I'll start this thread with my experience. I have tried several stereo
installations in my truck and am not happy with any of them.
My truck had an uncut dash so I first used a Kraco cheapy unit on a bracket
under the dash, and a pair of pioneer surface mount speakers on the kick
panels. Needless to say the sound sucked. And the whole setup was cheesy. I
then tried a OEM unit from a Jeep Cherokee, also under the dash, with a
better set of speakers on the kick panels. Better, but I still wasn't happy.
Next I bought a Custom Autosound in-dash unit (the CK-04 40 watt model).
This one has all the bells and whistles, but has a plastic-y look, useless
digital display and is totally out of keeping with the old style interior.
Sounds fair with a set of good 6 X9 speakers in wedge boxes behind the seats
(buckets) and a pair of the 2-1/2" speakers in the original speaker location
in the dash. The seats muffle a lot of the sound from the boxes, and the
dash speakers sound like a drive-in speaker at anything but low volumes.
Actually, any new Toyota base stereo sounds much better. Mainly, because you
can actually hear it.
The first problem to overcome is the ambient noise level in most old trucks.
They are just too damn noisy, so my plans are to do a lot of cab insulation
this summer. New rubber on the doors, bubble foil in the headliner, floors,
doors, back of the seats, etc.
Maybe even some of that Accu-mat stuff. Any stereo will sound like crap when
you have to play it at the levels needed in a tin box with leaky windows and
no insulation.
The other problem is space. Most quality stereo setups in cars have a lot of
the amps and speakers in the trunk. There is no such room in an old truck.
Especially if you don't want to cut holes in doors, kick panels etc. I like
the sound(feel?) of a subwoofer but have yet to figure out where to put
one, even using bucket seats, unless I relocate the gas tank...
The glove box is one alternative for the stereo head, but I keep a lot of
junk in mine and would really miss the space. A CD changer would go under a
seat OK though. I guess my ideal stereo would use an in-dash conversion
through the original dash openings; about 250 watts in a separate amp;
tweeters up high in the headliner somewhere; midrange on the kickpanels; and
a big sub behind the seats. Once I rode in a Fiero with speakers built into
the headrests, it sounded great.
Anyway, that's been my experience with sound systems in an old truck. I
guess it's like most everything, you get what you pay for. In my case,
killer sound isn't really a major priority, given what it will take to get
there.
Jack / Winter Park FL
----- Original Message -----
From: Tim Lloyd <lloydt@Colorado.EDU>
To: <oletrucks@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, April 26, 1999 4:41 PM
Subject: [oletrucks] Stereo questions
> The random two-foot snowfalls are coming with less and less
> frequency...summer must be approaching here in Colorado! So as I'm
> planning out my summer projects, I'm thinking about installing a decent
> sound system in my 54 Chevy 3100.
>
> I'm very interested in hearing from anyone on the list who has installed
> any kind of a sound system in their truck, whether it's 100% authentic or
> 100% new-fangled. Oh, and pictures, if you have them.
>
> My plan, for the moment, is to install a decent (nothing too expensive,
> I'm just a college student) CD player in the glove box, the dual-speaker
> set that Chevy Duty carries in the in-dash speaker location, and another
> set of speakers somewhere else in the cab. I'm looking forward to hearing
> from anyone who's installed stereos in their trucks so I can get some
> ideas on how to do this right.
>
> Tim Lloyd, omaha@tmbg.org
> http://pagina.de/Apollo18
> "When I grow up...I want to work my way up to middle management... I
> want to be underappreciated... I want to have a brown nose... Yes, boss,
> anything for a raise, boss..." -some ad
> "...failure to terraform Mars constitutes failure to live up to our human
> nature and a betrayal of our responsibility as members of the community of
> life itself." -Robert Zubrin
>
> oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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