When the system was originally done, the installation was "pretty good" according to Ross. One night, he decided to take the vehicle for a night out on the town with a friend. They went to a club in West Palm Beach and parked the vehicle right in front of the club. He tipped the doorman to watch it for him and went inside for a few hours. When he came back out in the wee hours of the morning, he thought he was having a nightmare. His truck was completely stripped. Everything was gone (TVs, DVD, VCR, etc.) except for the alarm brain, which was on the ground next to the truck. "Thank god for insurance," states Ross. His job description is as follows, "Person who makes money available for investment in innovative enterprises or research, especially in high technology, in which both the risk of loss and the potential for profit may be considerable." How fitting!
Arched Console
When the insurance money came in, he went back over to Evolution Audio Design in Daytona Beach for another system. There installers, Jeremy Carlson, Scott Palmieri, and Steve Wilkinson went to work on the truck again. The second time around, the installation process was somewhat facilitated because the original installation was already prepped with Tsunami Silencer sound deadening material (the thieves left that in the truck). This gave the trio more time to work their magic.
One of the most unique aspects of the installation is the center console. There are actually three parts to it consisting of two arches and a bottom section. Starting at the dash, the bottom portion flows all the way into the rear seats. The console comes out from underneath the dash and is immediately met up with a Sega Dreamcast that was molded into the console. The bottom portion continues to the rear, but there is an arch that comes up from the floor behind the Sega Dreamcast and splits into two pieces (left and right side). These two sections act as the armrest for the front and rear seats. The two pieces then come together again behind the rear seats and flow into the subwoofer area. Up front, where the arch actually splits, Carlson installed five switches for Ross to activate such functions as his strobe lights (two switches to operate different patterns), back up camera, Sega Dreamcast, and neon. Just behind the switches, in between the front seats is another arch that starts from the floor and travels towards the rear of the truck. At the end of the arch is an Alpine TME-M750 6.5-inch widescreen monitor for the rear seat passengers.
The bottom portion of the console on the floor holds an Alpine CHA-1214 12-disc changer in between the two front seats. The console then splits into a left and right underneath the rear seats. An Accele VCR is installed to the left and an Alpine NVE-N851 DVD navigation system is installed to the right. The left and right portions are attached to the center using a piece of MDF sandwiched by two pieces of 1/8" Plexiglas. This method is also used in other portions of the console where pieces needed to be connected together for a seamless appearance.
The unique aspect of all the arches is that Carlson and Palmieri used Shop-Vac hoses. After setting them into place, the tubes were glassed, smoothed using body filler, and painted maroon to match the exterior color of the truck. To alleviate the pain of leaning on a hard tube, armrests were made using closed cell foam wrapped in factory-matched vinyl. They are mounted to the arches using 1/8" Plexiglas edge-lit in red. As a matter of fact, all the Plexiglas in the center console is sandblasted and edge-lit in red.
Kickin' Doors
The doors in the Ford continue the theme of the installation. To come up with the final product, the original doors were cut within two inches of the edge of the panel. After fitting what was left of the door panel to the door (which still gave them a factory fit), they had a frame to build off of. Each door contains three maroon rings that hold Kicker speakers. Two Kicker F65C midbass drivers are in the bottom portion of the door. Above them is a Kicker driver from an RS5 component set. The tweeter is mounted just above it in a custom made pod. All of the speakers are mounted from behind the rings to hide the screws and give the door a cleaner look. The new armrest is made of what else: Shop-Vac hoses. It is mounted to the new door panel using four bolts. The original door handles didn't fit the theme of the door so they were removed and replaced with door poppers activated through a remote control or button inside of the truck. Clips made out of steel (similar to the OEM clips) were manufactured to attach the new door panel to the door. The panel is wrapped in vinyl that matches the rest of the interior.
Kickin' Bed
There are two sections in the bed, the front half holds the subwoofers and the rear holds the amplifiers and distribution rack. The three installers spent 160 hours on the subwoofer enclosure. Six Kicker 12-inch XPLs are used to handle the low frequencies. The enclosure, made using fiberglass, MDF, and body filler, is completely sealed with a total volume of approximately 7.5 cubic feet. The whole enclosure is covered on top with Plexiglas.
To ensure a smooth finish, the guys put in hours of sanding. The panels were then painted to match the vehicle's exterior. The drivers were mounted in the same fashion as in the doors so the screws are hidden. An oval housing was constructed in the front of the box for the console to slide into. In order for the frequencies to travel into the cabin, a hole measuring 50" x 17" was cut in the bed and in the cabin. An accordion camper boot seals the bed to the cabin to keep water and other debris from entering the interior.
Five Kicker amplifiers producing an enormous 3800 watts of power occupies the rear of the bed. Three Kicker ZR 1000s sit on the floor of the bed and power the six subwoofers (one to a pair). Fleece and fiberglass were used to form all the angles. A pair of Kicker ZR 460s float above the ZR 1000s and power the door speakers and future kickpanels. For this, a rack emulating a bridge span was constructed and flows into the bottom portion of the amp rack. The new rack is hollow inside which makes running wires much easier. Plus, you do not see any wiring at all. The active crossovers in the amplifiers were utilized to keep the system simple (in terms of not adding more components). Each section of the bed is separated using vinyl-covered panels matching the interior.
Tsunami
The entire vehicle uses wiring and power supplements strictly from Tsunami. A distribution rack was built into the bed between the subwoofer enclosure and amp rack. Aside from distribution blocks, this compartment also holds two Tsunami PP910 UM-CAPs; BT970 battery terminals, and FBW711-ANL 1/0 gauge fuse holders. Four batteries supply sufficient power to the system. Three Tsunami PP880-BTY batteries are mounted underneath the amp rack while the fourth sits in the factory location under the hood. To keep the batteries charged, the factory alternator was replaced with a 200-amp Ohio Generator.
In the third door (passenger side rear), Carlson took the time and built a housing to incorporate Tsunami's battery toppers. These are the tops of the battery, which just snap off. They incorporate a voltage meter and distribution block. The frame that holds the products is painted to match the exterior and is protected with Plexiglas.
Sweet Head Unit
Running the operation (system) for Ross is an Alpine IVA-C800. The head unit has a fully motorized 6.5-inch screen, with the capabilities to run all of the sources in the vehicle. It also has a built-in CD player so Ross doesn't always have to use the changer. A new housing made from MDF was fabricated to eliminate the factory double-DIN opening for the new head unit. An Alpine DVA-5205 Mobile DVD player now resides where the air bag used to be. A new housing was fitted into the area of the air bag and nestled into place. Both trim rings are painted in maroon.
A backup camera is installed directly behind the rear license plate. A one-inch hole was cut out of the center of the license plate (where the Orange is on the Florida plate) for the camera to view through.
A custom video switcher was made to switch between the VCR and backup camera. The Sega Dreamcast runs through the VCR so additional switching was not necessary. The switcher is activated via switches on the console. The switcher not only operates the front Alpine monitor, but the rear one as well. The DVD Player and navigation system have dedicated inputs on the IVA-C800 brain making switching a breeze right through the head unit.
Unfortunate Circumstance
Ross was extremely pleased with the way the truck came out. After four months of installation time, the truck has attended the most prestigious car audio events in the country including the USAC and IASCA finals, and Spring Break Nationals. The Ford even took top honors at the USAC Finals for booth cars. Unfortunately, the truck is now gone. Someone else wanted it -- and as his job description states, "there is a risk for loss and a potential for profit."
Unfortunately and fortunately, Ross has experienced both with the Ford. He had some plans for the vehicle like adding kickpanels, painting the exterior, and replacing the wheels with 23-inchers. No need to fret, though, he is already devising another plan to do it again so keep an eye out. With the installation team he has, you can expect something bigger and better in the future.