How to upgrade & replace your factory Jeep Wrangler TJ console subwoofer

Have an 02 X 5spd with the center console/subwoofer. I know where the bolts/nuts are under the cup holders ...my question is...to disconnect the subwoofer wiring harness...do I tilt the console towards the dash/or back seat for easier access... And..where is the clip on the harness to disconnect? Thanks in advance.
 
Stan P said:
Have an 02 X 5spd with the center console/subwoofer. I know where the bolts/nuts are under the cup holders ...my question is...to disconnect the subwoofer wiring harness...do I tilt the console towards the dash/or back seat for easier access... And..where is the clip on the harness to disconnect? Thanks in advance.
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There's another screw at the front under the cupholder. Tilt the console towards the front.

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This is what the plug looks like on mine (2002). I almost broke the plug by trying to separate the grey from the white. If I remember right you have to slide the red notch to the side before you can separate the plug.

IMG_5588 copy.jpg
 
I actually did tilt it forward...mine is the same...almost did the same thing (separating the grey from the white)...saw the red notch (actually 2 sides)..but couldn't figure if I pinch/push down/up...and that's when I stopped.

I'll slide to the side...didn't think of that :)

Thanks so much man!!
 
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I worked on this for hours last night grinding down the reinforcement ridges to make the sub fit. After I put my phone in the box with the light on and it slid beneath the sub I realized my issue is the sub hits the drop for the center counsol cubby hole. That must be what was being repaired before with the heat gun and Yeti tumbler. I had a heat gun sitting next to me but I was afraid to melt to much and really mess things up.

So I just forced it down and put in some screws. It seems to sit flush, but I don't like the tension on it. So I'm still thinking about melting that location so the sub fits better. Any thoughts?
 
Related to this, my center console didn't have the sub, although the console does have the "grill" in the side, the inner portion of the armrest is a deep drawer instead. I have an Alpine 10" running off the 5ch of my Alpine amp (~300w iirc, maybe a bit less, I forget). The problem is I had a box that didn't work with the backseat in, now I have a dual downfiring cab I don't really like and takes up the whole behind the backseat.

I am thinking of cutting it in half since I only have one sub and they didn't offer a single version that fit behind the back seat, but I'd really think I'd like to find a passive sub that would work in the center console and save the 10" sub I have for something else. Anyone know of a box/sub console option that could retrofit into the center console when it didn't come with a sub? Rather not the self powered solution.
 
Fargo said:
I worked on this for hours last night grinding down the reinforcement ridges to make the sub fit. After I put my phone in the box with the light on and it slid beneath the sub I realized my issue is the sub hits the drop for the center counsol cubby hole. That must be what was being repaired before with the heat gun and Yeti tumbler. I had a heat gun sitting next to me but I was afraid to melt to much and really mess things up.

So I just forced it down and put in some screws. It seems to sit flush, but I don't like the tension on it. So I'm still thinking about melting that location so the sub fits better. Any thoughts?
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I did the heat gun method and I dont think there is anyway you can melt to much. You can see from my pictures it's barely noticeable from the outside. Heatgun method took me about 30 minutes and worked like a charm.
 
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RangerRick said:
If one wires their amplifier like this you will have NO CONTROL over the bass level of the subwoofer. It will be tied into either your front or rear speaker levels and not independently adjustable.

Therefore, I do NOT recommend this method of connection. Rather, use the RCA SUBWOOFER OUTPUTS from your aftermarket radio to drive the Kicker or any other subwoofer amplifier.

Also, although bass is non-directional, you must connect up the L & R inputs properly even to a MONO amplifier. Otherwise if you only drive one channel without bridging the amplifier internally to mono so both L & R channels can mix, you may loose some bass due to the differences in L & R audio channels. This would really be apparent on early stereo music like early beatles songs where some Harmonie and some instruments including bass guitar and drums could be on only one of the two stereo channel signals and may not then be reproduced by your subwoofer if both channels aren't properly mixed in a "bridge" configuration of the amplifier.

Also a final note that is of some importance:
Some amplifier designs ARE NOT STABLE AT or UNDER 1 to 2 OHMS speaker load and MAY OVERHEAT, BECOME DAMAGED OR otherwise DISTORT at 1/2 OHM load on moderate to high volume peaks. This is just an FYI and is purely based on circuit design of the amplifier you have and it's ability to handle the average impedance load of the speaker connected to it, (engineering spec usually published somewhere in the manual or on the manufacturers website regarding minimum stable load impedance.)
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Just to add...lining the subwoofer housing with road kill or similar make a huge difference, it stiffens it up and kills and vibrations. Next to replacing the speakers this is the next best upgrade. Just a note on dash speaker pods. Not necessary as door speakers etc are infinite baffle designs and closing in the back behind the magnet is actually to be avoided. The only thing that pods with back opened will do is help push the sound out through the grill. So if you use pods cut the rear out so they are open...they need the air.
 
Chris said:
They aren't expensive, trust me. The Kicker subwoofer was $89 (which is what I paid for it), but believe me when I say if you want to get into really crazy audio systems, you can spend 5 times more on a subwoofer if you want!
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I’ll second that. The comp RTs are great , they are efficient so simple for amp to drive making them loud too.
 
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XISophos said:
So I'm looking to fix my console sub problem in my '04 TJ, and I understand everything where physical installation of the sub is involved. Where things get fuzzy for me is the amp. Currently, all of my speakers in the Jeep have been changed over to appropriate Kicker replacements with the exception of the console sub. A couple of years ago I added a self-contained sub (amp built-in) in the back, and connected that the to RCA Sub outs in back of the aftermarket HU. That was pretty straight forward and no mysteries there.

  1. My first question is that if I take the old factory amp out of the console, I should be able to leave the factory harness for it disconnected, and laying loose, correct? The reason I ask this is that I would have a cable run from the new aftermarket amp to the new aftermarket sub in the console.
  2. This leads to my second question, from my aftermarket HU I've already attached the self contained Fosgate sub/amp combo, would I just be able to run an RCA Y adapter cable off of the HU sub out so that I can control both subs independently of the HU controlled speakers in the dash and soundbar? This seems right, since I'd think it'd be a mono signal coming out of the RCA sub outs in the HU.
I apologize if these are dumb questions, I just really don't know much about sound systems, and trying to learn. The answers may have been captured in previous posts, and I'm just not translating it correctly too. Any help would be appreciated!
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Y connector will work proving the sub channel signal to your amps.
 
JMT said:
Opposite on loudness for my JVC. Bluetooth is significantly louder. I’ll have to listen again for clarity. I haven’t noticed a difference so far.
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Look there is Bluetooth and there is Bluetooth. If you are using one of the cigarette lighter plug in things they are really not good. Recently Bluetooth receivers have come a very long way. The JL for example below takes the the blue tooth signal from your phone and delivers cd quality or very close to your amps. In the TJ it can plug into the head unit in place of the of sat reciever or the multi cd changer as there isn’t an aux. if you have aux just plug it in. ( I ran mine directly to the amp as using a single processor to give amps a summed clean signal )

DC41D925-0856-4E04-AC91-C3F41A22022A.jpeg
 
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BuildBreakRepeat said:
Only problem with using the factory amp is you are severely under driving the subwoofer.
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The comp rt is very efficient though. It will certainly work as doesn’t take much ... remember twice the power doesn’t mean twice volume mearly a decibel, I think you’ll be fine with this small kicker.
Edit...just saw how old this thread was lol...
 
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I should have documented my Infinity speaker swap in the JKUR we also had as even though this post was for the original TJ console subwoofer, it was a good tutorial for the JK as well. A few years back I did another subwoofer upgrade and swapped the factory Infinity woofer out of the factory sub box in the back of our JKUR. It had foam surround rot with a big tear and wasn't worth buying another on ebay with what everyone wanted for them. So, taking a page out of the original TJ writeup here I swapped out another in this case, a larger 8" Kicker RT series and added some sound deadening tar backer to the enclosure for a better bass response. Happy to report it worked great up to the time we sold it last Wednesday.

Again, there's always room for improvement on any Jeep factory audio system with a little ingenuity and a will, there is a way!

RR
 
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red02tj said:
If I’ve got this amp wired up by the PO for the front speakers like this.
Can I wire the power to my new sub Rockville SS8P 400 Watt Slim Under-Seat Powered Car/Truck Subwoofer Sub+Amp Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079PSSD6N/?tag=wranglerorg-20

By attaching to the previous amp or do I need to run new lines?
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I can't really tell what you have going on there. It looks like that amp is wired in 'bridged' mode for a sub. It should be wired in stereo for front speakers.

But to get to your question. The sub you linked to is self powered. So you don't need your old amp to power the sub. Just run the RCA cable from your deck to the sub and wire up the subs power and ground wire.
 
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Thanks…”and wire up the subs power and ground wire”….that’s what I was trying to ask. Can I plug “piggy back” the subs power and ground off of the Amps power/ground or do I need to run new wires to the battery?
 
You will get better performance out of your sub if you run a new power wire. Subs can take a lot of power. It will still function if you use the exiting power wire and piggy back with the other amp, but you might end up blowing the fuse a lot or starving your amps for power.

The best practice is to run a new (heavy) wire directly to the batter for any amps. A 4 gauge wire is best but 8 gauge should be sufficient. Be sure to have an inline fuse on your power line as well. Once you run a proper power wire for your amps you can get a distribution block to power both amps off of that dedicated amp wire. (Power wire should be fused near battery)

You also want to be sure to have a good ground. You will often hear alternator wine from amps that are poorly grounded. Check the manual on the sub, but you should be able to ground it to anywhere on the body.
 
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Fargo said:
You will get better performance out of your sub if you run a new power wire. Subs can take a lot of power. It will still function if you use the exiting power wire and piggy back with the other amp, but you might end up blowing the fuse a lot or starving your amps for power.

The best practice is to run a new (heavy) wire directly to the batter for any amps. A 4 gauge wire is best but 8 gauge should be sufficient. Be sure to have an inline fuse on your power line as well. Once you run a proper power wire for your amps you can get a distribution block to power both amps off of that dedicated amp wire. (Power wire should be fused near battery)

You also want to be sure to have a good ground. You will often hear alternator wine from amps that are poorly grounded. Check the manual on the sub, but you should be able to ground it to anywhere on the body.
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I think you also need to look at your existing wiring. You have bare wire showing and the plugin to the amps to look like they are very close to exposing bare wire. You really need to sort that out...easy enough but important.
 
Thedogsbollocks said:
I think you also need to look at your existing wiring. You have bare wire showing and the plugin to the amps to look like they are very close to exposing bare wire. You really need to sort that out...easy enough but important.
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That was an older pic I took before I re-crimped the wires..that much I knew. Thanks for the other advice
 
RangerRick said:
The factory service manual had the schematic of the sound system and how everything was wired up. It was easy to locate the wires to the amplifier and disconnect them when you rewire using an install kit that comes with the correct factory plug pigtails. Never cut your harness if you can help it. Then I ran new wiring to the amplifier and subwoofer that was in the factory enclosure. I removed the amplifier module from the heatsink and put it in a box to save if I ever desired to return the system back to stock configuration. It sounds way more difficult than it actually was to do. The hardest part was finding a sound bar connector in the salvage yard so I could connect the factory pods I used (from a 2003-2006) TJ/LJ Wrangler without cutting the factory wiring in my Jeep. I wanted it to look factory yet sound sonically superior to where thieves would pass my open top Wrangler by without any notice. The factory wiring is there, just not plugged in, instead my harness I made with the stereo install kit, junkyard or ebay wire pigtails and aftermarket speakers hiding in plain sight behind factory grilles in the factory locations. Nobody knows any different. There are 5 1/4 adapters in the dash for bigger than stock speakers I bought on ebay for $10 shipped made out of metal, be forewarned about the plastic ones, they crack and vibrate. JL audio dash Xr series, same with the sound pods, JL all matching. I added some R16 fiberglass insulation batting as dampening material in the overhead pods. Then I added some in the subwoofer enclosure during the modification process for the console sub replacing it with the Kicker DVC driver. The amplifier is hidden way up under the dashboard behind the radio and climate control HVAC panel near the instrument panel. Previous swamping of another TJ in Fordyce creek has taught me there is an air pocket under there so it would take driving your Jeep into a lake to get water clear up there and the radio will be long drowned before that happens. I can still hose out the Jeep without fear of ruining anything because the speakers are all poly cone and the sub is mud/off-road/marine rated. The amplifier is also off-road mud sports rated according to Stillwater designs. 75% of my listening is from the several hundred Gb worth of solid state memory I converted my 5.5 Gen iPod to. Then theres about 20% listening to Sirius XM satellite radio and about 5% videos, GPS nav or cellphone calls.
RR
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I am looking to replace my center console sub and seeing that this thread was active back in 2018. Do you have any updates for the current setup? Do you have a comprehensive parts list to your current setup?
 
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