A client from Santa Clara contacted California Car Sounds and Tint in Campbell about a 2017 Ford Raptor speaker upgrade and sound deadening installation. He loves the look and driving characteristics of his Raptor, but wasn’t thrilled with the noise level. The client also felt that the stereo didn’t sound as good as it could. We had a look at the truck and came up with a plan to address his concerns.
Sound Deadening Upgrade
A big motor, large exhaust and aggressive BFGoodrich tires combine to produce more background noise than the client wanted. Our plan to make things quieter was to line the entire cabin with sound deadening material.
To begin the process, we removed everything from the interior. The seats, carpet, pillar trims and roof panel all came out. The roof area behind the sunroof, the exterior door skins and the interior door metal around each speaker locations all received a layer of Black Hole Foil damping material. This product features a dense butyl layer bonded to a thick, yet flexible aluminum sheet. This adds mass to the metal vehicle surface. This additional mass reduces the ability for sound energy to transfer through the panel into the vehicle interior by damping vibrations.
The next step involved the installation of several Focal BAM XXXL kits. BAM is a similar product to Foil, but includes a layer of closed-cell foam to prevent buzzes and rattles. It improves high-frequency energy absorption. We covered the entire floor surface right up to the firewall, the back wall, and the interior door skins with BAM to ensure the interior would be as quiet as possible. It took almost two days to disassemble the interior and apply the deadening.
Focal Ford Raptor Speaker Upgrade
The stock sound system has oval speakers in the front and rear doors with a set of tweeters in the A-pillars. We removed the factory Ford Raptor speakers to install a set of Focal ES 165 K2 components. Our fabrication team created a set of mounting adapters out of HDPE plastic to mount the woofers. The adapters bolt up to the factory speaker mounting locations. We added threaded inserts to each adapter to make installing each Focal speaker quick and reliable. The inserts allow us to remove the speaker without damaging the adapter should it need service. We used stainless-steel, hex-head cap screws to hold the woofer in place.
The plan was to install the TKM tweeter from the Focal set in the factory A-Pillar location. We created a small bracket to hold the speaker to the pillar. This bracket prevented us from having to make any permanent modifications to the panel.
Last Minute Rear Speaker Upgrade
Just as we had reinstalled the factory rear speakers in the rear doors, our sales staff announced that the client decided to upgrade the rear speakers as well. A set of Focal Expert Series PC 165 F 6.5-inch coaxial speakers would replace the wimpy little factory speakers. We created a second set of HDPE mounting adapters to hold the new speakers in place securely.
We always create plastic mounting adapters, rather than wood. Even though Campbell gets less than half of the annual national average rainfall each year, things still can get very wet. Of course, a truck like this deserves regular carwashes. Wooden speaker adapters are notorious for swelling up and becoming moldy when they get wet. Not only can this hinder their performance, but it can damage some speakers by twisting their chassis. Our plastic adapters are good and solid; they can handle whatever environmental challenges they encounter.
The Ford Raptor Rolls-Royce Built
With the installation complete and the vehicle back together, we pulled it out of our bay so we could get a sense of how much quieter it was. Even with a few blips of the throttle, the truck was as quiet as a church mouse. The doors closed with an authoritative thud. The client was very impressed with our transformation and anxious to get the vehicle out on the freeway. If you are interested in audio system or comfort upgrades for your vehicle, drop by California Car Sounds and Tint. Or give us a call at 408-378-0409 or send us an e-mail using our contact page.
Leave a Reply