15 replies to this topic

[broadz]

Hi guys, i'm building an amp rack to hold my 3x old school Alpine V12s behind the back seat of my dual cab navara.

Space is extremely tight and as such I am forced to use a 3mm flatbar (20mm wide) bent and welded with amp mounting holes drilled and tapped to sit inbetween the ribs as you can see below.

I do not have enough clearance to mount an MDF mounting plate to the amp rack to isolate the amps from the (conductive) steel the amp rack is constructed from.

My intentions are as follows:


Is it truth or is it more of a myth that mounting the amps to directly to the body of the car will introduce noise into the system, enough to worry about?

[Arctic Alto]

i would just use some rubber washers/grommets or a strip of rubber for the part the screws in..
then there's no metal to metal.

[fnlow]

broadz, on 14 December 2011 - 09:49 AM, said:

Is it truth or is it more of a myth that mounting the amps to directly to the body of the car will introduce noise into the system, enough to worry about?

What does the Alpine manual say? The DLS ultimate amp manual recommends isolating the amplifier chassis from ground. I have read on MEA of people fixing noise issues by isolating the amp, whether there will be an issue in your install is another matter though. Broadz is there absolutely zero thickness to be had between the rack + amp + back of seat ? 3mm sheet of toughned glass or similar?

And Arctic I'm not sure if I understand your example but it seems as though the fasteners would still have metal to metal contact.

[Sorin-Andrei]

I would have thought some 3mm acrylic would also be a viable option..

[Arctic Alto]

fnlow, on 14 December 2011 - 04:26 PM, said:

And Arctic I'm not sure if I understand your example but it seems as though the fasteners would still have metal to metal contact.

True, you could use some plastic/rubber washers too

[D34M0N.inc]

Just use a rubber grommet that has a decent lip covering the metal bar and use small bolts thus not metal being touched.

[Arctic Alto]

just a thought, maybe dont screw it at all,
you could use some decent velcro for the whole back of it.

[D34M0N.inc]

I used velcro on my metal amp rack, this stuff was that nuts strong it took me a bit to seperate them lol.

[Finezy.inc]

i believe you can by nuts and bolts of various sizes that are made of nylon and non-conductive, might
be worth looking into that with some nice fat rubber washers or something.

[Frankston Car Audio]

Dan, you could use something like these if you can find an extra few mm to space the rack out.

The link is to the US, but I know these are available locally.

Mark

[Lunchbox.inc]

Frankston Car Audio, on 16 December 2011 - 04:21 PM, said:

Dan, you could use something like these if you can find an extra few mm to space the rack out.

The link is to the US, but I know these are available locally.

Mark

those things are definitely cool!! where would one find them...? bunnings etc? or somewhere more specialised...?

[Frankston Car Audio]

They're actually isolators for noise and vibration, Lunchy..

Not sure if Bunnings would carry them, but a commercial nut and bolt retailer might.

I have seen them somewhere.. I just can't remember where!

Mark

[Lunchbox.inc]

Frankston Car Audio, on 16 December 2011 - 05:23 PM, said:

I have seen them somewhere.. I just can't remember where!

Mark

that old age getting to you again i see!! hahaha

might go check out that nuts and bolts place on hartnett drive, they have pretty much anything you could ever want! haha

[sean]

Some common places you should find used ones are in old washing machines and driers (if you can't find any new locally)

[aj2thec]

This is what I would do:

Mount amps without insulators.

1. If no noise - crack a beer and admire work.

2. If noise: get 2/3/4mm clear tubing from Bunnings and make collar / washer for screws. Cost: 50c - $2. Crack a beer and admire work.