Passion is the right word. Lon didn't hesitate to take the Tundra to the next level. He says, "I've always had pretty big systems in my cars, my Mustang had a Soundstream DaVinci as its focal point so my decision was obvious - Soundstream all the way!" So he started talking to Terry and they mapped out a plan to turn the truck into a rolling movie theater and showpiece for Lon's Web site. The level of install planned was definitely beyond anything Lon had owned before so he turned to Shawn Leslie of Samm Sound in Jupiter, FL. "I had seen some of Shawn's work before and knew he was capable of pulling it off," says Lon. He dropped off the vehicle and a truck full of Soundstream gear and told Shawn to have at it
A gray on blue color theme was decided on and work began again. The design plan was simple: make it visually stunning and turn the truck into a state of the art theater on wheels that would showcase all of its key components. This "simple plan" rapidly turned into a time hungry monster that consumed months, the way installers do hamburgers. The truck, which was originally planned to be completed after shop hours, soon took up semi-permanent residence in Samm Sound's install bay. The main focus of the system is (and most of the work went into) the breathtaking centerpiece. It is a combination sub box, amp rack, center console, CD changer and control center. The organic form is actually a fiberglass trim piece that covers the massive wooden substructure. This piece and all of the truck's fiberglass trim panels were hand laid and sanded and then shuttled back to Mad Mods to be shot with more of the Indigo Pearl Blue; thankfully Bob and Seth made sure to make extra for any "incidentals" that might occur.
The back of the centerpiece is home to the bulk of the system's Soundstream electronics, most notably the three showcased amplifiers and four 12-inch subwoofers. Across the top of the enclosure, where the back seat once resided, two of the Soundstream Exact12 subwoofers flank a Soundstream Tarantula. The front of the rack flows down and forward. Its front face holds two more Exact12s that fire into the back of the front seats. Each subwoofer sits in its own 1.25 cubic ft. MDF sealed enclosures. To the inside of the lower subs are two Soundstream Rubicon1002 1000 watt amplifiers that were custom polished to complement the chrome Tarantula. From there the rack becomes the center console that holds a flush mounted Alpine CHA-S624 CD changer and the controller for the Alpine PXA-H510 5.1 processor. The sculpted console brings the surround sound processor's controls directly up to mid dash height and fingertip accessibility. Not one mounting screw is evident on any part of the console.
"That rack was a huge pain in my butt," says Shawn. "Both seats had to be out and all four doors open to get it in and out. Every part of it was hand made and sanded. The original wooden substructure is nowhere to be seen and all of the gear mounts from behind. Lon is a real stickler for details so I am glad it looks as good as it does. If he is happy with it, I know it's as close to perfect as things get."