What did you do to your FX / QX70 today?

did something stupid yesterday... sprayed wd40 on the caliper to clean it off to prep for paint. needless to say the braking was horrible. Today i woke up early to change my discs and pads. couldn't get the bolts off the disc brake brakes.. blah! so i cleaned the current brakes and pads with brake cleaner, and painted the calipers black. Still feels mushy and like the piston is stuck / rubbing ( i hope the wd40 didn' t go inside the seals). GOnan wait for my buddy to bring over his impact to try again... Was fun tho.
 
yaaaaaaaay
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Viperi said:
did something stupid yesterday... sprayed wd40 on the caliper to clean it off to prep for paint. needless to say the braking was horrible. Today i woke up early to change my discs and pads. couldn't get the bolts off the disc brake brakes.. blah! so i cleaned the current brakes and pads with brake cleaner, and painted the calipers black. Still feels mushy and like the piston is stuck / rubbing ( i hope the wd40 didn' t go inside the seals). GOnan wait for my buddy to bring over his impact to try again... Was fun tho.
Click to expand...

Try using a pipe on the rachet for leverage to break the bolts loose. That will def work.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 2
 
Finally changed by brakes. R1concept rotors with stoptech pads! so proud of myself hahaa. feels amazing esp the break in steps :P
 
tchuck said:
Alright, I finished several hours ago but just now took a pic and have time to post it.

As with most of you, I have noticed the underwhelming performance of the stock Bose subwoofer unit. I cracked it open the other day and found three things.
First, the amp inside the speaker box is pathetically small, and rated at 100watts. I don't know how they rate things at Bose but I own a 15watt tube amp that is 5 times the physical size. I could go into more detail but suffice it to say, that amp is the product of space constraints. The end.
Second, the dual 6" speakers are not nearly as bad as I expected. They aren't meant for ear splitting volume levels, but that considered they could be a lot worse.
Third, the box itself is very well designed. It's a ported enclosure utilizing a relatively simplified version of the proprietary Bose "waveguide" design, has almost no internal right angles, is surprisingly rigid, and very light. Plus it fits into the spare tire, which is a huge bonus IMO.
Anyway, just as I was thinking about replacing the pitiful sub amp, I happened upon a 200watt monoblock JL Audio amp on craigslist for $35. Giddy-up. I picked up a PAC adapter for $25 to avoid running wires from the back of the head unit, an 8AWG Phoenix Gold amp install kit from a local stereo store, and began modeling the removable tray on which I was going to mount all this stuff. The reason for mounting everything to the tray is so it can all be removed quickly and easily if I want to throw the spare tire back in to go somewhere outside cell phone range. I finished up the modeling last night and woke up early this morning eager to get started. All in all, it took about 4 hours and just under $100 for the whole thing. I don't know how to show you the results beyond the following pics, but trust me when I say the difference is night and day. I am not even thinking about upgrading the sub anymore, and now run the "bass" level at -2 to keep things even. Here are the pics:

Solidworks model of amp tray with amp and adapter - top view:
View attachment 205133

Solidworks model of amp tray with amp and adapter - iso view:
View attachment 205135

Pic of the whole thing installed: (I'm going to hide all the wires tomorrow)
View attachment 205137

Also, this DIY help tremendously: ///2811

EDIT: I adjusted the input levels on the amp this evening so it runs with the "bass" adjustment at -0-. The sound quality is drastically improved, the volume only slightly. I also timed a full removal, which included pulling the fuse @ the battery and unplugging everything from the tray, at a little under 4min.
Click to expand...


That's awsome!!!
 
^ Awesome upgrade. Congrats. Wish I could hear how it sounds. I might just do something like this. Just one question though: does the bass still sound even with the mids and highs or is it overpowering at all?

Sent from my HTC Evo3D
 
Thanks guys. I adjusted the input level on the amp properly (according to JL specs), which makes the sub only slightly louder than stock when the bass is set to -0-. In practice I adjust it from time to time to suit different styles of music, but at the volume levels I typically enjoy it never moves more than +/-3. Well, I do turn the bass to -5 when my daughter and/or dogs are in the car, but that's just a precaution...

Overall this is a perfect mod IMO. The amp has been perfectly reliable and the whole thing comes out super easy to reinstall the spare for camping trips.
 
UglyOrangeThing said:
^ Awesome upgrade. Congrats. Wish I could hear how it sounds. I might just do something like this. Just one question though: does the bass still sound even with the mids and highs or is it overpowering at all?

Sent from my HTC Evo3D
Click to expand...

It certainly CAN overpower the rest of the system, but when it does I just turn the bass down a bit. More watts makes the sub more dynamic and I'm still using (read; not bypassing) the oem equalization, so -5 makes it virtually inaudible and +5 makes the rear view mirror unusable. :D
 
Tchuck, you want to know something impressive about our stock Bose sub? Your shaking your rearview with dual 4" subs, not 6"....lol.

Go out with your buddies and tell them to check out your subs. " damn that sounds nice what are you running one 10?". Dual 4's buddy... Dual 4's....Hahaha.
Sent .
 
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I have two JL Audio 13W7's im not using in my basement. Imagine one of those in an FX. I was running those with an Alpahsonik 2400 watt class D monoblock amp

Sent from my HTC Evo3D
 
toy4x said:
Tchuck, you want to know something impressive about our stock Bose sub? Your shaking your rearview with dual 4" subs, not 6"....lol.

Go out with your buddies and tell them to check out your subs. " damn that sounds nice what are you running one 10?". Dual 4's buddy... Dual 4's....Hahaha.
Sent .
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Ha. I don't think anyone would mistake it for a 10. There is still a decent gap between "better than stock" and anything really good. Its much better than 95% of the factory subs I've heard, but nowhere near any properly setup/amplified 10".
 
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