be honest. I’ll update as I figure it out. For now, I just have to blast the music for a few seconds to get the subs on, and then they’ll stay on at any volume. At least they work. If you have an idea how to fix this, throw it out there.
Step 7
You are going to need to ground both of the woofers. Remember that jack you removed? Well, with the jack and plate gone, you now have 3 places to ground your subs that are practically right next to them. I chose the spot where the threads stick up.
Step 8
Now, you are nearly done with wires! You now need to run power from the battery next. I chose to use an 8 gauge wire to ensure that the subs were getting enough power. By the way, I used a small piece of that same wire as a jumper between the units.
I suggest using prong-shaped connectors (or are they called “heads”? – you know they things that allow you to connect the power wire to the screw to send the unit power) because the circular ones won’t fit in the narrow space provided. We only had a couple prongs, so we had to make our own by clipping segments out of the circular ones to make prongs.
I then ran my power wire through one of the air vent things, down and along my frame, and then up into my engine bay to the positive terminal on the battery. I suggest putting a fuse in-line as well. I used a 50 amp fuse.
You should be able to move the carpeting some towards the end of the cab, so use the opportunity to tuck the wire out of site some.
The floor of your T should look something like this now:
Step 9
You will likely want to put something under the subs so that they do not slide around. I will mention that you are going to have to sort of angle them some in order for them to fit under the bench. (There is NO room under that damn bench seat! Luckily these units just fit.)
I used some soft foam from some junk in the basement that we attached with double sided tape. The foam acts as a non-slip surface and will allow easy removal in the future. This way you don’t have to rip up your carpeting if you use glue or something.
Step 10
You are now close to done. Well…put the seat back on. Got it? Ok…You’re done.
There you have it. Turn on your CD player and enjoy! I’m sure I’ll be updating this as I decide to add new tips or things I left out. I hope that you find this useful, and please feel free to ask me any questions you may have. I owe a great deal of thanks to Papa Hans – without his help this install would not have happened. I would also like to extend thanks to Bigunit (for his Posi-Tap donation), solidjj & 5GN-H3T (for their knowledge), and Crutchfield Tech Support (for putting up with my technically challenged self).
The following is a (more or less) step by step process for installing a pair of Sound Ordnance B-8PT powered subwoofers into the H3T. I know for some musical connoisseurs, the thought of a powered woofer is unpalatable – and that the thought of two may cause vomiting. On the other hand, for others (me included), powered subs that fit are better than acoustic masterpieces that don’t.
My initial impressions? The SO’s give my music noticeably more thump than the stock system did, and they really fill out the low end. The subs, for 130 watts, hit hard and sound great. I burned a CD with music (legally downloaded, I might add) of all sorts and played the whole thing – I was very content with the outcome. The multitude of positive reviews of the product are spot on. So far, it’s a great little sub, AND, it is backed with a 3 year warranty from Crutchfield.
What do you have to lose??? But I’m sure by now you’re on the edge of your seat, just dying to see how you too can get some thump in your system. So please, read onward!
Drum roll please…
Installing your Sound Ordnance B-8PT Subwoofer/s in 10 (Relatively) Easy Steps
I’m going to apologize in advance – I’m sure that some of the terms or names for things I’m writing about will be incorrect. I’m not the engineer in the family. If you are confused, just imagine you are a simpleton and it will likely make sense. Also, I realize the photos are very grainy. It was raining during my install, so the truck was in the garage and the lighting was bad. Anywho, first, you’re going to need some tools:
- 18mm extended socket with length extenders
- 8mm extended socket
- Wire snips
- About 8 hours of free time to devote
- Various screwdrivers
- Flashlight and overhead lamp (hang it from your “oh-crap” handle)
- Power drill (to braid wire)
- Paper towels for your sweaty face
- Various pliers
- Cool beverages
- 6 Posi-Tap 16-18 gauge taps
- Various wire for the speakers and power
- Zip ties
- Anything else you want that I forgot
Fold your seat and remove the four nuts holding down the rear side with the extra long extended 18mm. Remove the front two as well once you’re done, using just the extended 18mm socket.
Ok, now you’re seat is out. Pat yourself on the back. I suggest hand-tightening the nuts back onto their respective positions to keep track of them and so you don’t poke yourself too many times on the exposed thingys.
Step 2
Take out your jack. Find a place in the truck bed to keep it, because you’re not going to be able to keep it. If you need your jack in the OEM position, put the seat back now and return the woofers while you still can. If you can live without it under the bench, continue, using the extended 8mm socket.
Step 3
Remove the plastic panel on the rear of the cab. You (well, I didn’t) won’t need a tool – just pull gently at the corners and it will pull right off. Some of the blue tabs will likely fall off, so gather them and put the panel aside.
Step 4
Pull the three clips out of your Monsoon amp. If you don’t have the Monsoon system…well…put everything back together and crack a few cold ones. Count back from 10 and breathe into a paper bag. Assuming you have Monsoon, you are going to want to use your Posi-Taps to connect both positive and negative speaker inputs into the Monsoon Amp Wiring harness.
You are going to want to tap one woofer into your right rear speaker wires, which are Dark Blue (+) and Light Blue (-). They are pin #1 and #2, respectively. Tap your other woofer into your left rear speaker wires, which are Brown (+) and Yellow (-). They are pin #3 and #4, respectively. I suggest using a power drill to twist your wires together so they are cleaner and easier to keep as separate entities.
Here is the Monsoon Amp wiring diagram for your reference:
When you buy the woofers from Crutchfield, they give you free tech support for the life of the product, so be sure to talk to them to meet your specific wiring needs. This worked for me, so this is what I did. You can certainly use RCA wires as well, but the OEM head units do not have the necessary inputs for that.
I’m going to omit photos for this segment, because it looks like a jumbled mess of wires….namely because it is. If you’re doing the wiring, chances are the text above will be reference enough. Or maybe not. Just do what feels right for you. Ok, I lied about the photos. Here’s one…but it won’t help you. Just pretend that it does.
Step 5
Hydrate. Maybe eat some lunch. Take a few moments to reflect on the meaning of life. Wipe the sweat from your brow. Dress your wounds. Clean up the debris in the truck cab. Whatever.
Step 6
This is the one step that doesn’t seem to work on my set up. We were told to tap our REM into the pink wire (pin #19), which ideally would have turned the subs on with the power to the head unit. But, it did not work.
Luckily the subs have an “auto” feature and they turn on automatically when they sense current, but only at a high volume. That is where I’m stuck right now. I called Crutchfield and they said something like a relay might allow the REM to work…I kinda zoned out to be honest. I’ll update as I figure it out. For now, I just have to blast the music for a few seconds to get the subs on, and then they’ll stay on at any volume. At least they work. If you have an idea how to fix this, throw it out there.
Step 7
You are going to need to ground both of the woofers. Remember that jack you removed? Well, with the jack and plate gone, you now have 3 places to ground your subs that are practically right next to them. I chose the spot where the threads stick up.
Step 8
Now, you are nearly done with wires! You now need to run power from the battery next. I chose to use an 8 gauge wire to ensure that the subs were getting enough power. By the way, I used a small piece of that same wire as a jumper between the units.
I suggest using prong-shaped connectors (or are they called “heads”? – you know they things that allow you to connect the power wire to the screw to send the unit power) because the circular ones won’t fit in the narrow space provided. We only had a couple prongs, so we had to make our own by clipping segments out of the circular ones to make prongs.
I then ran my power wire through one of the air vent things, down and along my frame, and then up into my engine bay to the positive terminal on the battery. I suggest putting a fuse in-line as well. I used a 50 amp fuse.
You should be able to move the carpeting some towards the end of the cab, so use the opportunity to tuck the wire out of site some.
The floor of your T should look something like this now:
Step 9
You will likely want to put something under the subs so that they do not slide around. I will mention that you are going to have to sort of angle them some in order for them to fit under the bench. (There is NO room under that damn bench seat! Luckily these units just fit.)
I used some soft foam from some junk in the basement that we attached with double sided tape. The foam acts as a non-slip surface and will allow easy removal in the future. This way you don’t have to rip up your carpeting if you use glue or something.
Step 10
You are now close to done. Well…put the seat back on. Got it? Ok…You’re done.
There you have it. Turn on your CD player and enjoy! I’m sure I’ll be updating this as I decide to add new tips or things I left out. I hope that you find this useful, and please feel free to ask me any questions you may have. I owe a great deal of thanks to Papa Hans – without his help this install would not have happened. I would also like to extend thanks to Bigunit (for his Posi-Tap donation), solidjj & 5GN-H3T (for their knowledge), and Crutchfield Tech Support (for putting up with my technically challenged self).
